Reid My Mind

Psychologically, we’re all wired differently. I’m pretty sure our DNA and perhaps our experiences play a part in how we respond to not just traumatic situations but life in general. It’s hard for me to understand freezing. I can understand pausing momentarily in order to assess the situation before responding. Like…

Before I move on to the other two categories of responses, I’m Thomas Reid, this is Reid My mind Radio.

— Reid My Mind Radio Theme Music

TR:
In the context of all the social and political attacks on our lives, freezing, looks like deciding not to engage at all. You hear things like;
“I don’t do politics.”
“I stay away from the news, it’s just so depressing.”
“None of that effects my life, I just mind my business.”

I can understand flight. It makes absolute sense for different people based on their unique situation.

If we turn back the clock to November 2024, when the election was called for Diaper Don.

Lolly:
Well, I think the week before I had some hope that it was going to go differently than it did, but I could see early on election eve that it wasn’t. I would say that my reaction was one of fear.
I think a foreboding of things to come that a lot of us knew might happen, and we have seen a lot of those things happen and more.

I recall texting my niece who lives in Toronto early morning hours, and I think both of us were in tears.

TR in conversation with Lolly:
Were you texting like, “Hey, you got a bed, or was it just commiserating?

(Laughs)

Lolly:
That was part of our conversation. Yes. So now what?

TR:
Say hello to Lolly!

Lolly:
My name is Lali Lijewski. I’m from Minneapolis, Minnesota. I use she/her pronouns.
I’m a 70-ish woman with brown and some silver hair, brown eyes. I’ve been legally blind, all my life. Lost my vision throughout my life progressively.

I also have acquired hearing loss as I’ve gotten older, and so use hearing aids in both ears. And then just recently have a diagnosis that’s more of a physical one, which you know the older you get, the more you get.

TR:
We all need to consider our safety. But there are definitely some who are more at risk and take that into consideration when participating in any sort of advocacy or activism.

Lolly:
I think that for me, advocacy just is such a strong strain in my personal identity that, of course, there was thoughts about what does this mean for me personally, what does it mean for people with disabilities in the United States? And knowing that there were likely to be some serious and severe cuts to services for people with disabilities across the country,
so that the things that are your supports daily aren’t there anymore. For people, for example, with physical disabilities, having personal care attendants come into their homes to be able to get them out of bed or to prepare food and just daily cares, those things are dependent on federal programs and state programs and so how those things would be affected was obviously on my mind.

TR:
We all have to consider not only our physical safety but our financial security as well.

Lolly:
By that time, I was already retired. I had worked for the state of Minnesota for over 18 years, and was starting down the road of learning to do audio description, so I had plans for my retirement, which I also knew might change because of the election, with Social Security potentially being affected, with Medicare potentially being affected as a senior, all of those things were on the table.

TR:
Soon after the election, what many of us who were paying attention anticipated, began.

No one had a crystal ball, the Heritage foundation Afterall published their plan – Project 2025.

— News coverage about aspects of Project 2025 that have been implemented.

Lolly:
I think a lot of us are still coming out of the trauma, and it’s not by any means over. Across the country are 2000 people being taken a day.

This surge here actually started with Homeland Security and ICE and Border Patrol here in December, but the actual influx of the 3,000 agents, and then they added more after that, didn’t really happen until early January. They focused on Minneapolis and St. Paul first, but then they also moved beyond the cities to areas in the state.

We saw people who were being taken literally off the streets. I mean, they would stop cars for no apparent reason other than the color of the individual skin, and they would just grab people, take them out of their cars. Cars got left in the middle of the streets.

TR:
The ICE surge put a real strain on Minneapolis city services. But neighbors moved into action.

Lolly told me about one man for example, who decided to help with all the abandoned cars.

Lolly:
He had a lot that he used, and he would put them in this place so that if people were released, they would know where their vehicle was.

Hyper local organizing started to happen here, and. Because we had networks that had been built up five years before during the George Floyd uprising, we had in place a lot of things that other cities didn’t have.

TR:
We’re talking about people tracking license plates of vehicles used by ICE. Folks capturing the harassment, intimidation and all sorts of incidents on video. Not just for social media. No.
We’re talking about video that can be used as evidence to bring about justice. Make a statement for the future.

