“I’m incredibly excited to make this news public. Last week I was awarded a Mid-Career Project Grant funded by the McKnight Foundation and administered through Forecast Public Art. I am overwhelmed and overjoyed by this support and its implications for the work and energy that is being generated out of the relationships forming in Beyond Repair. With this support (along with last weeks wonderful news of a Visual Arts Fund grant through the Warhol Foundation and Midway Contemporary Art Library) we’ll be able to do so much; bring in new voices with vital stories to tell, create platforms to amplify voices already present in the 9th Ward, and support the production of creative engagement throughout the neighborhood for some time to come.

The grant will support Publics & Publication. A multi-faceted project that will gather histories known and not-known-well-enough from noted artists, activists, and thinkers who have activated ideas around publication (the act of public making) to energetic means. These histories will energize a series of public projects and platforms (such as printed publications, radio broadcasts, and interactive billboards) addressing policing and “security” within Minneapolis’ 9th Ward, as well as models for collective self-defense and wellness.

What this will all look like will come out of the interactions that we share together within the shop. But, for starters, two platforms for continued questioning, and amplification of those questions, will be developed: a radio station (W R/L F/R, which stands for With Radical Love and Fierce Resistance, the thematic for all programming) and an on-going series of free pamphlets engaging urgent topics, advice, and tools around our present moment of abject fuckery that is Trump-World.

It’s incredibly important for me to thank all the people who have offered their time and love to the shop this first year. Random droppers-by who have become fast friends and compatriots like Duaba (Dane) Verrtah; the ever-expanding, soon to reform in some fashion, folks of the Undercommons Reading Group; Fiona Avocado, Derek Winston Maxwell,Lacey Prpić Hedtke, Rachel Hiltsley and all those who decided that they wanted to spend time around the shop and bring others into the fold (along with, simply, giving me a moment to breath and / or hang out with my family). Oh man… there are so many people!! You know who you are. And I will thank you personally.

There’s more to add, and so much more to come. I’ll be sure to clue you in when things are afoot. But for now, thank you thank you thank you. I am so grateful and excited for what will and may come out of this level of support for a project that, I am well aware, is complex and not in the least spectacular. And I mean that in a good way.

In closing, I wanted to point out one thing. I’m really not a fan of competition. And in this circumstance that is exactly what I got myself into. There were five finalists for this award. One of them being Roger Cummings, an artist and friend who I have a lot of respect for. I was certain Roger would get this. But that’s not how it turned out. Along with a whiskey, I want to extend my thanks and gratitude to Roger (and DeAnna!) for all the amazing work they do in Minneapolis, and the thousands of young minds and souls they have energized over the years. Here’s a future devoid of competition, bursting with shared support and friendship.” – Sam

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

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About a half-hour ago I was sitting here in Beyond Repair with Steven and had a bit of a shock. Who stepped into the Midtown Global Market, looking around, confused, not sure where to go? None other than MPD Police Federation President, Bob Kroll. He soon walked off, looking for something. Intrigued, I left Steven in the shop and walked around the market looking for Bob. Was he searching for us? If not, was he hungry? Where would he eat?

It seems though, while I was gone, Bobby found his way to the shop. He came in, saw a stack of Sgt. Kroll Goes to the Office, took about four or five, and avoiding any eye contact or interaction with Steven of any kind, quickly walked out.

I’ve been extremely happy, and frankly somewhat surprised, at the overwhelmingly positive reception this action has elicited. Both from the public at large, as well as elected officials in MPLS city government. Furthermore, it seems the action has been effective enough to get back to Lt. Kroll, and drive him across town to what he refers to in the comic as our “shit-hole neighborhood!” But hey, art will compel you into worlds that, prior to exposure, one would never dare to venture. I congratulate Lt. Kroll for, once again, braving the wilds of South MPLS.

All this said, I feel it is important for me to make this public; after the release of Sgt. Kroll Goes to the Office many people have urged me to publicly state the fact that Kroll, MPD, and their allies could retaliate in some way. Maybe, maybe not. But I agree that it is important to state that this possibility is, in fact, logical to consider and on my mind.

As an example, after the production of the comic was made public, but not yet released, the car in the above photo parked directly outside our home one afternoon. Having constructed low-wattage radio stations in the past I was interested, but also confused, by the DIY antenna apparatus on the roof of the vehicle. Something was off with its construction and orientation. I took a photo and sent it to a friend who is far more knowledgeable in that area than I am. He stated that, while not definitive, his guess was that it was a “cell phone sniffer.” What’s that? Well, myself and the small group who organized the visit to Mayor Hodges house last November, on the night the police were cracking down at the 4th Precinct Shutdown, are well aware of what it is. Area journalists, through a FOIA request, were able to find out as well. It’s a device that can read your text messages and listen in to your phone calls. It’s a tactic that MPD used that night and what allowed them to meet us at the Mayor’s house in advance of our arrival. And who knows, maybe it’s what is on top of the van outside our home in this photo. Or maybe not.

