Brenda Natala
@bvanoui.bsky.social
Retired Special Education administrator. Regenerating, growing stuff, grand mothering, city/country, St. Paul proud! Pro-immigrant, anti-patriarchy, étudiante.
Reposted by Brenda Natala
Documenting Deportation Flights at MSP Airport
“ICE agents would disembark from the airplane and unload bags of shackles from the cargo hold … seeing the chains that would soon be confining my neighbors, binding their hands together at their waist and then down between their ankles.”
“ICE agents would disembark from the airplane and unload bags of shackles from the cargo hold … seeing the chains that would soon be confining my neighbors, binding their hands together at their waist and then down between their ankles.”
Documenting Deportation Flights at MSP Airport - UNICORN RIOT
Over the past several months, an "aviation geek" in Minnesota who goes by ottergoose on reddit has been tracking, photographing, and posting his documentation of deportation flights online.
unicornriot.ninja
December 8, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Documenting Deportation Flights at MSP Airport
“ICE agents would disembark from the airplane and unload bags of shackles from the cargo hold … seeing the chains that would soon be confining my neighbors, binding their hands together at their waist and then down between their ankles.”
“ICE agents would disembark from the airplane and unload bags of shackles from the cargo hold … seeing the chains that would soon be confining my neighbors, binding their hands together at their waist and then down between their ankles.”
Though Meg Luger Nikolai got the endorsement after 5 rounds of voting, all 5 candidates are staying in for the Dec 16 primary.
December 8, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Though Meg Luger Nikolai got the endorsement after 5 rounds of voting, all 5 candidates are staying in for the Dec 16 primary.
Reposted by Brenda Natala
URGENT INFORMATION for my Minnesota peeps:
Hotels in the Twin Cities that are generously hosting ICE "agents"..
Do your thing!
♻️ please repost ♻️
#Mpls #Minneapolis #StPaul #TwinCities #Minnesota #MN
TY, @oneveteransoath.bsky.social, for making me aware!
bsky.app/profile/iwil...
Hotels in the Twin Cities that are generously hosting ICE "agents"..
Do your thing!
♻️ please repost ♻️
#Mpls #Minneapolis #StPaul #TwinCities #Minnesota #MN
TY, @oneveteransoath.bsky.social, for making me aware!
bsky.app/profile/iwil...
ICE is currently staying at four hotels in the Twin Cities area.
December 7, 2025 at 7:24 PM
URGENT INFORMATION for my Minnesota peeps:
Hotels in the Twin Cities that are generously hosting ICE "agents"..
Do your thing!
♻️ please repost ♻️
#Mpls #Minneapolis #StPaul #TwinCities #Minnesota #MN
TY, @oneveteransoath.bsky.social, for making me aware!
bsky.app/profile/iwil...
Hotels in the Twin Cities that are generously hosting ICE "agents"..
Do your thing!
♻️ please repost ♻️
#Mpls #Minneapolis #StPaul #TwinCities #Minnesota #MN
TY, @oneveteransoath.bsky.social, for making me aware!
bsky.app/profile/iwil...
Reposted by Brenda Natala
The Minnesota State DFL Constitution allows organizing unit central committees to make endorsements for special elections, but there is nothing that requires them to do so. dfl.org/wp-content/u...
SD64 DFL does not post their governing documents on their website, but I can't imagine a requirement.
SD64 DFL does not post their governing documents on their website, but I can't imagine a requirement.
December 7, 2025 at 2:23 AM
The Minnesota State DFL Constitution allows organizing unit central committees to make endorsements for special elections, but there is nothing that requires them to do so. dfl.org/wp-content/u...
SD64 DFL does not post their governing documents on their website, but I can't imagine a requirement.
SD64 DFL does not post their governing documents on their website, but I can't imagine a requirement.
Reposted by Brenda Natala
#OnThisDay Dec 5, 1950: A 3 day blizzard begins, eventually covering the state in nearly 2' of snow. Duluth receives 25.4" in just 24 hours, over 30" total, a record at the time. In Minneapolis, the Fire Dept is called out to help clear hydrants and streets.
December 5, 2025 at 7:32 PM
#OnThisDay Dec 5, 1950: A 3 day blizzard begins, eventually covering the state in nearly 2' of snow. Duluth receives 25.4" in just 24 hours, over 30" total, a record at the time. In Minneapolis, the Fire Dept is called out to help clear hydrants and streets.
Are going to have a DFL primary for governor in #minnesota? Seems like a good idea. Dems are nervous.
December 4, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Are going to have a DFL primary for governor in #minnesota? Seems like a good idea. Dems are nervous.
Maybe she thought no one would want a 2003 Ford Ranger yet she lives blocks from the old Ford plant, home of the Ranger. You know I lock my Ranger! Will they never learn????? It happens every year!
There is something so deeply, deeply Minnesotan about these sorts of posts (which I see every winter). If you're from almost anywhere else and wondering if you're missing something: this person did in fact leave their car running, unlocked, keys in the ignition.
December 2, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Maybe she thought no one would want a 2003 Ford Ranger yet she lives blocks from the old Ford plant, home of the Ranger. You know I lock my Ranger! Will they never learn????? It happens every year!
Great news!
NEWS: My bipartisan bill with Sen. Murkowski to support people with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and their families, the FASD Respect Act, was just signed into law.
Grateful for the tireless leadership of former MN First Lady Susan Shepard Carlson, who helped make this happen.
