Siena Iwasaki Milbauer: Welcome back to New Narratives, Justice for George Floyd. I’m your host, Siena Iwasaki Milbauer. I use she/her pronouns and I’m the Content Creator Intern at Asian American Organizing Project, also known as AAOP, a youth-focused, youth-led Asian American nonpartisan nonprofit based in the Twin Cities. In April of 2021, the eyes of the world were on Minneapolis as the trial of Derek Chauvin unfolded. Ultimately, Derek Chauvin was found guilty for his brutal murder of George Floyd. His conviction was a small but meaningful step in the fight for police accountability. But even as something that could be called progress was happening in Minneapolis, we were reminded how far we are from true justice by events just a dozen miles away in Brooklyn Center.
On April 11, 2021, 20 year-old Daunte Wright was driving with his girlfriend when his car was pulled over by police, allegedly for expired registration or an air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror. In the ensuing encounter, Daunte Wright became frazzled and tried to step back into his car. Officer Kim Potter threatened to taze him, but instead pulled her gun and shot him, killing him. In an instant, Kim Potter stole Daunte Wright’s life, took away his young son’s opportunity to grow up with his father, and robbed Daunte Wright of all the possibilities of his future.
Brooklyn Center erupted into protests which the Brooklyn Center police department met with what many saw as unreasonable force, escalating the unrest. As Minnesota responded in horror to yet another police murder of a Black community member, there was also admiration for the spontaneous yet swift Brooklyn Center community organized response to Daunte Wright’s murder, both in the form of protests and mutual aid. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with three educators from Brooklyn Center Community Schools who were part of those mutual aid efforts. I asked them about the response to Daunte Wright’s murder from their school youth community, how Brooklyn Center managed such an impressive mutual aid initiative, and what the path forward looks like for their community.
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Siena: Thank you all so much for being here. As we dive into the conversation, I’d love to start with everyone going around and introduce themselves.
Ngan Nguyen: I can start. My name is Ngan Nguyen and use she/hers. I’m currently a social studies teacher at Brooklyn Center Community schools.
Jackie Hayden: I am Jackie Hayden. I use she/her pronouns and I am the college group coordinator for high school.
Longkee Vang: My name is Longkee Vang, I use he/him pronouns. I am the community schools site coordinator for Brooklyn Center middle and high school.
Siena: Thank you again all so much for being here. I want to start, asking each of you if you remember when you heard about Daunte Wright’s murder this spring. What was your immediate reaction?
Longkee: I remember a sense of shock and numbness. So I oversee our summer programs at the school, and the same week after Daunte Wright was murdered, we were going to launch our registration for summer programs. So I actually went into the weekend with huge optimism and really excited about everything. And then Sunday night rolled around and everything just flipped and changed. I remember getting on the phone at night with my supervisor and saying we need to pivot, everything we were hoping to do, we just cannot do anymore.
Jackie: For me, I remember– I heard the news…on social media I follow a couple alumni students and they were posting live feeds of the gathering that happened after the murder. At that point, Daunte’s body had been removed from the area. But for a while, my understanding, the body remained on the sidewalk if I’m remembering correctly. A lot of students were at the live ceremony, or reposting it. And at the moment I heard of it, I didn’t know who the person was, so I remember feeling this deep panic, not sure if it’s one of our students that we know and love. Just earlier that week, I had a conversation with a Black student who was saying that the speedometer on their car was broken. So at that point just trying to quickly figure out who it was. I remember going to my husband who is very politically involved, can you look on Twitter, can you help me figure this out, and we were able to figure out it was Daunte.
Ngan: For me, I heard about the news that Sunday night, I just came home. I also follow a lot of folks who are politically involved on Instagram, so I saw the news right away but it was still a developing story. So I think for me, I was trying to follow and trying to find as many sources as possible. At the same time, waiting for the school district to see if there’s information on the murder coming from the school district. So throughout that night, I was thinking a lot about, in terms of classroom context, I have a lot of students who live near protest scenes. So students were also messaging and talking about things that were happening around their neighborhood. And I was there to support them through messages and things like that. But I remember feeling kind of hopeless. Because the Derek Chauvin trial was coming the following week and then the murder of Daunte Wright was happening right before that. And in our social studies class, already a lot of discussion about the trial. So a feeling of overwhelmingness and also really unsure of what to do next.
