Duluth Now
Jul 23, 2017 · 13 min read

13 Grassroots Groups Making Waves in the Twin Ports

Grassroots activism is happening all around you, even if you don’t know it. Much of it will impact you, your neighbors, friends family and even children for years to come. We hope this will be your guide to creating change and engaging in your community for the next few months. This is part one of a series spotlighting the people who create our thriving community.

  1. Feminist Action Collective
image from feministactioncollective.org

Feminist Action Collective is one of the youngest activist organizations in Duluth, having been conceived in late 2016. However, this organization’s lack of longevity does not signify a lack of accomplishments. FAC is extremely active, with over twenty-four events this month alone. FAC is focused on supporting feminist goals and standing up for issues that government leaders won’t. Their flagship issues include women’s reproductive rights, promoting productive communication, focused in common ground, across ideological lines, and understanding and combating everyday sexism and women’s discrimination. They do collaborative work with other groups in our region such as the American Association of University Women and Men as Peacemakers.

One of FAC’s most exciting new campaigns is their 50% by 2025 Campaign. The focus of this campaign is to establish women in 50% of Minnesota’s leadership positions, both in government and in the private sector, by 2025. FAC identifies that while more than 50% of Minnesota’s population is female, women are drastically underrepresented in leadership positions, and they pledge to achieving more representative leadership by 2025.

If you’re interested in joining up with the Feminist Action Collective, you can join their Facebook group here.

Those who identify as women or as non-binary are welcome at their bi-monthly meetings, which occur every other Wednesday from 7:00–8:30 at The Building for Women. Their public events are open to all genders, as are their HOTDISH Militia meetings, which are every Thursday at 5:30 at The Building for Women. Check out their calendar here.

2. Vision Duluth

Vision Duluth is a group of 9 organizations that works to build strong bonds to push new policies that tackle disparities in Duluth by creating close ties with elected officials. Some of the issues they tackle include affordable housing, earned sick and safe time, racism, wages, and transportation, as well as other social issues. They state that their strategy is to work with progressive elected officials who will create change through policy implementation.

Their primary focus currently is establishing Earned Sick and Safe Time for Duluth workers. A quote from their website states, “According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 51% of workers in the Greater Duluth area lack access to paid time off, which interferes with their ability to properly care for themselves and their loved ones. Women and people of color are most affected by a lack of paid sick time.” Learn more about Earned Sick and Safe time at their next meeting on July 27th, 2017.

Partner organizations: TakeAction Minnesota, Education Minnesota, North East Area Labor Council, CHUM, Community Action Duluth, YWCA, SOAR Career Solutions , PAVSA

3. RAAN

The Rural AIDS Action Network (RAAN) has 5 offices in Minnesota, one located in Duluth. We knew that RAAN helped with syringe exchange, providing a support network for those impacted by HIV/AIDS and that they provided Narcan Kits for opiate overdoses…but we weren’t sure what the day to day was like, so we reached out to our friend Jameson Danielson, an employee of RAAN. Here is what he had to say: “RAAN isn’t new to naloxone, we’ve been giving it out for a few years now. It’s just now gaining more attention. We provide syringes but so much more than that. We give out some warm hats and mittens in winter, we give out cold water in reusable bottles in the warm months. We connect people to treatment services of their choice. We give out food we have had donated. We give out books and toys to small children that our clients have. We provide sharps containers to our clients and various city of Duluth offices. We assist sex workers with various needs, including giving out condoms and lube. We also help with housing resources for clients.”

Jameson went on to explain the positive impacts of RAAN. “People who use a syringe exchange program are 5 times more likely to enter some type of treatment program. No one leaves our testing site without a doctor’s appointment, and we help set the appointments up for them if they are positive for Hepatitis C and/or HIV/AIDS. We are often the only people our clients feel they can talk to about hard to talk about things, a friend when their addiction has taken everything and everyone they’ve known. Pretty much anything a client asks for help with, we help with. We often describe what we do as a trail of breadcrumbs people need to see they can trust us little by little because the disease of addiction is so complex. We often have people who have been our clients and have stopped using come visit and share their updates. We even provide art materials for people to draw and color with if they are waiting or just need a safe space to hang for a bit. That’s just off the top of my head.” How incredible is that? Many organizations struggle to provide even a bit of all the great things RAAN offers to those in our community.

4. Northland Progressive Network

http://northlandprogressivenetwork.weebly.com/

An essential part of grassroots organizing is finding intersectionality. Activists largely do work without funding (yeah, yeah we’ve all heard the term “paid activist”- it simply isn’t true), volunteering free time and brainpower to create change. Something we know all too well is that time is a valuable resource and ways that time can be managed better are incredibly important. The Northland Progressive Network has recently bloomed to fill this very important role in Duluth. We’ve learned that this organization is trying to connect the dots to streamline grassroots processes. Working together to find common ground creates change, faster. Their website states they define “‘progressive’ as efforts to promote egalitarianism and human equality; to promote social change that protects the environment and increases access to economic opportunity, health care, and education; and that empowers ALL people, including youth, women, people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ community, and individuals of all faiths and world views.”

