The Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery has been working alongside community members in Minneapolis. Recent immigrants, families seeking asylum and those who accompany them have endured the scrutiny of federal agents and understand themselves to be under siege. In the name of policy enforcement, thousands of people have been detained, including American citizens. In January, two were killed while standing with people vulnerable to arrest and detention. 

We stand with the people in Minneapolis because we understand that our liberation is connected. In the coalition, we work side by side with Indigenous people seeking justice. Whether or not the people facing detention and deportation are Indigenous, they are subject to the process of settler colonialism that is still alive and active in our society. 

All of us are shaped by this process, whether we are victims or beneficiaries. This process is constantly at play in the laws and policies of our society. The mobilization of state enforcers in Minneapolis and across Minnesota sheds a light on processes often hidden from those of us who benefit from them. 

A few years ago, a woman from a mainline denomination told me, “For a pacifist, you sure cause a lot of trouble!” When violence is directed at vulnerable people, peacemakers committed to active nonviolence must step forward, even when we are criticized for doing so. I have learned from my elders that the only response to violence that has the power to transform it is lovingkindness.

In Minneapolis, lovingkindness looks like putting our bodies next to the bodies of those most at risk. It looks like sharing resources with families when a breadearner has been detained or when family members are afraid to go to work. It looks like sharing rides with those afraid to drive. It looks like resisting violent action publicly and peacefully, especially in song. 

While our friends and neighbors are being dehumanized, we seek to humanize them and to humanize each other. We remind ourselves and each other that we are worthy of dignity, that we are connected, that none of us is alone. 

In response to raids in public spaces that we expect to be safe, like parks and schools, we host neighborhood potlucks. On streets that are crowded with armed agents, we respond with organized singing. 

Lovingkindness looks like showing up to public discussion in city council meetings and in the legislature and advocating for humane public policy. 

Showing up for each other in these ways demonstrates respect and love — two core values of the Ojibwe seven- grandfather teachings I have been taught to adhere to. When authorities show up with violence, it is tempting to respond in kind. But engaging in violence just creates more violence. Showing up for each other in love has the power to transform the world. 

In the Gospel of John, Jesus instructs his disciples to act in love. He commands them to love one another as he has loved them. He acknowledges that love can lead to persecution and says there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for our friends. 

I have found that this kind of love — living love in solidarity with the vulnerable — requires both commitment and community.

Our society tells us the only way to achieve security is to accumulate wealth. We are each responsible for our own well-being, we are told, and we must care for ourselves before we can share with others. 

The crisis in Minneapolis showed that this vision of individual security is too small. Our security is in the community we build together and in the relationships we build with one another. 

The Ojibwe people talk about seeking the good life by acknowledging our interdependence, embodying love and respect. The Navajo call this the Way of Beauty — to seek harmony with those around us and with the systems of life upon which we depend. 

No amount of wealth can protect us from loneliness, from despair or even from violent enforcement of unjust policies. We find true solidarity in each other, demonstrating love for one another as Jesus instructs us. In John 15, commanding us to love one another, he says, “I have said these things to you so that my joy will be in you and your joy will be complete.” Following these teachings, we experience joy. Walking along the good road, we enjoy the good life.