Grateful for the tireless leadership of former MN First Lady Susan Shepard Carlson, who helped make this happen.
December 1, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Great news!
On #worldaidsday I am remembering the TEN family and friends I lost in the time before ARVs were widely available and stigma and fear dominated. It was a horrific time. Most were from Zambia where by 1991 90,000 people died and thousands still die each year. www.unicef.org/zambia/hivaids
HIV/AIDS
How UNICEF works with children and adolescents to halt the spread of HIV
www.unicef.org
December 1, 2025 at 7:48 PM
On #worldaidsday I am remembering the TEN family and friends I lost in the time before ARVs were widely available and stigma and fear dominated. It was a horrific time. Most were from Zambia where by 1991 90,000 people died and thousands still die each year. www.unicef.org/zambia/hivaids
I am commemorating #worldaidsday despite the villain in the WH who not only pretends painful history doesn’t exist, but actively kicks people when they are down. Gutting US AID & NIH when so much progress has been made, and a vaccine close but not yet available is cruel.
2/2 The US has done so much good over the decades. So many lives, millions of children's lives, saved. Today, people can live, & infection can be prevented. HIV knows no borders. We should commemorate World AIDS Day q year, as we have for decades. I'm going to. My memories are potent.
#WorldAIDSDay
#WorldAIDSDay
December 1, 2025 at 7:40 PM
I am commemorating #worldaidsday despite the villain in the WH who not only pretends painful history doesn’t exist, but actively kicks people when they are down. Gutting US AID & NIH when so much progress has been made, and a vaccine close but not yet available is cruel.
Imagine Snelling Ave like this
One of the many reasons change is hard when it comes to better cities is that the ability to picture your city being and working very differently than it does now, aka “having vision,” is not nearly as common as we think. And it’s sadly not a prerequisite for leadership, although it should be.
December 1, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Imagine Snelling Ave like this
Reposted by Brenda Natala
Just FYI, it’s « Somalis » not « Somalians »
November 28, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Just FYI, it’s « Somalis » not « Somalians »
Reposted by Brenda Natala
If all.the people from “third world countries” are banned from migrating to America because of a deadly shooting, what are we going to do about all the armed young white men?
November 29, 2025 at 12:40 AM
If all.the people from “third world countries” are banned from migrating to America because of a deadly shooting, what are we going to do about all the armed young white men?
If there was one thing I could change to improve quality of life along Snelling, it would be radically improved pedestrian safety.
And you take your life in your hands crossing traffic on University or Snelling and/or both
November 26, 2025 at 7:52 PM
If there was one thing I could change to improve quality of life along Snelling, it would be radically improved pedestrian safety.
My sweet nephew, age 34, has passed away - he was brought to the US as a small child - and was deported 5 years ago after serving time in ICE custody in Minnesota. He was loving, funny, brilliant. How many others who have suffered from the trauma of our immigration policy are dying too young?
November 25, 2025 at 7:08 PM
My sweet nephew, age 34, has passed away - he was brought to the US as a small child - and was deported 5 years ago after serving time in ICE custody in Minnesota. He was loving, funny, brilliant. How many others who have suffered from the trauma of our immigration policy are dying too young?
Reposted by Brenda Natala
#ResistanceRoots
Today in history, 2000: The U.N. General Assembly recognizes the first International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Nov. 25 was selected to mark the anniversary of the murders of the Mirabel sisters in the Dominican Republic in 1960. /1
Today in history, 2000: The U.N. General Assembly recognizes the first International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Nov. 25 was selected to mark the anniversary of the murders of the Mirabel sisters in the Dominican Republic in 1960. /1
November 25, 2025 at 5:48 PM
#ResistanceRoots
Today in history, 2000: The U.N. General Assembly recognizes the first International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Nov. 25 was selected to mark the anniversary of the murders of the Mirabel sisters in the Dominican Republic in 1960. /1
Today in history, 2000: The U.N. General Assembly recognizes the first International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Nov. 25 was selected to mark the anniversary of the murders of the Mirabel sisters in the Dominican Republic in 1960. /1
Reposted by Brenda Natala
A declining U.S. population is exactly why immigration matters — and always has. It’s the only real pro-growth strategy our country has. The cruelty and chaos this administration is inflicting on immigrant communities cannot be overstated.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Column | In these U.S. groups, deaths now exceed births. What’s happening?
The United States is not far from the point where, each winter, deaths will regularly edge out births.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:53 AM
A declining U.S. population is exactly why immigration matters — and always has. It’s the only real pro-growth strategy our country has. The cruelty and chaos this administration is inflicting on immigrant communities cannot be overstated.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Reposted by Brenda Natala
Today, after months of requests, I toured the Broadview ICE Processing Facility. I want to share what I saw.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
November 25, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Today, after months of requests, I toured the Broadview ICE Processing Facility. I want to share what I saw.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
Reposted by Brenda Natala
Jimmy Cliff in the 1972 film The Harder They Come (1972), which introduced Jamaican reggae music to an international audience
#RIPJimmyCliff
#RIPJimmyCliff
November 24, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Jimmy Cliff in the 1972 film The Harder They Come (1972), which introduced Jamaican reggae music to an international audience
#RIPJimmyCliff
#RIPJimmyCliff
Reposted by Brenda Natala
The Bible talks about Saint Paul but doesn't mention Minneapolis.
November 24, 2025 at 6:47 PM
The Bible talks about Saint Paul but doesn't mention Minneapolis.