Zenith City Indivisible Updates
2025-07-27
Hello
"Love is creative and redemptive. Love builds up and unites; hate tears down and destroys. Physical force can repress, restrain, coerce, destroy, but it cannot create and organize anything permanent; only love can do that. Yes, love — which means understanding, creative and redemptive goodwill..."
"Our goal is to create a beloved community"
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
"If one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country, one does not question the policemen, the lawyers, the judges, or the protected members of the middle class. One goes to the unprotected—those, precisely, who need the law’s protection most!—and listens to their testimony."
— James Baldwin
"Palestine is a moral litmus test for the world"
— June Jordan
Let's take action together.
Action Items & Events
Bridge Brigade Fridays
Hosted by Zenith City Indivisible
- When:
- Fridays (except July 4), 4:30–5:30 CT
- Where:
- Bridge at 25th Street East
(park behind Perkins)
Bring a sign. Everyone welcome.
Spirit Valley Days Parade
- When:
- Thursday, July 31, 5:00–7:00pm
- Where:
- Grand Avenue & North 59th
Duluth, MN
Join the Indivisible Women of Duluth, in the Spirit Valley Days Parade on Thursday July 31st in support of protection Women's Rights.
The parade runs from 6:00 - 7:00 pm, with participants line-up at 5:00 pm.
The Parade route starts at 59th Ave West, proceeding along Grand Ave, turning at Central Ave and concluding on Ramsey St.
Look for the Indivisible Women of Duluth, all white shirts in honor of the suffragette movement and our Duluth Indivisible banner. We welcome our Action Teams to choose a different identifiable color if they wish. We will have a small handout identifying Duluth Indivisible and the mission of the Indivisible Women of Duluth. We will have some candy to toss out for the kids, feel free to bring some yourselves.
Our presence in the parade is foremost in support of Women's Rights, and we support all rights. If you bring a sign, please remember this is a family friendly event, not a protest. It would be best for all signs to have a simple positive message (i.e. Protect Women's Rights; Protect Women's Health Care; Justice for All; Protect Voting Rights, etc.) or statements from the Bill of Rights or Constitution.
Bad Faith — Movie Showing
Hosted by Two Harbors Breakwall
- When:
- Wed, Aug 6, 6:00—8:30pm
- Where:
- Two Harbors High School auditorium
1640 County Hwy 2
Two Harbors, MN
Join us for a special screening of Bad Faith at the Two Harbors High School auditorium!
Bad Faith is a powerful documentary that examines how religious extremism and political manipulation can erode democracy and divide communities. Through moving personal stories and thoughtful reporting, the film invites us to reflect on the role of faith in public life and to consider how we can build a more compassionate, just society.
After the film, we’ll have a short discussion with local pastors to share reactions and explore how these themes show up in our own community.
Come connect, reflect, and be part of the conversation — we hope to see you there!
Join us with your signs and your presence! Bring friends!
City Council Candidates Q&A, Panel
Duluth Indivisible Monthly Meeting
- When:
- Thur, Aug 7, 6:00—7:30pm
- Where:
- Clyde Iron Works
2920 W Michigan St
Duluth, MN
Ongoing
Immigrant dignity rally & sign holding
Duluth Anti-ICE, anti-deportations pro-immigrant dignity rally
- When
- Every Wednesday, noon–1pm
- Where
- 60th Ave E & Superior Street
Duluth Hilltop weekly protest
- When:
- Every Tuesday 4:30–6:00 pm
- Where:
- 230 East Skyline Pkwy
Protest map below. Green parking. Purple Protest site. Red no parking on church property.
News & Training
'Wasting Away' in Gaza: Oxfam, 100+ Groups Decry Israel's "Man-Made" Mass Starvation of Palestinians
from Democracy Now
"As you know, mass starvation means starvation of a large proportion of a population. And a large proportion of the population of Gaza is starving. I don’t know what you would call it, other than mass starvation. And it’s man-made, and that’s very clear. And this is because of blockade, and, I have said it in my statement, more than 80 days of blockade straight. And then, of course, there is opening now, but it’s not enough. It’s just a trickle, and people are starving."
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Severe Malnutrition in Under-Fives has Tripled at Gaza City Clinic, Charity Reports
from The Guardian
"Rates of severe malnutrition among children aged under five at Médecins Sans Frontières’ Gaza City clinic have tripled in the last two weeks, the charity has said, as starvation in the Israeli-besieged strip worsens.
"The global aid community has sounded the alarm as Gaza descends deeper into mass starvation, with resulting deaths being reported daily as Israel allows only a trickle of aid into the territory."
Gaza Doctors 'Becoming too Weak to Treat Patients' as Hunger Crisis Deepens
from the Guardian
"Doctors and medical staff in Gaza say their increasing hunger and the lack of available food is beginning to leave them too weak to provide urgent medical care to patients inside hospitals full of malnourished and injured civilians.
"Almost a dozen medical staff across the territory have told the Guardian and the Arabic Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) of their increasingly desperate search for food and declining physical health due to hunger."
Starvation as a Weapon: Chris Hedges on Gaza
from The Intercept
"Gaza is on the brink of mass famine. At least 600,000 people are suffering from severe malnutrition, according to staff at Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza.
"This is not a tragedy of circumstance. It’s a deliberate campaign of mass starvation, enforced through Israel’s unrelenting bombing and continuous blockade on the flow of aid into Gaza, which is prohibited under international law.
"The death toll in Gaza has reached nearly 60,000, officially, but experts and relief workers on the ground expect the actual number of casualties to be significantly higher.
"To be clear: This is a genocide."