One of the most important things about the Northland Progressive Network’s website is their directory of local organizations, which sorts organizations by issue. Some of the issues on their website include clean water, food systems, homelessness, redistricting, pipelines, voters rights, and many more.

5. Trans+

screenshot from transplusmn.weebly.com

Trans+ is going through some organizational changes at this time, but we wanted to share their website because it provides a thorough list of area resources and support networks. #transisbeautiful

6. TakeAction Minnesota

TakeAction Minnesota is a vocal group that has offices in St. Paul and Duluth, representing a network of people all across Minnesota. They have actionable strategies to help tackle racial & economic disparities. They work to connect passionate people with local organizations. Sometimes one person or one group really needs support because doing it alone can be a huge mountain, and TakeAction Minnesota works to provide that support. Achieving large goals is easier when connecting with like-minded individuals. Some of their partner organizations include the Somali Action Network, MN Neighborhoods Organizing for Change and The Land Stewardship Project.

Most recently, TakeAction Minnesota has worked on increasing health care coverage across the state, earned sick and safe time in Duluth, and endorsing political candidates in municipal elections around Minnesota.

7. Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights Coalition

cold breath

Two words: Duluth winter. Two more words: Affordable housing. While our community works to tackle access and availability of affordable housing in our area it must protect the people experiencing homelessness, rather than hindering their basic rights. The organizations & people fighting for the Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights are calling for the following protections:

“The right to use and move freely in public spaces, without discrimination or arbitrary time limits. The right to rest in public spaces and protect oneself from elements in a non-obstructive manner. The right to eat, share or accept food in public spaces. The right to occupy a legally parked motor vehicle. The right to a reasonable expectation of privacy in public spaces. The right to equal treatment by city staff and agencies. The right to protection from disclosure of personal information without consent. The right to protection from discrimination in housing and employment. The right to 24-hour access to basic hygiene facilities. The right to choose whether or not to utilize emergency shelter. The right to speak with an advocate or street outreach worker when questioned by police.”

We’re certain you’d want the same considerations, so let’s get the ball rollin’. Some of the organizations endorsing this project include CHUM, Loaves and Fishes, 1Roof Community Housing, The City of Duluth Indigenous Commission, Duluth NAACP, and even local businesses including Duluth Coffee Company.

You can help by joining in onthe conversation at the monthly meetings here: For the summer months, the Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights Coalition will hold meetings every other week to the 1st & 3rd Thursdays of every month @ 6:30. Dorothy Day House, 1712 Jefferson Street.

You can also help by telling your city councilors to pass this bill. ’Tis the season to vote for councilors in a few months who are in support of passing this legislation. Council candidates that have vocally supported this bill include Joel Sipress, Em Westerlund and Gary Braden Anderson. But they’re not the only ones. At Large Candidate Rich Updegrove has voiced support and when asked, Renee Van Nett responded with “I am in support of the bill….If passed I would love to work to strengthen its core … the 4th district is full of disparities and homelessness is not a stranger to me or the 4th.” Barb Russ’s campaign commented this “Barb is a strong supporter of the Homeless Bill of Rights and would support passing it once it is completed”.

If you didn’t see your city councilor on that list, you should contact them! Remember you hired them and you are the boss, you pay the taxes, and you can make this happen before winter comes. Please do reach out to Joel Sipress, the City Council President to find out where the council is on this issue. We’ve learned that the Mayor as well as city officials and administration are vocally supportive but aren’t pushing for an actual ordinance because they see this issue as something to be fixed via police reform. But that is a whole other can of worms isn’t it, and likely won’t happen before winter hits this year. But you can control the fate of our city’s homeless population by voting in the right candidates this fall. Once voted in, hold them accountable to keep their promises.

Election dates: Primary Election- Tuesday, September 12, 2017. General Election-Tuesday, November 7, 2017.

8. The Northern Worker

The Northern Worker is one of the oldest grassroots organizations in the Twin Ports. They publish a blog, a weekly e-zine, and a calendar that highlights issues and events related to workers’ rights, racial justice, feminist, environmental, student, and other activist movements. If you head to their website you’ll find they are intertwined with many of the issues worked on by groups here today. Something special we wanted to mention was “The Solidarity Shelf” organized by members of the Northern Worker, a place where one can go 24/7 to find food and clothing on the deck of a private residence. This emanates kindness and sense of camaraderie. This is something so simple to accomplish that maybe you might want to try it out?

