Category: Community
![image: Brenda a 60-year-old Native American woman speaks in the center of the frame. She is wearing a white knit hat and a black zip-up jacket. Behind her on the ground is white snow, and to her left in the background is an Indigenous structure known as a Tarpee, a tipi-like structure made with tarps constructed to help elders keep warm while fighting oil pipeline extraction on Native land.](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/brenda_pic-min.png)
![image: Brenda a 60-year-old Native American woman speaks in the center of the frame. She is wearing a white knit hat and a black zip-up jacket. Behind her on the ground is white snow, and to her left in the background is an Indigenous structure known as a Tarpee, a tipi-like structure made with tarps constructed to help elders keep warm while fighting oil pipeline extraction on Native land.](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/brenda_pic-min.png)
Winter of Coronavirus: Seeking Shelter in Minneapolis During COVIDβ19
Minneapolis, MN β With winter setting in, many people experiencing houselessness in Minneapolis are forced to choose between living outdoors in freezing temperatures or entering a restrictive and non-private temporary indoor shelter.
A new scientific study finds that over 400,000 COVID cases and nearly 11,000…
![](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Arkins-Sweep-feat.jpg)
![](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Arkins-Sweep-feat.jpg)
Denver Sweeps 300+ Tent Encampment Residents
Denver, CO β The largest tent encampment in the city, which sprung up in October 2019, is being cleared early Monday morning as about 60 advocates protest the move.
Unicorn Riot is on-the-ground covering the sweep, with live coverage starting at 5AM.
Residents at the…
![](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/LakotaFlagCover.jpg)
![](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/LakotaFlagCover.jpg)
Standing Rock’s Wind Farm to Prioritize People, Land, and Nature Over Profit
Standing Rock Reservation – The tribe that led the fight against Energy Transfer Partner’s Dakota Access Pipeline is expanding its commitment as a leader in addressing climate change with the creation of a public power authority to develop a 235-megawatt (MW) wind farm.
Anpetu Wi…
![image: single- and double-person tents are positioned on the sidewalk in front of Commissioner Marion Greene's home in South Minneapolis. 5 community members are gathered on her front lawn talking, while a few others are sitting at a table on her front porch.](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MarionGreeneCoverFoto-min.png)
![image: single- and double-person tents are positioned on the sidewalk in front of Commissioner Marion Greene's home in South Minneapolis. 5 community members are gathered on her front lawn talking, while a few others are sitting at a table on her front porch.](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MarionGreeneCoverFoto-min.png)
Unhoused Community Forms Tenants Union, Constituents Protest at Commissioner’s Home
Minneapolis, MN – A tenants union was formed this past weekend by unhoused community members who have been living at the Extended Stay America hotel in Bloomington, MN. After a deal for Hennepin County to purchase the building unexpectedly fell through, residents say they are…
![](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/FloresOscuras-min.png)
![](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/FloresOscuras-min.png)
Flores Oscuras Platforms BIPOC Artists’ Expressions of Horror
Minneapolis, MN – Eight blocks north of George Floyd Memorial Square, seven artists are using Halloween weekend as an opportunity to showcase the horrors of life under white supremacy for BIPOC-identifying community members.
Flores Oscuras (“dark flowers”) is a live show for Black, Indigenous, and…
![image: the perimeter of a sanctuary tent camp area is surrounded by orange plastic construction fencing; the fence cuts diagonally across the image from bottom right, to the left of the image. On the sidewalk outside of the fencing, two U-Haul trucks are parked; residents' belongings are inside, being moved from MLK Park to another location. A gray tent with a blue tarp is propped up beneath and to the left behind the trunk of a maple tree. To the right of the tree is a waste bin that says City of Minneapolis on its side. Partially-melted snow is visible on the ground.](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/SanctuaryCampsSnowMovingOctober-min.png)
![image: the perimeter of a sanctuary tent camp area is surrounded by orange plastic construction fencing; the fence cuts diagonally across the image from bottom right, to the left of the image. On the sidewalk outside of the fencing, two U-Haul trucks are parked; residents' belongings are inside, being moved from MLK Park to another location. A gray tent with a blue tarp is propped up beneath and to the left behind the trunk of a maple tree. To the right of the tree is a waste bin that says City of Minneapolis on its side. Partially-melted snow is visible on the ground.](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/SanctuaryCampsSnowMovingOctober-min.png)
Minneapolis Prioritizing Park Sweeps Over Sheltering the Unhoused
While Minneapolis' ongoing housing crisis has been made more urgent by an early major snowfall, the city's elected leaders have prioritized having all the parks cleared by the end of October.
