Organizing the Resistance: Voices from Minnesota

Join Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham and others who’ve been on the ground in Minneapolis for a virtual panel

(February 3, 2026) — Free Washington Project, a coalition of labor and community, is hosting a virtual panel, “Organizing the Resistance: Voices from Minnesota” on Wednesday, February 4 featuring labor, community, and faith leaders sharing their experiences organizing to defend immigrant workers and families in Minnesota during the immigration enforcement surge.

Panelists include Bernie Burnham, Minnesota AFL-CIO President; MN AFL-CIO Organizing Director Todd Dahlstrom, who has been part of training 350 union peacekeepers in the state; Seattle-based Rabbi David Basior, who traveled to Minnesota to support an action organiezed by faith leaders; Mark k. Tilsen, an Oglala Lakota Poet Educator from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation; and Friendly Vang-Johnson, daughter of Hmong refugees organizer for food sovereignty, racial justice and land reparations in Minneapolis and Washington State.

The panel is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 4. Register online today. Registration closes at noon on February 4.

Protestors gathered outside the federal building in Seattle on January 26, 2026.

From the organizers:

Panelists will share concrete strategies and lessons learned from recent actions to help mobilize communities under rapidly escalating conditions. The conversation will also explore how people in Washington can prepare our communities for coordinated, effective resistance. The event will include time for panelists to respond to written questions submitted by attendees.

Featured speakers include:

• • Rabbi David Basior is Rabbi and Acting Director at Kadima Reconstructionist Community, a progressive Jewish community based in Seattle. He answered a call for religious leaders to travel to Minnesota in support of resistance to the fascist attacks launched by the Trump administration, and will share lessons learned from his three days on the ground.

• • Bernie Burnham is President of the Minnesota AFL-CIO and a member of Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. The MN AFL-CIO worked as part of a broad coalition to organize the citywide strike on Friday, January 23.

• • Todd Dahlstrom is an Organizing Director of the Minnesota AFL-CIO. He has been a part of training 350 union and community members to be Union Peace Keepers.

• • Mark k. Tilsen is an Oglala Lakota Poet Educator from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He comes from activist families long steeped in the struggle for liberation for all people and the long term survival of the Lakota Nation. At Standing Rock he stepped into the role of a direct action trainer and police liaison. He has been involved in the South Minneapolis rapid response and ICE watch network.

• • Friendly Vang-Johnson is a daughter of Hmong refugees and uses her skills to advance food sovereignty, racial justice and land reparations in Minneapolis and Washington State. She is the founder of Friendly Hmong Farms and the PNW BIPOC Farmland Trust. Minnesota is the home of the largest population of Hmong people where Friendly is organizing to ensure their needs are addressed.

Event Moderators:

• • Cindy Domingo is a founding member of Free Washington Project and Standing for Democracy, nationally and in Washington state.

• • Michael T. McPhearson is a U.S. Army veteran, Executive Director of Veterans for Peace and a founding member of Free Washington Project. Drawing on his military experience, faith, and lifelong commitment to justice, he leads national efforts to oppose war, militarism, racism, patriarchy, and authoritarianism while advocating for human rights, veteran care, and peace at home and abroad.