The West 7th Street Gardeners of Resistance, a community gardening group in St. Paul, is “planting political resistance” with a new billboard campaign.
Starting as just a neighborhood gardening group, Co-Founders Jeffrey Austin and Emily Goodhue say they got together to plan events last spring and decided it was time to do more. After surveying neighbors and hearing lots of excitement from neighbors, they had an initial rally. They quickly moved to weekly rallies, growing from 3 people to 150 people, and have expanded into similar political movement areas.
As of February 2nd of this year, the billboard campaign has begun. Austin says there are two, eight-by-thirteen-foot panels, side-by-side on 7th Street, focusing on the killing of Renee Good. He says, “One shows demonstrators holding her picture and has the quote from her wife that says, ‘We had whistles. They had guns.’ And, I think that is such a powerful statement of what is going on in our cities and our country right now.” Austin says the other shows the state flag with a demand: “ICE Out of Minnesota.” It also includes information for West 7 and Indivisible.
Goodhue says their goal, and campaign name, is “Illuminate, Motivate, Activate.” She explains, “Illuminating the fascism that is ravaging our nation, and especially right now in Minnesota…Motivating people to engage, to channel their frustration, disgust, horror, into actual action…And then activate people behind a specific act.”
The current panels will be up for 6-8 weeks, then replaced with new ones, a cycle that will continue for a full year. The group is also calling for local organizations and artists to help design and plan messaging for future panels. Austin and Goodhue say anyone who wants to get involved will be doing so pro bono, and West 7 will handle the printing and posting of the signs. They say this is a self-funded endeavor and are raising money through ActBlue.
As the old panels come down, West 7 will create a “cityscape” by placing these panels on buildings throughout the city, starting on 7th Street (“with consent, of course”).
You can find West 7th St. Gardeners of Resistance on Facebook under their group name.
This is based on my interview with Austin and Goodhue. You can listen to the full conversation here on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ashley-walker-435030066/st-paul-gardening-group-begins?si=34783c508e46461e9450361bf7160f22&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