9. Lake Superior Ex Prisoners Organizing (EXPO)

Lake Superior Ex Prisoners Organizing is based out of Wisconsin and has an office just over the bridge in Superior. There is reason to believe that in an over-policed country like ours, where the criminal justice system is broken, we will all sooner or later be treated as criminals. Too often our justice systems try to solve social problems with jail time which, studies have shown, only makes things worse for individuals. Over militarization of police has paved the path for the war on crime and war on drugs when the heart of these issues lie in social factors.

EXPO fights to change the lives of people after they’ve had to deal with the legal system, they also fight to end mass incarceration. EXPO is organized and run by formerly incarcerated people as well as allies. Their motto is “you have the right to NOT remain silent” and we agree! EXPO helps former prisoners to return to a dignified life after leaving prison. They also work to restore communities that have been most harmed by mass incarceration. Keep up the great work, EXPO!

10. Duluth For Clean Water

Duluth For Clean Water’s central focus is, perhaps obviously, to protect clean water. Their current efforts are focused on organizing and supporting opposition towards the construction of a copper sulfide mine in Northern Minnesota proposed by Polymet and backed by Glencore. Duluth For Clean Water has hosted public events to provide opportunities for conversation and education. They’ve held job forums to talk about alternative ways to stimulate the region’s economy. They have recently endorsed several Duluth City Council candidates who value clean water such as Janet Kennedy, Rich Updegrove and Joel Sipress. Currently, DFCW is collecting signatures for a letter asking Governor Mark Dayton and Minnesota’s DNR Commissioner to order an evidentiary hearing for Polymet’s permit to mine application you can sign the letter here. Sulfide mining has never taken place in Minnesota and the data shows any place a sulfide mine exists, 100% of the time pollution from the mine devastates the surrounding ecosystem. What’s at stake for us? The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and of course, Lake Superior, since we are downstream of this watershed.

11. Honor the Earth

image from honorearth.org

The importance of Duluth’s heritage cannot be stressed enough. There have been no other people in our region like the indigenous stewards who were on this land before us. A way to get involved and support our heritage is to understand that water is life, and here we are quite literally living on the shores of one of the world’s Great Lakes. The water protectors of today can be found all over this world but most notably in our region you can connect with a group called Honor the Earth. Winona LaDuke, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers founded Honor the Earth in 1993.

This organization helps combat and vocalize sexual violence towards indigenous women at natural resource extraction sites and supports efforts against harmful fracking. Members of Honor the Earth participated in activism surrounding the Dakota Access Pipeline, and they are also here in our region fighting the Line 3 abandonment and replacement project.

12. Bag It Duluth

You probably heard that Minnesota’s state government banned plastic bag bans a few months ago. That doesn’t mean that local organization, Bag It, Duluth, has quieted down. Bag It, Duluth intends to encourage the use of reusable carry-out bags and what they refer to as “environmentally preferable” to-go containers — that is, recyclable containers. Considering that 20 million pounds of plastics enter the Great Lakes every year, and plastic visibly litters the beaches on Park Point, Bag It, Duluth sees it as our collective responsibility to reduce our use of these plastics and their impact on our environment. Great Lakes cleanup and restoration funding is always being threatened, and with that in mind, we can use this opportunity to stop pollution before it enters Lake Superior.

Bag It, Duluth highlights on their website local businesses that have committed to reducing or removing single-use bags to name just a few: UMD School Stores, Whole Foods Co-op, Chester Creek Cafe, Aldi, Tavern on the Hill, The Duluth Grill and Pizza Luce.

Just because Minnesota’s government has decided to ban this ban🤔, this doesn’t mean that we, as a community, can’t work to reduce our impact on the Earth. Thanks Bag It, Duluth!

13. Friends of Western Duluth Parks & Trails & Duluth Bikes

Duluth would be pretty dull without access to the pristine wilderness within our city limits. FOTP makes information more readily available for people who use our local, state and federal wild areas, as well as information about local events like Arbor Day, COGGS events, pollution clean up, wolf protection and more. In the theme of recreation, Duluth Bikes is working to make Duluth a more bicycle friendly city. Our Mayor, Emily Larson, has a lofty, but achievable and important, goal to curb greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by year 2050. To meet this goal we need to create change in many areas including our transportation. We know that climate change is upon us, we can feel it in the air. We also know that just 100 companies contribute 71% of the world’s fossil fuel emissions but guess what, we can do our part in the nation’s most beautiful outdoor city.

Lake Avenue and Superior Street Activism Event

If you want to help change the Northland community for the better, these organizations are a great place to start. But these aren’t the only ways. You can create change everyday through music, visual artwork, asking questions of elected officials, sending a quick email to your legislators, creating flyers, leaving anonymous post-its in a bathroom, telling someone who needs support that you’ve got their back, divesting your funds from dirty banks and heading to swellinvesting.com to look into green investing. Lastly you can share this article with your local networks.

Did we miss your favorite community organization? Let us know in the comments!


Tweet us at duluthnow. Follow us on @ facebook.com/duluthnow. Send us an email at duluthnow@gmail.com.

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