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.

Winter of Coronavirus: Seeking Shelter in Minneapolis During COVID–19

Minneapolis, MN – 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…

Denver Sweeps 300+ Tent Encampment Residents

Denver, CO – 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…

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…

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…

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”…

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.

“He Got Away With Murder,” 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

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.

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

Youth Lead Summer of Oromo Protests in Minnesota

Saint Paul, MN – 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 Hachalu’s murder, with upwards of 10,000…

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.

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…