What Artists Can Do About ICE w/ Kyle Tran Myhre - Lessons from Mpls
- Morgan Short
- Jan 30
- 6 min read
The anger came first. Then the grief. Then the doom scrolling. Then paralysis and disassociation. Then more anger, and the sharp, bitter edge of resentment that settles in when you watch injustice unfold over and over again.
As a Minnesotan, I’ve cycled through every shade of powerlessness this month. The news comes in waves. ICE raids in neighborhoods, workplaces, outside schools. Racial profiling. Brutality and violence inflicted on anyone with brown or Black skin. Groups of unidentified masked men inflicting terror on everyone, including children. Renee Nicole Good, killed January 7th. Alex Pretti, killed January 25th. Families torn apart as they watch their loved ones detained, abducted, and yes, even murdered.
My first glimmer of hope came on January 13th when I attended Kyle Tran Myhre’s virtual workshop on how artists can meaningfully support the work to get ICE out of Minneapolis right now. (You can read an article with his takeaways from that session on Racket)
Shortly after attending the workshop, I knew I wanted him on the show.
Because if you're like me, fear and outrage can either make you move, or make you freeze. Kyle gave me a way to think about the difference. And more importantly, a way to choose action.
What's Happening in Minnesota Right Now
ICE has occupied Minnesota for weeks. But something else is happening too. Minnesotans are showing up.
Block by block, neighbors are coordinating. Parents are running shifts watching school perimeters. People are providing rides, groceries, and mutual aid. Rapid response groups are forming. Whistles are everywhere. Community meetings are packed.
There is so much love oozing out of our communities right now. And that makes me so damn proud.
What Can Artists Actually Do?
First, it’s important to know that anyone in any discipline can ask this question. Whether you’re a healthcare worker, a lawyer, a teacher, a restaurant owner, or an accountant, you can look at your values, your skills, your access, and your community and figure out what you can contribute.
Kyle has spent his entire career thinking about this in a practical, grounded way. Artists have access to audiences. To spaces. To platforms. That’s power. The question is what you do with it.
His original workshop was supposed to be small. Maybe 20 to 30 Twin Cities artists brainstorming fundraiser ideas. Instead, 1200 people registered. 500 showed up on Zoom.
People everywhere are asking the same question: what can I do that actually matters?
Kyle broke it into practical categories. You can find a solid resource hub he put together here called Resources for Creative Troublemakers, and he covers this in his Racket article as well, but here's the gist:
Fundraise and Share Resources
Use your access to audiences and venues to move money and resources. Throw a benefit show. Donate a portion of your sales. Pass the hat at your poetry reading. Create a print for people who donate to mutual aid efforts.
Amplify and Educate
Use your platform to boost calls to action from organizers. You don't have to be the expert. Just amplify the voices that matter most right now.
Use Artist Spaces as an Opportunity for Activism
Got a merch table? Stock it with whistles and zines. Performing at a venue? Share know-your-rights cards. Have event planning skills? Use them for organizing efforts.
Craft Strategic Narratives
Tell better stories. Create themed events, poster campaigns, zine series. Art that helps us imagine what's possible or disrupts harmful narratives.
Boost Morale and Build Community
Sometimes the art doesn’t have to be explicitly political. Sometimes it’s about creating spaces where people can connect, rest, and heal. Weekly jam sessions. Zine clubs. Open mics. D&D groups. Spaces that fight isolation and alienation.
The point is to zoom in. Take big abstract concepts and make them concrete and specific and real.
On Outrage and What It Does to You
In the workshop, Kyle showed a graphic that’s been living rent-free in my head for two weeks.
It maps what’s helpful versus unhelpful when you’re posting or talking about what’s happening. At the top: boosting organizers and sharing specific calls to action. At the bottom: panic, misinformation, cynicism, the “we’re cooked” energy.
In the middle is outrage.
Outrage can go either direction. It can mobilize you or demobilize you. It can get you moving or lock you in place.
Kyle calls the mobilizing kind “the anthemic impulse.” Fury with forward motion. The kind of anger that sends you to your battle stations instead of off your post.
When I first saw this graphic, something clicked. My outrage had been demobilizing me for weeks. I was filled with resentment toward anyone who couldn’t see what was happening. Doom scrolling. Frozen.
Seeing it laid out helped me see the choice. My feelings are valid. All of them. But what am I doing with them?
Starting Exactly Where You Are
If you’re new to activism and organizing, the advice is simple. Start with humility.
Don’t reinvent the wheel. Don’t launch a nonprofit tomorrow. Research what’s already happening in your community. Then ask how you can support it or plug in. What identities do you hold? What values? What are you uniquely positioned to contribute?
One step leads to the next. You don’t need all the answers. You just need to show up.
If you’re feeling paralyzed, do something. Anything. Attend a training. Make a donation. Share an organizer’s post. The specific action matters less than choosing to move. That’s what breaks paralysis. I’m committing to one small action each day. Today, it’s posting this blog to get the information out. That counts.
What's Happening in Minneapolis Matters Everywhere
You don’t have to live in Minneapolis to pay attention. This applies anywhere. Whether it’s ICE or another crisis, the pattern is the same. The question is universal.
Visual artists here are creating poster campaigns. Poets are writing directly to this moment. Musicians are organizing and sharing resources. Brass bands are showing up to protests. People are finding their lane and stepping in. Kyle keeps a running list of artists doing this work on his hub.
There’s no single organization running everything. It’s decentralized. It’s mutual aid. Neighbors caring for neighbors, block by block.
Creating from Whatever Fuel You Have
Kyle shared something that felt grounding. He hasn’t been writing much lately because he’s busy organizing. Whistle watches. Meetings. Real life.
When he does create, it’s coming from fury. And that’s okay. Sometimes art runs on rage. Sometimes artists pause creation because they’re needed elsewhere.
He shared a poem on the episode called “Discourse (Let Your Heart Be a Whistle).” You can jump to 52:15 in the episode to hear it.
If you’re creating from grief or anger right now, that’s valid. Use it. Channel it. Make something that keeps you aligned with what needs doing. Work with whatever energy you actually have.
Resources and What You Can Do
Kyle's full workshop notes are at guante.info/try Go read them. They have specific calls to action for everyone.
Here's the short version:
If you're in Minnesota:
Join rapid response networks (check out Defend612)
Take legal observer training (MONARCA, MIRAC, Immigrant Defense Network)
Show up to community meetings
Coordinate with your neighbors
Provide mutual aid
If you're an artist anywhere:
Think about your access, your audience, your skills, your platforms. Then ask how you can use these to support movement work in your community.
If you're feeling outrage:
Is it mobilizing you or demobilizing you? Choose the fury that moves you forward. Let your heart be a whistle. Make noise.
The horrors are real. ICE is here. People are being killed. Communities are being terrorized. The situation is both terrifying and inspiring all at once.
But we persist. We show up for our neighbors. We use whatever we have. We choose action over freezing.
Your art is a gift to you and the world. So is your presence. So is your choice to move.
Listen to the full episode with Kyle Tran Myhre on the Art is the New Wall Street podcast.
Find Kyle's workshop notes, zines, poetry, and writing classes at guante.info.
Read his full Racket article called How Can Artists Show up for Minneapolis?
For Minnesota-specific organizing resources, visit ICE OUT OF MN and Stand With Minnesota.
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