The New Year has me thinking a lot about our great state.
Minnesota is home to 5.3 million people and 852 cities. We have four different ecosystems. We are vast, different and unique.
But we are also so much alike. We are Minnesotans.
I have lived in six of our state’s cities. From a tiny little farming town on the border of South Dakota to the heart of our largest city. Each place has shaped my experience of what it means to be a Minnesotan. One thing is clear to me: we all want a good life for our family, friends and neighbors. And the things that get in the way of someone thriving in north Minneapolis are the same as the barriers to living the life you choose in Duluth.
Whether we are talking about a failed criminal justice system or the antiquated workplace that holds women back, the only way we are going to move on a path toward a Minnesota that leaves no one behind is if we move together.
The city I live in now (and love so much!) also affords me the privilege to work for an organization grappling with what it is going to take to win real change in people’s lives. It may not be glamorous and the needle may move sooo slowly, but I know we are on the path to get there. Right now in Duluth there is an energy that is moving in our organization. An energy driven by women who have come together with TakeAction and other local organizations to shape a tangible path towards an economy that moves us forward.
One that includes paid time off for parents to care for sick kids or for a woman fleeing an abusive situation. One that starts catching us up with the rest of the world in terms of our family leave policies. This is real and this can happen right here in the community we call home. It can happen for the five other cities I have called home. It is possible and it moves us forward as a state. I am excited with the possibility of the year ahead. I am excited because we have a set of people in our community who won’t let us turn back, who won’t let us settle any more. Who are willing to push my organization to dig deeper and work harder in Duluth.
But we need more of us. More people standing up in Duluth. In Ortonville. In Lake Lillian. In Minneapolis. In St. Paul. And the other 800 + cites and everywhere in between.
On days when it feels so daunting or too vast, I just think about all the people I know all over Minnesota who want the same things as me. The same things as the people I work with in Duluth. We can do this. Onward in 2015!
