MONDAY EVENING I GATHERED in rural Rice County with a crowd concerned about issues ranging from healthcare to immigration, agriculture, education, the environment, diversity, gun violence, the SNAP program, tariffs, voting rights, veterans’ benefits, the economy and much more. All current-day topics worrying many of us, including me.
I’ve never been politically active. Until this year. To stay silent now feels complicit. I care enough about this country, about freedom, about democracy, to let my voice be heard. I’ve participated in three pro-democracy rallies, including the NO KINGS Day Rally in Northfield and two on Labor Day in Owatonna. I’ve volunteered at a DFL Sweetcorn Feed in Faribault. I’ve donated to the DFL, called and emailed my legislators in Washington, DC. And Monday evening I attended a potluck, billed as a DFL Working Families Garden Party. This all from someone who previously voted primarily Republican. But no more, not in the past four Presidential elections or in some other past elections. I’ve always looked at candidates, their character and their stances on issues before voting. I still do, but party affiliation now matters to me, too.
DEEP CONCERN
At all of these recent events, I’ve heard—whether from politicians, candidates for office or ordinary people like me—a deep concern for our country under the current administration and those who go along with whatever our President says and does. This concern comes from good, decent people. Farmers, teachers, business owners, lawyers, blue collar workers, college students. People who carry crockpots of pulled pork and baked beans, bowls of creamy garden-fresh cucumber salad, peach pie and bars to a political party on a rural acreage.
As I sat in this bucolic setting Monday evening listening to short speeches from candidates like Martha Brown of Faribault, running for Minnesota House District 19A on the slogan of “Common-Sense Leadership for Working People,” or fiery Matt Little from Elko New Market who embraces the label of “radical” and who is running for Congress in the Second Congressional District or Ben Schierer of Fergus Falls, campaigning for state auditor and vowing to represent both urban and rural communities, I felt hope.
COMPASSION & HOPE
I felt hope, too, when I heard Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon talk about protecting voter information, voting rights and more. I felt hope when I heard Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy speak. As a nurse, her care and compassion for others threads through her speeches, shines in her political life.
Most notable in Murphy’s talk, at least for me, is the deep grief she feels over the politically-motivated assassination of her friend and colleague, Minnesota Speaker of the House Emerita Melissa Hortman and Hortman’s husband, Mark. The Hortmans were shot to death on June 14, the day I protested in Northfield, despite warnings not to do so. I refuse to be silenced.
Murphy spoke on Monday evening against a backdrop of American and Minnesota state flags and a banner of the Hortmans and their dog with this message: STAND UP FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE. She talked, too, about attending the funeral on Sunday of Fletcher Merkel, 8, among two students killed in a mass shooting that injured 21 others at Annunciation Catholic Church in south Minneapolis on August 27. Justice. Peace. No more gun violence.
UNPRECEDENTED
I’ve lived enough years to observe that what’s happening in this country right now is unprecedented. I’ve never felt more fearful of losing our freedoms under authoritarian rule. It’s happening already with snatching people off the streets, imprisonment and deportations without due process. It’s happening in intimidation and retribution; mass firings; suppression of free speech; funding cuts that are undermining research, healthcare, education and more; gathering of private information by the government; sending armed military into cities; and in countless other ways that affect all of us no matter our political affiliations.
This isn’t about rural vs urban. This isn’t about us vs them. This is, rather, about preserving and protecting our very freedoms as Americans. This is about caring and feeling hopeful. This is about speaking up. About doing something. And sometimes this is also about eating pulled pork, baked beans, cucumber salad and homemade peach pie at a potluck on a beautiful September evening in southern Minnesota.
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© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Well said. Unprecedented is right – our country is drifting into new, dangerous waters, and previously unexplored waters. I’m hoping Steve Simon thinks about running for governor.
Thank you. Yes, Steve Simon impresses me. Onward we go…standing strong, holding hope.
I was there as well Audrey and really enjoyed it. Steve Simon would make a great governor, but I think that Walz will run again. Like you, I have voted for both parties in the past but have been voting blue for the since Jesse was voted in as Governor. They have performed well for me for the most part. What did you think of The Bad Mamas? I actually enjoyed them. Nice weather, sunny and not hot out. Hope to see you at one of the rallies. Keep the fight going!!
Oh, shoot, I wish I’d seen (and recognized) you. But with the sizeable crowd, it was easy to miss people. Like you, I enjoyed the entire evening. The music was a nice addition. Hope to see you at a protest, too. Keep the fight going.
Oh, Audrey, I feel exactly as you do. I am so saddened and deeply disturbed and frightened by what is happening in our country. We need to voice our concerns, we need to be a part of the solution. Where do you find out about things like this potluck. I am not on Facebook by choice, but I know I am missing some valuable information about what is happening politically that I might want to be a part of. Do you know where I can look to find out about these things? Thanks, Audrey, for being such a valuable voice for what is right.
Thank you, Sheri, for caring so strongly about what’s happening in our country. Like you, I am not on Facebook by choice. I know some of the individuals heavily involved with the DFL in Rice County, which is how I learn of some events. But I’d encourage you to visit the Senate District 19 website and get on their email list. Here’s the link: https://www.sd19dfl.com/
Well spoken and well thought out response, Audrey. I agree with you and applaud you. I, too, have attended protests, keep myself informed, and look forward to using my voice and my vote. I hope I can do more.
We do what we can. Thank you, Lori, for doing your part. Each individual voice matters.
well done, Audrey. we all do what we can and I feel the pull now as well, to do anything we can to help to protect and support our people, our systems and our country. so much is at stake and even beyond me, I do it for my children and my grandchildren and the others of their generations who will remain when we are gone. thank you for all you do, every one of us is so important in this. each of us matter so much.
Thank you, Beth. I appreciate all you do. We are both on the same page in all of this. I especially like your statement that “each of us matter so much.”
God bless you for speaking out, Audrey. ❤ ❤ ❤
Awwww, Penny, thank you. We must each use our voices in whatever ways we can.
We had breakfast with friends this morning, the first in a while. We, of course, talked about the frightening situation in our country, then we talked about the wisdoms of our diverse ethnic lines: the need for joy, protecting the next generations, doing what one can for those most in harms way, nurturing community, and hopefully, being creative. It seems we had a mini version of the gathering you attended. Please keep writing!
That breakfast with your friends does, indeed, sound like a small scale version of the large garden party. I fully intend to continue writing. You, too. Our voices matter.
Thank you for this Audrey. Well said. Like Sheri, I wondered where you get your info on these gatherings. I’ll copy the link.
Next time I will try to remember to text you. But, yes, get on the email list.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments.
You are welcome, Ken.
Audrey, you nailed it with the following summary. We can’t be quiet; we need to stand up for our constitutional rights that are being violated.
I’ve lived enough years to observe that what’s happening in this country right now is unprecedented. I’ve never felt more fearful of losing our freedoms under authoritarian rule. It’s happening already with snatching people off the streets, imprisonment and deportations without due process. It’s happening in intimidation and retribution; mass firings; suppression of free speech; funding cuts that are undermining research, healthcare, education and more; gathering of private information by the government; sending armed military into cities; and in countless other ways that affect all of us no matter our political affiliations.
This isn’t about rural vs urban. This isn’t about us vs them. This is, rather, about preserving and protecting our very freedoms as Americans. This is about caring and feeling hopeful. This is about speaking up. About doing something
I know you share my concerns and care deeply. So thank you for appreciating my writing.