11/03/2021
“This campaign began with working-class Black and brown residents marching together to demand a higher standard of public safety in the city. It grew into a city-wide movement that spanned race, income, ideology, and neighborhoods, to give residents a say in their future and to advocate for the resources that they need. While this is not the result that we hoped for, the story of our movement must be told.
In the freezing Minneapolis winter, we organized and collected over 22,000 signatures to democratically and constitutionally put public safety on the November ballot. We beat multiple frivolous lawsuits by political pawns. We won a Supreme Court ruling after the political establishment resorted to voter suppression and nearly silenced the voices of every resident in the city. We stood against the deep pockets of corporate developers and the pressure of the police federation. We spoke truth to power, while the opposition spread lies and mischaracterized our measures to create confusion, distrust, and fear.
Still, we knocked over 100K doors, made almost 200K phone calls, and sent 300K text messages, resulting in over 60k conversations with Minneapolis residents about expanding public safety in the city. This does not include the work of our 90+ partner organizations and local small businesses.
We changed the conversation about what public safety should look like. We showed the country and the world the power of democracy and the power of the people. Now, we will work to hold leaders and the system accountable. We will continue to work to heal our city and create safer streets for all our communities.”