Siena: Thank you all so much for sharing that. I feel like you’ve already started to address this a bit in your previous answers, but I wonder if you could elaborate more on the responses that you heard and felt in the Brooklyn Center community, particularly from students and youth.
Ngan: I taught 6th grade at the time and we were delving into the experience of Black communities in Minnesota. So we spent some time talking about inequities for Black communities in Minnesota. The initial response for younger students was just telling you what was happening around their neighborhood. For example, we got messages from students saying someone’s been maced right outside of my window. Or I heard gunshots or I heard noises right outside my apartment complex. So the initial response for younger students, for 6th and 7th graders that I work with, was more of just telling and describing what they were seeing and hearing. And what I could do for them was just to really listen. And to talk about how they feel at that time when they hear those things.
Jackie: Usually when we’re in person, I do help students process in an informal setting. They come into the college and career center, we talk about things. But because we weren’t meeting anymore, I don’t feel I got to hear students’ initial reactions. More so after, when they protested and volunteered and got involved, I was able to really process with them. But initially, I felt the response from the school, at least I felt, was that everyone just do what you can to support the community. And at that time for me, it was helping with the food drive and essential need drive that we were doing.
Siena: I want to definitely dive into what you brought up Jackie, about mutual aid efforts, but I think it might be helpful for listeners before we talk about that to set the stage. So, could you share about what happened in the aftermath of Daunte Wright’s murder and what the situation was like on the ground in Brooklyn Center that maybe necessitated those mutual aid efforts?
Jackie: I think people were livid. People were livid that another Black young man was unnecessarily shot and killed. So people were gathering, they were protesting, it was happening outside of police station. And the way that the police responded by gassing the protesters just escalated the situation where the week following the murder of Daunte Wright was really intense. You think about, if you are familiar with Brooklyn Center, right outside the police department are apartment complexes. Many of them. Protests happening right there. So when police are throwing the gas bombs into the air, it’s actually going into those apartment buildings. So it was a really intense week of extreme protest and standoffs between the protesters and police, that felt like it was continuing to escalate.
Ngan: I think what I can add, and Jackie did a perfect background of what happened following Daunte Wright’s murder. I think I’m going to focus on the impact of the events on the community specifically. I think situating where Brooklyn Center School is, it’s right in the middle of the police center. Police center is right down the street. Across the police center and right by the school are a bunch of apartment complexes that students in Brooklyn Center live in. So a lot of students and their families were affected in that they can’t access the Walmart or the stores around Brooklyn Center. And we don’t really have that many in general which led to the need to coordinate community led mutual aid efforts.
Siena: So, piggybacking off the idea of the mutual aid efforts, I live in Southwest Minneapolis so I was watching all of this play out from afar. But even then, struck by the speed and efficiency of mutual aid efforts. Could you talk about what those efforts looked like, what needs they were trying to meet, and what it was like trying to get things done in this moment of crisis for your community?
Longkee: Previous question, Ngan said it best, we had to. This was just something there was no option. I remember coming into the building Monday morning and having the administrators and other people being like we need to open the Blue Barn which is our rec building, we need to set up tables, put an ask out and see what happens. Because Brooklyn Center is already an inaccessible food desert to the community. And with Cub and Walmart closed, and then the next day the Dollar Tree being closed, there was going to be an immediate need for things. It really was a grassroots effort of people putting out on social media, and different avenues like Facebook groups, or just word of mouth through friends and phone calls. And just making sure we could get the basic needs that families and members of the community would need at the beginning. And then it was really just playing it by ear, at least from my point of view. Just playing it by ear, making sure whatever we got we could give out to the community. And if we needed more, we would put out the ask knowing that the community could and would turn out for us as well too.
