Singing Resistance: From the Streets of Minneapolis to Otsego County
By TERESA WINCHESTEROTSEGO COUNTY
In times of strife and controversy in our nation, protest songs have traditionally surfaced as a response to social injustice, police brutality, unpopular wars and other issues. Out of the recent clashes between U.S. Immigration and Customs law enforcement officers and residents of Minneapolis, a new wave of musical protest has risen: the Singing Resistance.
In the wake of the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Minnesotans have been coming together to sing songs of protest and peace as a way to resist ICE activity. On Instagram, SR states that it embraces everyone aligned with the group’s values to “protect and care for our communities in the face of rising authoritarianism.”
The group takes inspiration from Otpor (Serbian for “Resist”)—a movement formed in 1998 in the former Yugoslavia to resist the brutal dictatorship of Slobodan Milošević. In 1999, Milošević was indicted by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for crimes against humanity. Genocide was the most serious charge against him, but other charges included deportation, murder, inhumane acts and forcible transfer, imprisonment, torture, willful killing, attacks on civilians, destruction and willful damage done to historic monuments.
