My guest is Aru Shiney-Ajay, Executive Director of the Sunrise Movement. We spoke while Aru was on the ground in Minneapolis during an unprecedented wave of ICE raids that have shaken the city – and sparked a powerful, decentralized organizing response.

We go beyond the headlines to what’s actually working: neighborhood-level organizing, mutual aid networks, logistical disruption, and new strategies for building power. We also zoom out to reflect on what this moment means for the broader left: how movements can shift from defense to offense, and what lessons from Minneapolis can be applied elsewhere as people across the country (and the world) grapple with authoritarianism, repression, and political paralysis.

Join the Sunrise Movement and/or learn more about their work: https://www.sunrisemovement.org/

Follow Aru on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aru_sa/

Support the Better Future podcast on Substack: https://michaelmezzatesta.substack.com/

Subscribe to the Better Future podcast:

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Follow Sunrise Movement on social media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunrisemvmt/

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0:00 ICE targets mutual aid deliveries

0:44 Intro: Aru Shiney-Ajay

1:45 On the ground in Minneapolis

6:13 Organizing: What’s working?

13:40 Going on the offensive

20:58 Strikes & worker power

24:54 Lessons for the broader movement

34:12 How to get involved

37:22 Conclusion

Host/Creator: Michael Mezzatesta

Guest: Aru Shiney-Ajay

Editor: Nuria Salgado

Designer: Amea Wadsworth

Thanks for watching episode 008. Lots more on the way :)