The Coco Canary Monthly Newsletter
April 2022
Summary:
Reflecting on my ancestry, Justice for Lyoya, calls to action, and other news
Welcome to Coco Canary!
Hello from Molly O’Connor, the principal and founder of Coco Canary Consulting, LLC, a creative evaluation firm.
We are based in St. Paul, MN, and acknowledge that we are on the stolen lands of the Dakota People (specifically the Wahpekute Band of Dakota, who are among the Oceti Sakowin (“Seven Council Fires”). These people were the first stewards of the lands we occupy, and they are still here. We honor their connection to this land and their ongoing resilience in the face of violent colonialism.
A Grounding: Justice for Patrick Lyoya, Lifting Up Local News, & Calls to Action
First, it must be said that Patrick Lyoya deserves justice. If you haven’t heard of his name, look him up. He was murdered by police in Michigan earlier this month. Ramadan Mubarak (“Blessed Ramadan”), a belated zissen Pesach (“a sweet Passover”), and a belated Easter! This month, I’m uplifting news that usually receives less news coverage, but this time in a more local context (St. Paul, MN).
- ‘We’re not going to just give up’: community shocked by lack of charges in Locke case. Sending so much love to Amir Locke’s family, friends, and community.
- Moob, Hmoob, or Hmong? A word on a rock in a St. Paul peace garden divides a community. I am slowly learning more about my local Hmong community. This article shows how you can be more inclusive in language with different Hmong dialects.
- If you like humor and anti-racism, check out the Funny Asian Women Kollective (FAWK). They use comedy to combat the dehumanization of women from Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi American backgrounds. They’ve been trying to lobby money for a new theater too! Learn more here.
- Ahem, also check out Blackout Improv! They have shows with Latins on Ice at Huge Theater from April through May; here are the details.
Native-Led Movement Calls to Action
- Line 3 Legal Defense Fund Fundraising Concerts (Minneapolis & Stillwater)
- Tell Dept of Interior to Change offensive place names on public lands: Sign this petition.
- Calls to action and A guide to changing racist and offensive names on public lands: Read this and learn how you can do it yourself!
- Learn about Blood Quantum: And why it is so controversial.
Business Updates
Learning About My Ancestors Through My Mother
I have been diving deep into my ancestry, specifically from the context of generational and racialized trauma in the USA. And how that shows up within me, my family, my friends, and more. If this sounds familiar to you, then I bet you have read (or heard of) Resmaa Menakem’s book, My Grandmother’s Hands. I’m in a book club, and we’re reading this book, and it has been such a good experience for me. I’m only halfway through, AND it has already taught me so much.
One chapter is called Body to Body, Generation to Generation. This chapter guides you through a reflective practice where you ask relatives, guardians, or elders about your ancestors. You explore when your ancestors came to the USA—or were already here—and if they came here by choice, if they were escaping violence, etc. You are supposed to think about how your ancestor’s trauma has passed down to you—due to them going through hardship and not knowing how to “metabolize” it—and how that may show up in your body.
I sat down with my Mom a few times to ask her these questions and learn more about my family history. Here are a few stories about the strong women I am descended from —including my Mom! And check out this canvas to see my family tree on my maternal side.
Nora Jane Amundson (Wisti)
Great Grandma Wisti
Nora was the original “I can do anything” woman. She did chores, created art, played music, made useable objects, knit, crocheted, and made quilts—I currently have a great-grandma Wisti quilt on my bed! She took care of people but also liked her alone time. She loved the outdoors too. She grew up poor on a farm with over a dozen other siblings in Wisconsin. She was married to Oscar Wisti, and had five kids (one of which is my grandma, Lois), but after her husband died—who I heard was a jerk yet a talented banjo player—she decided not to marry again because she wanted to create her own life. And she enjoyed it until the very end.