Jackie: Yeah, I think it really, our mutual aid efforts showcases the power of social media. For me, I was able to organize a lot of money coming in for donations because I just put it out there. I was like “I’m going to be doing a supply run later today, this is going directly to my school, if you’re willing to contribute, Venmo me.” And that quickly spread by a couple of organizers and just friends and family members. And it went viral essentially. So there was so much aid coming in that I was doing supply run after supply run after supply run. Just trying to get resources into the community. What was crazy is even though there was so much coming in it was also coming out just as quickly as word spread that this resource was available in Brooklyn Center. A lot of local public transit was closed down so people were carpooling to come to the Blue Barn to access essential items; milk, eggs, bread, and diapers were a huge one. I feel like it evolved. Like at first, we didn’t really know, trying to organize, didn’t really realize the volume of the need we would have. Towards the end, it was such a well oiled machine. Longkee, you, were a witness to all that that cause you were working the door. I’m coming with donations going woah, this has changed in the past couple hours.
Longkee: Yeah we literally went from– starting at 10 Monday morning, couple of tables. By four that night, all the walls on the Blue Barn had stuff on them.
Jackie: Yeah, that was awesome. I think, looking at the question of what logistical challenges we need to work out. There were some– when you’re giving aid to a community that’s in need, who is the judge, who gets to decide how much aid is too much. If a family is really in need and you’re asking how many diapers do you need, so that created a little bit of tension. We’re not a nonprofit, we’re a school. And our school does give out resources, but not in the capacity of that week. So there was some tension of these people are taking too much, but we’re not going to turn away a family in need, but some others need it. So there was some of those logistics where people were trying to work though and have dialogue in such a fast paced environment. But overall, our school really responded well.
Siena: All three of you involved in Brooklyn Center Community Schools, all three work with youth regularly; do you think that impacted the way that you and your colleagues approached this crisis? How does your educator role play into your role in a moment like this?
Jackie: Longkee and I often joke that you could tell who had nonprofit experience by how they responded to the chaos of organizing. And I think there are some people are just more willing to trust fall blindly and be like let me be of service however that may be. And some people, specifically attracted to education, that like structure. They like to know what’s happening, lessons planned out for whole year. And so with something like this, maybe they’re not the ones who can respond in a way that’s helpful in the front lines. And so you just figured out what was needed in the moment.
Longkee: I think of a clear example, we were able to do basic aid, basic needs for families. Someone was like a student mentioned they would love ear plugs cause they live near the protests. Ear plugs, why didn’t we think of that? So let’s get ear plugs, let’s get some cleaning supplies so that families can feel safe, a little more insulated. So the ability to be flexible, to adapt as quickly as we can, is critical and key, and something we don’t think about often. But something that is needed to an extent.
Ngan: There was a tension in when do I show up and how. For me, these community responses, I was there on Monday and kind of seeing it progress. A lot more teachers coming out once things starts rolling and a system in place. One of the big questions I was grappling with my team, is how do we address this within our classroom too. One of the things we did, the drive continues and the aid continues into the week students where came back to school. And there were actually a lot of students who were organizing and helping out at the community led aid effort too. And I thought that was a perfect example of how students can dive into and contribute to their community. We are a community school and it was that moment I realized this is how a community school looks like and should be like in terms of being able to provide in response to the community that they are serving when that community is in need. So I think really having that flexibility of bringing young people into this work is not just adult led, but also young people can contribute, can lead– like Longkee’s story, telling them what the community needs because these students are living in Brooklyn Center. So that really changed the way I look at how a community school is structured, and reflecting how that can impact future events and how we respond to other future community needs.
Siena: These organizing efforts felt spontaneous and in response to specific issue in your community. Have you seen any continuation of this organization or aftereffects of this huge mobilization during that week?
Longkee: I will say, one thing– to preface– one of the things I remember individuals when they were first pulling up and dropping off supplies those first few days, people telling me that we are thankful, we want to help as much as we can, and unfortunately we are in a routine of just oh, a tragic event occurs and this is how we respond. That really struck me, oh for the past year this has been our thing now. And not that it’s bad, but it is bad. Our gut reaction is this is how we respond to tragedies, or a tragic event in the community occurs. Obviously, we want to support and help our community, but we’ve gotten into this routine of something bad is going to happen. I think coming out on the end of the community mutual aid distribution, now we’ve been able to build relationships not just with just community members but with community organizations. A collaborative effort to really support our young people here in Brooklyn Center. But also the wider community as well. I think for me at least there is optimism that we truly, like geographically Brooklyn Center middle and high school is a hub, centralized for things. But we can truly be more than a building in the community. We’re not a nonprofit and this isn’t necessarily what we do. But when asked to respond or when asked to be partners in these efforts or initiatives, we can respond and we are able to do stuff like that.