“We’re not gonna take this!”

Lolly:
It was a very well run kind of network of folks who came together in a very short period of time to create a response to something that I don’t think any of us had ever seen before nor experienced before.

TR:
Freeze, flight… This is about fighting back, but perhaps not in the way you’re most familiar with.

Lolly:
It was really pretty amazing. It was all done by neighbors, and that’s what I mean by hyper local. We think of a lot of organizing as being statewide or regional or national, and that’s all important. But this became incredibly important so that people could actually respond nearly immediately to the situation at hand. That went on for a very long time. And then, of course, the second killing happened two weeks later.

TR:
I’m sure many of you remember the first ICE killing in Minneapolis; Renee Goode.

Lolly:
That morning I saw the coverage of Alex Preddy being killed.

I had joined a group called Singing Resistance, which grew out of the surge here, but has roots in singing and music, bringing music to situations like this, and how it can be a powerful mobilizer, but also it can be a powerful agent for change.

It was a very difficult day for everyone, so they took us through some breathing exercises, but then also just some songs that are civil rights kinds of songs, human rights kinds of songs, and we were together for probably 90 minutes to two hours that day, and it was, I think, the most therapeutic thing I could have done on that day.

TR:
There’s a real difference between experiencing something alone and having a chance to process it with a group of people.

Lolly:
The songs that they chose are not songs that a lot of us knew. So they did a lot of teaching of the music.

they do this call and response, and teach the song, and then have people sing it.

To have people learn music together and then end up in harmony at the end was just a very powerful experience.

TR:
It’s a beautiful metaphor of what is possible when people with good intentions come together.

Lolly’s introduction to the organization came from a Facebook post.

Lolly:
Some folks who belonged to the Quaker meeting I attend had been a part of the first singing resistance action. They were out in the neighborhoods that had been targeted, and they had some songs that they had chosen.

People in their houses were peeking out of their curtained windows, to see the singers outside. They got a lot of positive responses from folks in their houses who were in those neighborhoods that had been targeted, and I thought this is something I really want to be a part of. It’s something that fits for me. I love music. I love coming together in community in music.
The roots of this goes way back. there’s a lot of sort of spirituality to it, They’re not necessarily religious per se. This is really about being a human and helping other humans.

TR:
Enslaved Africans shared songs that weren’t just about grief or hope for a better day.
Many of them were coded messages to one another with instructions for escape.

Singing together during the Civil Rights Movement was also a way to
both strengthen bonds and keep people focused under severe pressure.

TR in conversation with Lolly:
I know that at some point in my life, my response to that would probably be like, whatever! It just doesn’t seem like it’s being all that helpful. But when you were describing it, and when you were talking about it, I was actually getting choked up, because I can see the value of that.
don’t tell anybody I said I was getting choked up. It’s gonna mess up my reputation.

TR:
You can’t broadcast everything to the world, right?
It makes sense to keep the organizing as secure as possible while making use of the technology available today.
This can however, make it hard for disabled people to learn about and participate in the organizing.

Lolly:
Yes. So the best way to learn about them was to join Signal and to get connected to some of the groups.

They form different groups depending on what you wanted to do, what roles you wanted to play. There was everything from people who were observers, rapid response folks. They would make sure that people in a given neighborhood knew that something was happening in their neighborhood.

TR:
That’s the Signal app you can download and join from your smart phone.

Lolly:
I had the challenge of trying to figure it out.
I knew a friend who was on it, and she helped me get on and create my own account, and we tested it and all of that, and then I kind of went from there.

And once the groups were being formed, you could contact them and ask for a link to be sent to you, and they would send you the link, and then you could join the group. But you kind of had to know somebody in the group, and that was challenging also because you had to start making those connections, which meant you had to do some outreach because there were security and trust issues too.

It was challenging because it’s created to be a secure app, and there’s often a clash between security and accessibility.)