Mary Susan “Mae” Gilmore (Cruikshank)
Great Grandma Gilmore / Cruikshank
Mae Gilmore grew up in The Big Woods of Wisconsin—near where Laura Ingles Wilder lived. Mom told me that Mae said to her that her life as a child was nearly identical to the book Caddie Woodlawn. Eventually, she decided to leave home and move to Minnesota to teach blind women how to sew. Mom tells me that she loved to travel. That’s when she met Chester Cruikshank. They married and had two kids (one of them was my grandpa, “Bumpa!”). Chester left her early on, and Mae, a strong and independent woman of her time, decided to go full-time as a seamstress. And she did this for the rest of her life as a single mother.
Lois Irene Wisti (Cruikshank)
Grandma, “Mimi”
Lois is the daughter of Nora (mentioned above). I lovingly called her “Mimi.” She was the daughter of a creative and a hardware salesman and loved her family and relatives. She also loved the outdoors, such as cross country skiing, swimming, and walking. She wasn’t a great cook or artistic, but she had her own sense of style (she liked fashion). She also got a bachelor’s at the University of Minnesota. She enjoyed keeping in touch with people, and, if I remember correctly, she was an excellent typist and loved to write by typewriter until late in life.
Thanks again to my mom for taking the time to tell me stories, drive over photos, and all the other amazing things my Mom did. Love you, Mom! <3 <3 <3
Other Business Updates
Feeling, Healing, Belonging: Building Healthy Spaces in White Supremacy Cultures (An IRL Conference in Duluth, MN)
There’s an awesome conference happening in Duluth from May 13th – 14th. It’s a time and place to dig deeper into white privilege and white supremacy in ourselves and our communities. My Mom and I are going! Also, Donte Curtis is presenting! Wanna join us?? 🙂
How I learned I am White – by N. Ashvin Chudgar
If you haven’t heard of Neil Ashvin (“Ash”) Chudgar, I highly recommend checking out his website/blog. He’s a fantastic human being and changemaker, doing meaningful work both professionally and personally. He also wrote a piece about his white-privilege learning journey that I highly recommend checking out.
“That’s how it is for me. Even now, I’m low-key aware of the fact that I get read as white in public…“
APM Research Labs – Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey
I attended a Minnesota Evaluation Association event where folks from MPR and the APM Research Lab presented their Diverse Communities project findings. It was very interesting. Check out their work here.
Personal Update
A Visual Representation of April 2022 – A Photo Collage
April was a FULL month for many reasons. One is that we collected and boiled sap to make maple syrup from trees outside our house. In Ojibwe, they call this time of year Iskigamizige-Giizis, which translates to boil things down moon. In Dakota, they call it Ma¥a okada wi, which means goose egg-laying moon.
There were also holidays to celebrate with friends and fam, like Passover and Easter. And holidays to send good vibes to, like Ramadan. And lastly, I got to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the James Ford Bell Library, which was pretty rad.
Photo 1: Five small to medium mason jars of home boiled maple syrup. We started with about 15 gallons of sap, and after boiling the sap for two days, this is what we ended up with.
Photo 2: Eleven eggs painted for Easter. One egg has a woman’s face, one has a scene from the Northern shore, and the rest are colorful geometric patterns.
Photo 3: A selfie of my friends and housemates at the Seder we hosted. We had just gotten to the part where we got to eat Matzo.
Photo 4: A horizontal image of the St. Paul Ballet sign. Mike and I are taking fundamentals of ballet for the next several weeks.
Photo 5: An image of a map I got to see during a James Ford Bell Library tour. The map was likely from the early 1800s. It highlights the territories of what we now know as the Midwest of the United States. Some words that pop out (outdated and offensive to some folks) are Eastern Sioux, Western Sioux, Louisiana [Purchase], Extensive Meadows full of Buffaloes, Chippewas, I. Royal, and more.
Let’s Stay Connected!
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In solidarity,
Molly O’Connor (she/her/hers)
Founder, Principal Consultant, and Creative Evaluator
direct: (612) 868-0364
email: moconnor@cococanary.com
website: cococanary.com
Black Lives Matter
Justice (and accountability) for Amir Locke
“There are two kinds of pain. Clean Pain mends and can build capacity for growth. Dirty Pain is the pain of avoidance, blame, or denial—when you respond from your most wounded parts”
Resmaa Menakem — My Grandmother’s Hands