ICE Is Getting Unprecedented Access to Medicaid Data
from Wired
"Per the agreement, ICE officials will get login credentials for a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) database containing sensitive medical information, including detailed records about diagnoses and procedures. Language in the agreement says it will allow ICE to access personal information such as home addresses, phone numbers, IP addresses, banking data, and social security numbers."
Privacy Scholar Daniel Solove: 'We're Entering a Dark Age'
from Creative Good
"I started the interview by asking Solove about the 'nothing to hide' argument – that is, the reason many people give for not being worried about intrusive surveillance. You've probably heard it: 'I don't mind if they know everything about me, because I have nothing to hide.'
"As Solove points out, such a response misses the point entirely about what's at stake in a society devolving into a surveillance state. For starters, individual data is being tracked and analyzed largely without citizens' knowledge or consent, which first harms the marginal and vulnerable but eventually creates negative effects for everyone else. But that's just the beginning.
"The more systemic issue, Solove says, is that privacy is a fundamental requirement for a free and democratic society. Conversely, the loss of privacy creates the conditions for autocrats and totalitarian ideologies to take over."
U.S. Companies Honed Their Surveillance Tech in Israel. Now It’s Coming Home.
from The Intercept
"Since he took office barely six months ago, Donald Trump has handed billionaire Peter Thiel’s surveillance company, Palantir, contracts reportedly worth more than $113 million to build detailed profiles of Americans. Here’s what they’re planning to do with that data:
"Track immigrants’ movements in real time. Monitor their social media. Map where they live, work, and travel. Generate instant reports on visa holders that include what they look like and with whom they associate.
"And targeting immigrants is just the beginning.
"Palantir specializes in mining personal data from thousands of sources — your social media, financial records, travel patterns, associations — and converting it all into searchable databases that map connections between individuals and organizations. This isn’t speculation. It’s already happening — and Trump is turbocharging it.
"U.S. spy agencies plan to create a master surveillance database that would make it even easier for them to surveil anyone they choose. This massive database would be a one-stop shop for authorities that want to track, intimidate, and retaliate against Americans — all built with our tax dollars.
"The Intercept also recently highlighted how U.S. companies like Palantir first honed these surveillance technologies on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. After Trump’s reelection, the companies thought they could now operate with little pushback at home, so they’re bringing those same tools to American soil."
Background to the Epstein story
from Heather Cox Richardson
"The Epstein story is about more than the sex trafficking of girls. It is also about rich and privileged people evading accountability for breaking the law. MAGA likely jumped on the story for both of these reasons when they thought a coverup was protecting Democratic politicians and Hollywood elites.
"But the story is also about a group of elite people who think they are better than the rest of us and have the right to dominate anyone that is not part of their group, particularly people of color, Black Americans, and women, no matter what the law says."
The Epstein Conspiracy Continues
from Robert Hubbell
"A crucial aspect of every criminal conspiracy is concealment. Efforts to cover up criminal conspiracies often continue for years after the object of the conspiracy has been achieved. An essential part of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking conspiracy was concealing the rape of thousands of girls and the identity of the rapists."
Inspirations
Politicize Everything — A Blueprint for a Party That Fights.
The Cycle (Rachel Bitecofer)
We thank the good folks of Arrowhead Indivisible for this reference
"The first rule is: you seize the frame or you lose the narrative. Republicans are already 20 tweets deep blaming 'Democrat policies' before you even finish reading the news alert. They don’t care if the accusation is coherent, much less accurate. The goal is to own the frame. And once they’ve set it, the public doesn’t forget it."
Move to Amend Coalition
an exciting initiative
"Formed in September 2009, Move to Amend is a coalition of hundreds of organizations and hundreds of thousands of individuals committed to social, environmental and economic justice, ending corporate rule, and building a vibrant democracy that is genuinely accountable to the people, not corporate interests.
"We are calling for the #WeThePeopleAmendment to the US Constitution that unequivocally states that inalienable rights belong to human beings only, and that money is not a form of protected free speech under the First Amendment and shall be regulated in political campaigns."
"At UN Conference States Must Prioritize Ending Israel’s Genocide, Unlawful Occupation and Apartheid"
from Amnesty International
"The high-level UN conference to discuss a peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and implementation of the two-state solution next week must be centered around the immediate and effective application of international law, including states’ obligations to prevent and punish genocide and apartheid and end Israel’s unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory, said Amnesty International in an advocacy briefing published today."
Undaunted Search for the Truth
Julie Brown’s essential reporting on Jeffrey Epstein must be commended
from the Contrarian
"If not for Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown, we might never have learned anything about Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operation, its implication of wealthy, powerful, influential men, and the existence of massive files documenting all of it. Absent her reporting, we also would not be seeing the first significant break in the MAGA protection racket that has shielded Trump from consequences for his lies, misconduct, incompetence, and cruel policies."
Poems of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment
from the Poetry Foundation
Poetry is necessary and sought after during crises.
"Pithy and powerful, poetry is a popular art form at protests and rallies. From the civil rights and women’s liberation movements to Black Lives Matter, poetry is commanding enough to gather crowds in a city square and compact enough to demand attention on social media. Speaking truth to power remains a crucial role of the poet in the face of political and media rhetoric designed to obscure, manipulate, or worse. The selection of poems below call out and talk back to the inhumane forces that threaten from above. They expose grim truths, raise consciousness, and build united fronts. Some insist, as Langston Hughes writes, “That all these walls oppression builds / Will have to go!” All rail against complacency and demonstrate why poetry is necessary and sought after in moments of political crisis."