We Can Do Hard Things

HOW WE ALL BECOME MINNESOTA: BRITTANY PACKNETT CUNNINGHAM

January 28, 2026

Key Takeaways Copied to clipboard!

  • The current state violence being witnessed in Minnesota is not an isolated or recent phenomenon, but the result of centuries of organizing, particularly by Indigenous and Black communities, which prepared them to resist. 
  • Moving from watching in horror to effective action requires consistent, everyday organizing, community building, and intentional inclusivity, rather than relying on singular, spontaneous protests. 
  • The current political moment is more dangerous than previous eras (like 2014 or 2020) because the opposition is authoritarian, demanding a higher level of courage and a radical reimagining of the future beyond mere survival. 

Segments

Immediate Actionable Steps
Copied to clipboard!
(00:03:04)
  • Key Takeaway: Action against state violence requires consistent effort, including pushing for a statewide eviction moratorium and contacting senators to defund ICE.
  • Summary: There is something for everybody to do, requiring consistent action, education, and community building to generate necessary momentum. Specific actions include advocating for Governor Walls to institute a statewide eviction moratorium before February 1st. Listeners should also call senators to refuse funding for ICE through the DHS appropriations bill and demand investigations into recent state-sanctioned killings.
Minnesota’s Organizing History
Copied to clipboard!
(00:05:39)
  • Key Takeaway: Minnesota’s readiness to resist state violence stems from decades of everyday organizing, not just recent events in 2020.
  • Summary: The current resistance in Minnesota is the result of years of consistent organizing infrastructure built by groups meeting and working together daily. This infrastructure ensures people are trained, disciplined, and connected when a crisis call comes. It is ahistorical to suggest this organizing only began in the last few years.
Historical Context of Violence
Copied to clipboard!
(00:07:18)
  • Key Takeaway: The current situation is worse than past protests because the U.S. government is now authoritarian, unlike the ‘warm federal government’ present during the 2014 Ferguson protests.
  • Summary: The current moment is more dangerous than 2014 or 2020 because the administration is authoritarian, contrasting sharply with the Obama administration’s openness to dialogue. ICE is tracking license plates of activists and citizens while operating unmarked vehicles without plates, mirroring historical state violence like slave patrols. Approximately 10,000 people have been disappeared in Minneapolis, with at least 3,000 sent to other states like Texas, overwhelming local legal resources.
Inclusivity and Acknowledging Grief
Copied to clipboard!
(00:14:40)
  • Key Takeaway: Failing to acknowledge and grieve the historical, state-sponsored killing of Black people leads to non-inclusive solutions that only benefit recently disturbed white populations.
  • Summary: It is crucial to connect the current moment to centuries of state-sponsored killing and cover-ups, as this historical grief is fundamental to effective solutions. Comparing the current situation to Nazi Germany is inaccurate because the U.S. provided the blueprint (Jim Crow laws) for the Nuremberg laws, and unlike Germany, the U.S. has erased and perverted its own history.
The Danger of Individualism
Copied to clipboard!
(00:41:39)
  • Key Takeaway: White dominant culture promotes destructive individualism, which threatens collective action necessary for survival, as demonstrated by the historical draining of community resources to exclude Black people.
  • Summary: Whiteness, as a socio-political class, is characterized by individualism, which is a threat to collectivism and community—the traditions of oppressed cultures. This individualism convinces people they do not need others, atrophying the muscle for linking arm-in-arm to move together against shared systemic oppression. The historical example of ‘drained pool politics’ shows that white communities would rather destroy shared resources than allow Black people to benefit from them, proving that systemic oppression harms everyone.
The Power of Radical Dreaming
Copied to clipboard!
(00:58:19)
  • Key Takeaway: Effective activism requires radical imagination, plotting a path backward from a dreamed future where Black children are enriched, not merely protected from immediate harm.
  • Summary: Brittany Packnett Cunningham practices backwards planning, starting with a radical dream of a world that enriches the genius and joy of her Black sons. Dreaming only of avoiding immediate dangers, like police stops, leads to middling action, whereas dreaming of a world where their creativity is celebrated inspires the necessary consistent work. This daring vision is what her ancestors worked toward when they envisioned freedom.