LEOMINSTER — The organizer of the standout held over the weekend in honor of the mom who was shot to death by an ICE agent in Minneapolis has a clear message — “What happened to Renee Good is a threat to those of us who are standing up for our Black and brown community members who have been fearful to step out of their houses because they would be kidnapped or killed.”
Over three dozen people congregated downtown in the cold temps on Sunday, Jan. 11, for the event dubbed “Justice for Renee Good and all victims of ICE.”
Local resident Wren Eliott, 39, spearheaded the peaceful gathering.
“Murdering Renee shows a clear message from ICE, and our government, saying, ‘No one is safe anymore,’ and that just does not sit well with me,” Eliott said of what inspired them to get back into the world of protesting.
The age range of those who attended was wide and included residents from all over the area. Ellen Walsh came from West Boylston with her husband Jim Walsh, who joined another Jim — Jim Campbell, a regular at protests in the region — to provide a drum beats for the song being played.
The relevant soundtrack that lent to the feeling of resistance in the air included “Come Together” by The Beatles, “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against the Machine, “Uncle Sam Goddamn” by Brother Ali, and “Uprising” by Muse, the latter’s lyrics featuring the words “They will not force us, They will stop degrading us, They will not control us, We will be victorious.”
City resident Jan McDaniel, a retired journalist, shared that she called Minneapolis home for 25 years and lived among and worked with the Somali community there, “wonderful people looking for a new start.” Like so many others she is appalled by what is happening there and said if she lived in Minneapolis now, it would be a whole different story for her than when she did before.
“I felt safe there as a white woman. I wouldn’t feel safe there now,” she said.
McDaniel addressed the actions of the Trump administration when it comes to immigration and ICE violence, stating “it’s not policy, is just cruelty.”
“We need a good immigration policy in this country. This is not it,” she said.
Bob from Lunenburg pointed out the irony of the banners with pictures of hometown heroes hanging above them.
“These are people who fought fascism way back. Now we’re doing it again,” he said of the military members featured on them.
City Councilor Carrie Noseworthy was among those in Monument Square on Sunday. She met all the local organizers and stood alongside them holding a sign Eliott made.
When asked why it was important to her to be there, the veteran kept it brief but to the point.
“As someone who served this nation and now serves our community, I’m committed to unity, accountability, public safety, and respect for democracy,” Noseworthy said.
Although there were a handful of negative responses — a few male passersby gave the protesters the middle finger — most of the reactions from travelers going by was positive, with lots of friendly honks, thumbs up and smiles.
One man stopped and rolled his window down and yelled out “Gracias!” three times as his young daughter sat in the passenger seat shyly smiling beside him. Signs held featured messages including “8647 resist fascism,” “One Really Pissed off Boomer,” and one adapted from a quote by Margaret Atwood – “Men fear women will laugh at them. Women fear men will kill them.”
Like so many others in the area and beyond, Eliott faithfully organized a lot of protests last year in opposition of President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies and rhetoric and surrounding concerns about their impact on democracy and oppressed populations including minorities and immigrants. At one point, Eliott began feeling burnt out with the onslaught of bad news and decided to take a break from putting together protests to focus on mental health.
“I was getting close to wanting to come back into the scene. I jumped in on a small protest in Boston about a month ago while on a weekend getaway with my partner and it felt good to be a part of that again,” Elliot said. “I was sticking to the shallow end of the pool to keep my sanity in check but then this explosion happened in Minnesota, and I knew now was the time to dive into the deep end once more and take to the streets.”
Pepperell resident Krystal Zeogas, who is also active in the local protest scene, joined in with the group, which was majority women. She formed Townsend Ma 50501 last year and is still a part of organizing protests in the area.
“We have to be willing to have conversations with each other or we’re never going to get out of this,” she said on Sunday about the toxic political division that has taken hold of the country.
Tessa Poirier went to two standouts over the weekend, the one in Leominster and one the day before in front of Fitchburg City Hall. The mom of three is very active in the local activist community and feels the death of Good and all the emotions that come with the tragedy very deeply.
“Renee Nicole Good was killed on my birthday. We were born three months apart, both mothers, and both believe in standing up for our neighbors,” Poirier said.” When I saw the video of her being shot, I saw myself and it was a wakeup call that no matter your privilege, no one is safe right now.”
She handed out pins to everyone with the words “shared space use kindness” and a drawing of the Earth on them and brought a bouquet of red roses she laid on the ground along with an electric candle and a sign displaying Good’s dates of birth and death.
“Although I see myself in Renee, and that scares me to my core, that is just a small glimpse of what Black, brown and Indigenous people feel every day in this country,” Poirier said. “Almost 40 people have died in the hands of ICE since last January. We need to learn their names and faces, too.”
Eliott echoed her sentiments, saying they will not stop speaking out and speaking up.
“They want to silence me because I care about the diversity of America? No. There are so many people dying by the hands of ICE, including a Black man called Keith Porter from LA, just days before Renee, and we are supposed to just what, let them do it? Absolutely not. We rise together.”
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