All of this sounds terribly psychotic and paranoid. But paranoia often arises out of social landscapes that speak towards something larger than each singular, seemingly fantastical, worry or suspicion. A kernel of truth exists in each.

So, if I start getting pulled over a lot; if we suddenly have numerous coding violations on our home; if, god forbid, DHS and MPD knock down our door over alleged child abuse accusations (which happened not long ago to a friend here in town who is critical of the police and their tactics; if I happen to be walking home and have the shit beat out of me, well, we all know who’s hand is at play. (Hi, Bobby!)

And this goes for ALL the artists involved in its production, and everyone else helping with its distribution as well.

I was sad to miss Bob when he visited the shop. I genuinely would have liked to have talked to him about his actions and ours. I called the Police Union a short while after we missed one another, but he wasn’t there. So I left a message on his voicemail inviting him to call me back to talk about the work. Maybe even have a book signing at the shop?

So Bob, it’s apparent that you are, in fact, paying attention to all this. I invite you to talk about it, but please don’t hit me – or accuse me of anything, or fuck with my kids, or listen into my phone calls or read my emails – let’s just talk.

I’ll be at Beyond Repair noon tomorrow. See you here. I’ll buy you a coffee.

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

Panther Paper

Almost here… the first edition of Publics and Publication Nº1; Emory Douglas. Rumor has it that our neighbor, Marlon James, is going to write the forward to it as well!

Here’s a bit of a primer to Emory’s genius.

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

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Lacey got our conversation with Emory Douglas down to 1′ and 0’s and we’re in the midst of cleaning it up. I cannot wait to get this out into the world! Here’s a quick taste…

Sam: So, in that way, you have the BPP doing something similar to, say the Wobblies at the turn of the century — of being on the street corner, being visible, saying, “look, here’s this thing and here’s the person attached to it. You could also be that person.”


Emory: Yeah, absolutely. We had a paper — 6:00 o’clock in the morning, people had assignments to go sell the papers. It was at the subway, the bus stations or wherever that may be.

Sam: In that sense was the history and methods of, say, the Wobblies or the black press leading up to your work at the paper in your minds at the time?

Emory: Yes, yes. Because the context and the content was the connection.

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

Art and BLM in MPLS

“It’s a real honor to even be included in this group of very committed folks. In reading this article – about artists roles within the climate of BLM over the last year, here in MPLS – I couldn’t help but simultaneously imagine the same article with different folks, in Chicago, Oakland, Baltimore, NYC. As they say, We Are Everywhere. Let’s stay everywhere. And let’s grow and make one another visible. Thanks so much to Paul Schmelzer for realizing the need to write all this down. There are tools all around us to energize power among us, and to dismantle the systems that seek to keep us apart.” – Sam Gould (editor at Red76)

· Resident Weirdo· ∞

Sun, Dec. 13, 2015 ⁄ 4:30–5:30pm

Publics and Publication: A Conversation with Emory Douglas

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As part of an intermittent series of conversations taking place at Beyond Repair entitled Publics and Publication, Emory Douglas (artist and former Minister of Culture for The Black Panther Party) and Sam Gould (Editor of Red76) will discuss the role of the BPP’s newspaper, The Black Panther, as not simply a fixed object existing to move information along, but a very specific device to form a public around the desires and ideals of the Black Panther Party and its orbit. 

 

The conversation will touch on both the practical elements of putting out the paper, but equally as much the theoretical role and value of The Black Panther and how it served as a tool to illustrate distance between individuals, a device that opened up a space of questioning for the reader, pragmatically, within their day. Inasmuch The Black Panther was both a physical object, allowed to travel relatively freely within the world, but just as much a subject, a tool for public-making afforded a nature as complex as its readership. 

 
Not solely with an eye towards the past, the conversation will utilize the history and role of the paper in its moment as a way to consider the tactical uses of publication within our own moment, both here in Minneapolis’s 9th Ward, and further afield.

 
Early in the new year a book will be produced from the evenings discussion, available for sale at Beyond Repair and online. Sales from the book will be used to create new actions, publications, programs, and more to address the role of the 3rd Precinct within the 9th Ward of South Minneapolis and how the precincts actions affect the quality of life of 9th Ward residents.
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We’d very much like to thank the folks at Juxtaposition Arts, as well as Penumbra Theatre, and the Walker Art Center, for their support and collaboration in bringing Mr. Douglas to Minneapolis and Beyond Repair. 

· Resident Weirdo· ∞