TR:
We’re familiar with;
trying to navigate inaccessible or unusable apps, documents and websites.
encountering in accessible spaces
dealing with unresponsive developers, organizers and other people who can actually help make a difference

I was asked a question at one time by one of the facilitators, they asked what’s been successful what’s been good and what’s been hard and I said right straight out accessibility has been almost impossible.
I think she reacted a little defensively initially, but when her part was over. She came down from the front and she came and sat next to me and she said, “What can we do to make this different? And from then on, I had people who stepped forward in several different roles, and who would ask for input, and who tried their best to make things work, and sometimes succeeded, sometimes didn’t. But there were efforts put forth to do that, because she carried the message forward for me.

— Pulsating Emergency Horn, Incoming, Incoming! Sobering Reality Alert!

TR:
not everyone will be onboard working with disabled folks.
Like when Lolly volunteered to help a woman looking for assistance preparing flyers.

Lolly:
And she said, well, but you have to be able to cut these things apart. And I said, well, I have helpers, and they’re probably interested in this kind of thing. I can gather folks, we can do it together.

She just wasn’t open to it. She couldn’t hear that there were possible ways for me to be able to do this, and she just said,

— Combined with a monstrous voice
“No, I’m sorry. Thank you for being interested. So the door closed.
— Large metal door slamming shut.

TR:
That’s the thing about the isms. Specifically here, ableism.
Someone denies another person from participating. Meanwhile, they’re also depriving themselves from actually getting something done or reaching a goal.

It reminds me of the millions of disenfranchised people, poor people who support this administration.

“I love the poorly educated.”, President Chump!

Lolly:
I will say that was a hard thing, it wasn’t the biggest thing by any means, but it was one of those pivot points where you kind of have to make a decision about what you’re going to do and how you can do it and that sort of thing.

TR:
Even though we become familiar with these experiences, they are still difficult and in my opinion should never be thought of as standard or acceptable.

TR in conversation with Lolly:
So you had to be really intentional, not only about finding these outlets, but then of course making it accessible for you.

Lolly:
Yes, absolutely.

TR:
Lolly was resilient in her pursuit of getting involved. Even outside of the Singing Resistance, she found opportunities that fit her.

Lolly:
There were a lot of people, who were afraid to go out, and also afraid to drive their own vehicles because they were concerned that their license plates had been tracked.

So we had people who were trying to find rides. In this situation, it was a couple, both had jobs in different places, and they were working on their status. But things had not come through yet, and so they were very concerned. And so I was part of a group that was trying to find rides, basically exchanging text messages, trying to find rides for folks who were in need of transportation. And eventually, that did come together. It was a network, a very small network of folks who came together, that were able to provide rides.
Someone would pick them up in the morning, take them to work and someone would pick them up at night and take them home.

There were several people who volunteered to do this so it didn’t fall on one person.

TR:
Neighbors helping neighbors.
The result?
People were able to stay employed in order to feed and shelter themselves and their families.

Lolly shares some more examples of ways people can contribute to the effort.

Lolly:
There was so much. There were different ways that food was provided, you could deliver groceries to folks. if you were a person with a disability but had a car, you could still do something like that. I looked into it, and it would have been possible where they were packing boxes of food for people, and so that someone would take those and deliver them. But you didn’t have to be part of the actual delivery. You could just put the stuff in the boxes.

TR in conversation with Lolly:
(Sarcastically) But Lolly, you’re blind. You can’t put stuff in boxes.

Lolly:
Exactly! (Laughs)

TR:
Communication today requires a new set of skills. Therefore, the same is true for getting activated.

Lolly:
I’d done organizing where of course, we set up back in my day phone trees or fax trees or you know email lists or that kind of thing. This was different.
It had its ups and downs in terms of accessibility. It was a challenge, definitely.

It wasn’t insurmountable that there were things that weren’t possible, and it was really only because I was able to connect with some of the folks through some of the networks I got in touch with that I was able to do what I was able to do.

TR:
Some advice from Lolly on getting connected.

Lolly:
I think with those experiences now, I have a different outlook about how to make connections than I did as an advocate previously. I think this hyperlocal emphasis is really more important than we can ever emphasize.

Start to get to know the people in your building, in your block. Talk to people in your neighborhood, because that’s where you’re going to make connections.