![](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Boston-cover-foto-min.png)
![](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Boston-cover-foto-min.png)
Court Protest Aims at Boston Covid Housing Crisis
BOSTON, MA – Thousands of families in eastern Massachusetts face renewed risk of eviction. Governor Charlie Baker opted on October 17 to cease emergency measures to protect shelter that have been in effect throughout most of 2020, triggering a huge surge in “notices to quit”…
![](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/stb.png)
![](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/stb.png)
Minneapolis Protest Art Collection Becomes Largest of its Kind
Minneapolis, MN – A donation of over 200 plywood protest murals makes the “Save the Boards to Memorialize the Movement” project the largest art collection of its kind. During the height of the civil unrest in the city, following the death of George Floyd, businesses…
![image: Masked protester holds "Justice For Elisa Gomez" protest sign. The sign has a picture of Elisa Gomez with long dark hair and an orange blouse, looking down and to the right. It also has an image of a black handprint with "Silenced 10.11.16" white text overlaid. The protester has on a blue medical facemask, is wearing a black sweatshirt and a purple backpack, and has shoulder-length slightly-curled hair that is dyed yellow and pink. They are looking to the right. Several other masked protesters are behind this person.](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ElisaGomez3-min.png)
![image: Masked protester holds "Justice For Elisa Gomez" protest sign. The sign has a picture of Elisa Gomez with long dark hair and an orange blouse, looking down and to the right. It also has an image of a black handprint with "Silenced 10.11.16" white text overlaid. The protester has on a blue medical facemask, is wearing a black sweatshirt and a purple backpack, and has shoulder-length slightly-curled hair that is dyed yellow and pink. They are looking to the right. Several other masked protesters are behind this person.](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ElisaGomez3-min.png)
βHe Got Away With Murder,β Says Family of Elisa Gomez
Minneapolis, MN – On the 4th anniversary of a Minneapolis woman being found dead in her home, community members gathered to celebrate Elisa Gomez’ life and question why the hanging death of a newlywed wasn’t investigated as a homicide.
Community members met on Sunday, October…
![Hundreds march in Minneapolis for Oromos in Ethiopia](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/20200925_171201a.jpg)
![Hundreds march in Minneapolis for Oromos in Ethiopia](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/20200925_171201a.jpg)
Grand Rally Oromo Protest Demands U.S. Stop Funding Ethiopia
Minneapolis, MN – Hundreds marched through downtown Minneapolis Friday afternoon in the Little Oromia North American Grand Rally. The demonstrators, some of whom came from cities like Seattle and Denver, demanded justice after a summer of repression against Oromo protests in Ethiopia. They also called…
![image: an overhead shot of the Lake Street Open Growth Space showing garden beds around the perimeter beside 17th avenue and Lake street. To the left of the photo there is a circular garden with herbs and medicinal plants planted alongside flowers around a plum tree. Across Lake street is a local Panaderia / Tortilleria.](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Squat-Open-Growth-Space-cover-foto-min.png)
![image: an overhead shot of the Lake Street Open Growth Space showing garden beds around the perimeter beside 17th avenue and Lake street. To the left of the photo there is a circular garden with herbs and medicinal plants planted alongside flowers around a plum tree. Across Lake street is a local Panaderia / Tortilleria.](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Squat-Open-Growth-Space-cover-foto-min.png)
Reclaimed Space Sprouts From Uprising’s Embers
Minneapolis, MN – Without waiting for permission, growers began planting vegetables and herbs in an empty lot on Lake Street and 17th Avenue. Their aim was to reclaim the dormant land on behalf of the community who lived nearby, in whatever way they saw fit…
![Oromo woman kneels next to mural of Hanchalu Hundessa on the back of the Minnesota Oromo Community Center](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Hachalu-mural.jpg)
![Oromo woman kneels next to mural of Hanchalu Hundessa on the back of the Minnesota Oromo Community Center](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Hachalu-mural.jpg)
Youth Lead Summer of Oromo Protests in Minnesota
Saint Paul, MN β On June 29, famed Oromo singer and activist Hachalu Hundessa was assassinated in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, sparking renewed rounds of protests by Oromo people across the world.
Hundreds have been killed protesting in Ethiopia since Hachaluβs murder, with upwards of 10,000…
![](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/anti-GBV-cover-2.jpg)
![](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/anti-GBV-cover-2.jpg)
South African Youth Rally as Gender-Based Violence Rises
Durban, South Africa – On Saturday, August 29, thousands of South Africans marched in opposition to rising rates of sexual and gender based violence (GBV). Protesters marched in at least four different cities including Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Pretoria.
Unicorn Riot was in Durban…
![image: a Black woman in an orange shirt is adding tape to a piece of paper, a list of demands for the Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board Superintendent, Al Bangoura. On the woman's left is a Lakota man with chest-length black hair, as well as a media-maker with their back turned. On the right is a member of Minneapolis Parks & Power; he is wearing a mask and holding a blown-up photograph from when Minneapolis Police assisted in the violent clearing of the sanctuary encampment at Powderhorn Park on Friday, August 14, 2020.](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Delivery2Bug.png)
![image: a Black woman in an orange shirt is adding tape to a piece of paper, a list of demands for the Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board Superintendent, Al Bangoura. On the woman's left is a Lakota man with chest-length black hair, as well as a media-maker with their back turned. On the right is a member of Minneapolis Parks & Power; he is wearing a mask and holding a blown-up photograph from when Minneapolis Police assisted in the violent clearing of the sanctuary encampment at Powderhorn Park on Friday, August 14, 2020.](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Delivery2Bug.png)
Sanctuary Camp Residents Pressured to Move, No Housing Solution In Sight
Minneapolis, MN – Houseless Twin Cities residents have recently endured arrests, the trashing of their belongings, and violent actions at the hands of Park Police, whose participation in these sweeps has been documented by local photographers.
Several hundred people living in dozens of camps across…
![Memorial caretaker Jeanelle Austin speaks during presser](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cover4.jpg)
![Memorial caretaker Jeanelle Austin speaks during presser](https://unicornriot.ninja/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cover4.jpg)
“No Justice, No Street” – Community Makes Demands, Eviction of George Floyd Memorial Square Delayed
Minneapolis, MN – Organizers at the George Floyd Memorial Square declared their intent to defend the square from planned eviction and revealed their “justice resolution” with 24 demands during a Saturday press conference.
The presser came a day after a surprise announcement by the city…