‘Voices of Neighbors’ is a record of resistance and love during Metro Surge
Protesters confront federal officers in January following the shooting of a man in North Minneapolis by ICE agents. Photo by David Pierini
By David Pierini, Editor
Beverly Jimerson has been writing poetry for more than 30 years, but her pen sat idle for quite some time. But after ICE officers killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January, Jimerson had to write.
I asked God to please let there be light at the end of this tunnel
This was Satan’s Bait. Because he came with chaos,
And hate.
My point of view: their murders were hard to chew.
It could have been me. It could have been you.
Some of that light Jimerson prayed for shone on the Folwell Neighborhood Story Garden on the evening of July 24, when more than 60 people gathered to hear poems from a newly published collection titled. “Voices of Neighbors: Poems of Resistance, Remembrance, Love, and Hope Amid Immigration Enforcement.”
The July book launch drew about 60 people to the Folwell Neighborhood Story Garden. Photo by David Pierini
The sun was just beginning to set on the Folwell garden. People brought lawn chairs or blankets that were laid out around fruit trees. Couples sat together, a hand on their partners' arms, as some of the book's contributors shared their work.
One reader, Kaitlin Cassady, held her son Bo in one arm as she read her poem of resistance, “Minnesota Strong.”
In negative twenty degrees
We stand, hand-in-hand
Kindness filling the streets
Sixty-one writers, including 33 from Minneapolis, contributed 80 poems. Jimerson is one of three from North Minneapolis whose work was selected.
“I had taken a break until that point. This bothered my spirit,” Jimerson said of her decision to write again. She was at the July book launch. “I couldn’t sleep, just the fact that I saw their deaths on TV.”
Net proceeds from the book will go to immigrant-support organizations.
Katie Foag, a Crystal resident, got the idea for an anthology after an online exchange of poetry with friends following the murders of Good and Pretti. In February, she posted flyers in bookstores, coffee shops, and online to begin crowdsourcing the poetry.
Foag was the editor on the project and wrote a short yet poignant introduction to the collection.
“It is striking… to witness the extraordinary creativity and care with which the community responded in defense of their neighbors.” Foag wrote (her sentences were lightly edited for brevity). “As I observed what was happening in my community, words began to arrive unannounced, tapping and swirling in my mind until I offered them a page… I wondered if there was space for another creative response.”
From reading the submissions, she identified four themes, as referenced in the subtitle. Several were, like Jimerson’s poem, a direct response to the shooting deaths of Good and Pretti.
“My goal was to be as inclusive as possible,” Foag said. “The poems didn’t need to reflect my particular experience or viewpoint but be the collective response of our community.
“The act of writing a poem is a way to keep going. It’s not over, but to come together and say we’re here and we’re showing up, and we’re neighbors, it is an act of solidarity.”
The book is available at Eat My Words Bookstore, Moon Palace Books, Birchbark Books and Native Arts at lulu.com.