“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced” – James Baldwin.
Oakland Socialists have published this article Next steps for them and us after the ICE murder of ICU nurse Alex Pretti. Their passage about the weakness of both union leadership and ‘Socialist Alternative’ failed engagement in the organised working class rings true here in Australia as well. It is worth reading their article titled “Mass anti-ICE protest vs. extremely dangerous alternative“. – Ian Curr, Editor, 27 Jan 2026.
“Socialist Alternative, which seems to have something of a presence in Minneapolis, has a similar failing (to union leaders). They report on the January 23 protest here and comment on the execution of Alex Pretti here. To their credit, they do repeatedly comment on the passivity of the union leadership, but what they fail to do is propose a remedy – in other words, build rank and file opposition groups. The reason for this absence is two-fold: First is that in all their history they have failed to try to do this. Second is that in reality they see the solution as being to join Socialist Alternative. (I say this through long personal acquaintance with this group and many of its members personally.)”
Bruce Springsteen’s homage to Bob Dylan’s ‘My back pages’ … Dylan is from Hibbing, Minnesota, a small town just outside of Minneapolis.
It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Through the winter’s ice and cold
Down Nicollet Avenue
A city aflame fought fire and ice
‘Neath an occupier’s boots
King Trump’s private army from the DHS
Guns belted to their coats
Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law
Or so their story goes
Against smoke and rubber bullets
By the dawn’s early light
Citizens stood for justice
Their voices ringing through the night
And there were bloody footprints
Where mercy should have stood
And two dead left to die on snow-filled streets
Alex Pretti and Renee Good
Oh, our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
Here in our home, they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
Trump’s federal thugs beat up on
His face and his chest
Then we heard the gunshots
And Alex Pretti lay in the snow, dead
Their claim was self-defense, sir
Just don’t believe your eyes
It’s our blood and bones
And these whistles and phones
Against Miller and Noem’s dirty lies
Oh, our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Crying through the bloody mist
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
Now they say they’re here to uphold the law
But they trample on our rights
If your skin is black or brown, my friend
You can be questioned or deported on sight
In chants of ICE out now
Our city’s heart and soul persists
Through broken glass and bloody tears
On the streets of Minneapolis
Oh, our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
Here in our home, they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
https://youtu.be/wWKSoxG1K7w?si=e1SK93TS65lUovwb