Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration goes on in Minneapolis' Powderhorn Park despite ICE presence
The festivities, music and speakers that honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis on Monday held extra meaning for community members this year.
Family activities and meals for hundreds in the same neighborhood where Renee Good was killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents less than two weeks ago.
"It's been a lot. It's been really intense," said Catharine Bushman, executive director of the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association.
Neighbors are now living in fear, looking on as ICE apprehends people of color across Minnesota.
"I see my coworkers and neighbors terrified to leave out of the house. That's not fair," said Mona Sparkles from Minneapolis.
"It seemed more important than ever to do this event as well as we could, as safely as we could," said Bushman.
Bushman acknowledges that not holding this year's celebration, which has been going on for nearly three decades, was a real possibility.
"When I started calling the artists, when I started talking to all the partners, I said, 'How do you feel about having the MLK event?' Everybody said, 'We need it, we want it.'"
Martin Luther King Jr. Day marks a moment of reflection on how Dr. King might respond in a time like this.
"I think he would say that this struggle has been going on for many years and the fight has only changed shape. I was taught that the civil rights movement solved all the problems of the world, and it really didn't," said Bushman.