Madison businesses including coffee shops and retailers are shutting their doors Friday as part of a nationwide shutdown, solidarity march and rally in opposition of the federal government’s use of ICE agents in Minnesota and communities around the country.
Places like the Wine and Hop Shop, Working Draft Brewery, Bloom Bake Shop, A Room of One’s Own Bookstore, Giant Jones Brewing, Wonderstate Coffee and more will be closed for the national strike.
“We are upset and disturbed by what is happening to our friends and neighbors in Minneapolis, Maine and other areas of the country,” Wine and Hop Shop owner Ben Feifarek said in a statement. “People have been murdered, including two whose killings were recorded for us all to see. Everyone has human and constitutional rights, and these rights are being trampled upon.”
Organizers said the national shutdown is a response to actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, and pointed to the “brutal killings of Alex Pretti, Renee Good, Silverio Villegas González, and Keith Porter Jr. by federal agents.” Over 1,000 groups around the country have endorsed a day of “No work. No school. No shopping.”
More than 60 CEOS of large Minnesota companies like Target, Best Buy, Cargill, General Mills and 3M, among others, issued an open letter on Jan. 25 “calling for an immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions.”
In Madison, Giant Jones made the decision to participate in the national strike after agreeing to do so as a team.
“It is difficult to know what to do with feelings of fear, anger, hurt and helplessness that we have and share with many at seeing the brutality of the ICE actions in our communities,” Giant Jones CEO and co-owner Erika Jones said. “We wanted to do something, and discussed our options. We felt that by closing for the day it would both show our support and solidarity, and maybe help others see that they can do something, even something small.
“By withholding our money and showing up for our community members we can hopefully reclaim some power and some hope through this mess.”
Others like Alimentari are closing early so staff can participate in the protest at the state Capitol. On its Instagram page, the deli said “all profits from that day will be donated to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota to support immigrant legal defense and advocacy.”
Forward Craft and Coffee, meanwhile, will donate $1 of every drink sold on Friday to the Minnesota Rapid Response Fund.
Raygun, which recently opened a location on State Street, will be open but urges people to hit the big companies in the pocket book by canceling Amazon Prime for one month, not shop on Amazon and avoid buying Apple products.
Owner Mike Draper calls it the “Spring Pause idea. Something that Professor Scott Galloway has pitched that we think could actually hit hard.”
Galloway is a marketing professor who has called for consumer boycotts to protest Donald Trump and his administration.
Draper said he thinks this route is more effective, as “a general strike driven by small businesses who don’t feed into the publicly traded corporations that rule the American economy, in our opinion, won’t have as much impact.”
Artsy Farsy owner Jeanette Burda said she is supporting the community by having a table set up Thursday and Friday at the 1717 Monroe St. business for people to come in and make protest signs.
Everything from the poster boards to markers to paint will be free for people to use to prepare for Friday’s march and rally at the Capitol.
She’s also giving away free whistles made by a local artist with instructions on how to use the whistles, such as which tone means what.
Whistles have become important in Minnesota as a way for protesters and the community to communicate what is going on.
“We’ve been giving away a lot of whistles,” she said. “We have to do it. We are giving away whistles because we don’t know when ICE will be here.
“And we are not on the administration’s likable list as far as states and cities. Whatever is going to happen, I have no doubt they will be coming here in larger numbers and we want to be ready for them.”