TR in conversation with Lolly:
Let’s say you are new to a neighborhood. You don’t know many people. You’re a disabled person, and let’s say you’re not a natural extrovert.

Lolly:
You know that’s tough. I think you almost have to put yourself out and that’s always a risk because you don’t know what you’re going to get back and you don’t know how someone’s going to
receive your inquiry and your efforts to help.

even just a hello, starts the conversation.

TR:
Lolly recommends restaurants and coffee shops where customers and especially employees tend to be a bit more social and in the know about the community.

TR in conversation with Lolly:
So you’ve done it. It’s a risk.
you made a contribution in your way. Do you think it was worth the risk?

Lolly:
Yes, I do. I think that people who are either newly blind or new to vision loss don’t necessarily maybe have the confidence, and they might have had the skills before, but maybe that confidence has been dampened a bit.

I think I go into this with the attitude that I know every time I do this, I am going to probably have some bad experiences, probably have some feelings that get hurt, probably not really like a lot of what happens, but if I can keep my eyes on the prize and remember why I’m doing it, and what is important to me, which is that part of being in community and trying to make a difference. Then I can find ways to mitigate those things that don’t happen that I wish would have happened, and to find ways to try and make things happen.

TR:
Some additional advice from Lolly. First, tap into your own support system.

Lolly:
Sometimes it’s just expressing to somebody else, it was really a screwed up day. Nothing went well. I tried these things; they didn’t work. I don’t know where to go next. And someone might have an answer, and they might not. But if you keep putting it out there, somebody might come forward with something that works for you.

You can’t do it alone, is what I found. You really do have to share some of that sort of disappointment and frustration with other people because that’s what helps keep you going.

I think the best advice is to stay open, to think about what skills and abilities do you have? And every one of us has things they can offer. What can you share? Where is it best to try and plug in. And even if you’re having trouble, finding places that you can continue to try.

TR:
That’s a key element right there. Persistence.

Lolly:
It’s been my experience, that disability often becomes the last on the laundry list, so to speak, or gets forgotten altogether.

And when I was struggling with some of this, what I kept hearing was openness to immigrants, openness to people from the LGBTQ community, but I didn’t hear disability mentioned much until I had the conversation with the person who really kind of helped turn things around, and then I found many people who were willing to do that, but I had to be willing to be honest about it and say this isn’t working for me, and this is why, and this is what I need.

If you’re not at the table, your needs will likely not be met or heard.

TR in conversation with Lolly:
Yeah, that sounds like some great advice. In the end, what did you gain from participating? How did it make you feel?

Lolly:
Much more a part of the community of people who were going through these experiences, and while so many people had different roles, the one thing that all of us shared was we were in a situation we did not ask for, and we were forced into having to create these options and these avenues for connection, and some just amazing things came out of that, and it shows how when you think you know the worst is happening. Sometimes it is, but also at the same time, because two things can be true at the same time, at least two things, then there also are good things that are happening in other places or in places where you’ve been trying to make a difference.

You can make a difference.

TR:
For whatever reason, making a difference, can feel really important to many of us. If we’re not working towards that goal, then we’re going to feel unfulfilled.

It’s not even about the level of difference being made. Most often you won’t know what that actually is. But that’s not the point. It’s about the effort we put out. The energy we share with the world. Lolly said it earlier;

Lolly:
This is really about being a human and helping other humans.

TR:
I hope producing this series of episodes is one way for me to make my small contribution to the collective energy.

Big, big, big shout out to Lolly Lijewski.

I’ve gotten to know Lolly a bit over the past year or so and one thing I can say, her ability to be persistent is real.
It’s admirable and quite honestly can serve as a real guide for us all. It has for me.

That’s why, Lolly, you are an official member of the Reid My Mind Radio family!

We will continue exploring the different ways we can fight back.
So, stay tapped in by following or subscribing to Reid My Mind Radio wherever you get podcasts.
We have transcripts and more at ReidMyMind.com

The good thing about this podcasts is we’re not covert, we’re not underground., there’s no secret signal or code to gain access.
You just have to spell it right…
That’s R to the E I D!

Like my last name!

— Reid My Mind Radio Outro
Peace!

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