Jackie: Part of me wonders now that we have the experience of doing it once, could we do it more routinely throughout the year and just tell families when we’re doing it. At first it seemed a lot of the people that were coming through and getting basic supplies were the ones immediately affected by what was happening in the community. But towards the end of it, people coming through were just– a week’s worth of healthy food and groceries was what they needed to sleep at peace that night. And so if we think through that context, that lens, of how much did this give to our community in general, even if they weren’t affected by store closures and they didn’t necessarily need it to have a meal for that night, maybe it helped them a little later on. Brooklyn Center isn’t a high income area. A lot of families are working families and every little bit helps. And so, part of me thought what if we did this for Thanksgiving? Maybe for different holidays throughout the year? It struck me so much how people were so willing to give. Cars would pull up with 100s of dollars of items. I think if we continued to do it people would show their generosity even more.
Siena: After experiencing all of this, what are your hopes for your Brooklyn Center community? Particularly with the fact in mind that Kim Potter’s trial in will be in the future. And impacts of what’s happened are certainly not going to go away probably ever. What are you hopeful for? What are you concerned about? What does the future look like in your communities?
Jackie: I just hope that this event isn’t just another sad moment when a Black man is killed, but it’s the moment in Brooklyn Center where we attract teachers that want to come teach at Brooklyn Center because of how we responded to Daunte Wright’s murder, You know the students that felt that raw anger to come together and build more movement for different causes within our community. So I hope that this is just the start of more change brought on so that our students, our staff, everyone can feel heard. I’m an optimist, I like to paint everything in the positive [laughter], that’s my deepest hope.
Longkee: I can piggyback. I feel the same way as Jackie does as well too of being optimistic. There is now context for Brooklyn Center and our community, our school and young people , we’ve done something like this and knowing that we can. There’s energy and the want to mobilize and move. If the time calls upon us, or if we want to ourselves to do it. That gives me a lot of hope. It does put a spotlight on us, it empowers our young people, you can do this and you have adults in this building who are going to be behind you 100% doing this work as well. I will also say that something I think about too is knowing that the trial of Kim Potter is coming down the road, but also our young people have been through so much. Our young people and adults in the building.
Before Daunte Wright, we were coming off this pandemic that no one was ready and prepared for. And the stresses of that, individuals losing jobs and losing family members, the stressors of everything. My optimism thinks of the future, yeah we can do so many awesome things. But I also think about the safety of our young people and staff, just for the fall as well too. Knowing that, I mentioned it to a couple people, this will probably be our third year in a row for school where students schedules get uprooted or the routines get uprooted. And so, three years of change for young people, is going to be tough. That’s something I think about as well too. We have so much good on our horizon, but there’s some things we will need to work heavily on together to make sure we can get there as well.
Ngan: Jackie and Longkee already said a lot of what my hopes and dreams are for Brooklyn Center. I just want to reiterate that our young people at Brooklyn Center and the surrounding area are really powerful. They bring with them a lot of different lived experiences and knowledge and wisdom that adults in the community should listen to and hear from. So I think a lot of my hopes and dreams for Brooklyn Center are for these young people to continue leading these spaces.
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Siena: Thanks for listening to New Narratives: Justice for George Floyd. This special series is brought to you by Asian American Organizing Project, in collaboration with Buddhist Justice Reporter, a project led by BIPOC Buddhists, looking to report on the police, criminal injustice, and the carceral state from a Buddhist lens, and with support from the Minneapolis Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Kofi Annan Institute for Global Citizenship at Macalester College. Featured in this episode were Jackie Hayden, Longkee Vang, and Ngan Nguyen. See you next time!