Lily Cartier

where democracy lies

it’s breathing, it’s reaching,
it’s a wish locked away in a birthday candle
until just the right moment to reveal catastrophe,
to reveal lovely chaos tied to lovely wonder,
prayers under sediment soaked memories
of how it could all be,
of where we could all stay safe.
it’s the unknown library of
jack pine erupting in fire,
for just a moment
everything seems okay.

in truth, i’ve never known democracy.

only heard its whispers through the cracks in the wall,
bonafide pipe dream spread by adults who claim
the world is better this way.
as if adult doesn’t include your twenties.
as if they don’t remember money is not edible,
as if they can’t see the rain burning our skin.
it’s aching, the thought of what could be.
it’s damning, the devastation of it all.

Lily Cartier
2025-06

He’s ashamed

i too flip tables
except the tables are stacks
upon stacks of flat rocks smoothed
by their maker tumbled fresh
beautiful clean
except my flipping is throwing
haphazardly angrily
into equally angry waves
crescendo crescent blue and dirt
yellow the color of jealousy
the color of fury

i lost myself in the stacks for a moment

lost to the anger fisted deep
in my chest of frozen bones
shattered in broken expectations of
loved ones now in the past
yesterday is over

history written on the pages
of everything i think i wanted
crumbled to pebbles in stacks
in piles in the loss

Lily Cartier
2025-06

What Makes Us Human?

An Interview with Lucy Soderstrom

What makes us human? Perhaps it is the innovation and creativity that is written into our impulses, or the way that we walk on two feet. According to Lucy Soderstrom, it is our connection and community with other people that make us truly, utterly human.

Lucy has been an Ely local for the last five years, moving up north after the 2020 pandemic shut down her community spaces in Tacoma, WA, where she attended the University of Puget Sound and worked at the Freedom Education Project. This is an organization that provides incarcerated folks at Washington Corrections Center for Women with a chance at higher education. They believe that education is "a practice of freedom," giving folks who would have been excluded from higher education a space to learn and grow as a person. The Freedom Education Project focuses on decolonized and anti-racist curriculum, empowerment, and the classroom as a collaborative community.

Lucy spent her childhood exploring the northwoods with YMCA Camp Widjiwagan, a canoe and backpacking tripping camp located in Ely, MN, and spent more summers creating that same magic for other kids. When it came time to move from Washington, Lucy and a crew of former Widjiwagan counselors decided that Ely would make a good place to stay for the summer. And when the pandemic did not come to a quick end, Lucy decided to make Ely her home. Working four different part time jobs in a new town, she was constantly looking for a way to connect to the folks around her.

The "Tuesday Group" was created in 2008 after a call by former President Barack Obama to get to know your neighbors. Originally started by Steve Piragis and staff, it is now sponsored by Boundary Waters Connect. After the pandemic struck, this group became essential to keeping connections alive and caring for the community in Ely. It meets at the Grand Ely Lodge (or "the GEL") each week to foster conversation and to keep this vibrant community alive. They cover all sorts of topics such as climatology, local authors, and businesses.

Another place Lucy finds community is at the Ely Folk School, where she started out as a volunteer, and is now the Executive Director. Their mission is to "build community by providing learning experiences that celebrate the wilderness heritage, art, history, culture, and craft of the people of northern Minnesota." The Folk School hosts events, gatherings, educational opportunities, workshops, potlucks, and is a central community center for Ely residents and tourists alike. Education and community are at their forefront, creating an accessible space for people to gather and learn. In a society so fast-paced, the Folk School is a turn inward, onto the people and place that makes Ely so magical.

The Folk School brings to light Lucy’s passion for community. "If you can’t have a conversation with the person across the street with a different political sign in his yard, you can’t do it with someone across the world," Lucy said. There is a constant influx of information through technology, and yet there is not often a real solution to the issues closest to heart. Creating, building, and maintaining community is something that Lucy says brings us closer together and creates room for empathy, desire for change, and cognition for what is really happening around us.

While the Folk School takes up most of Lucy’s time, there are many other groups that have had the privilege of her time. The American Association of University Women (AAUW) is an organization that focuses on "supporting equity for all girls and women in the areas of economic security, education opportunities and leadership." Notably, Lucy helped to organize a Dolly Parton themed pub crawl to raise awareness for the gender pay gap. AAUW Ely creates scholarship funds, hosts events, and empowers female voices.

Lucy is also part of EMPOWER: Ely, Minnesota, Progressive Organization of Women for Equality and Reform. This group was originally started in protest of the Iraq war, looking to create peace and end unnecessary violence. Right now, the group is focused on securing reproductive rights to all US citizens and creating a space to empower women. Lucy is also spearheading an Ely mutual aid fund with a "smorgasbord" of other folks from these various organizations. As someone concerned with community and connection, mutual aid is a clear way to show care and love to the people right around her.

In what spare time she has left, Lucy loves to stay active by riding her bike and running. She also loves to read. And, most of all, she loves to connect with the community around her. Lucy’s favorite way to connect is through food, hosting and attending many potlucks and sharing food with her friends. Ely is a town focused on self-sufficiency, with many folks growing, hunting, and preparing their own food to share. Everyone needs to eat, and sharing food is an easy way to connect.

Lucy shows us all how important the human desire for connection is. Today’s society is often focused on progress and money, without care for the people and impulses that bring comfort. In focusing on the people around us, it makes it easier to create empathy for those who are living all around the country, all around the world.

Lily Cartier
2025-07

We are not Raging at the Moon

An Interview with Leah Rogne

Over black iced tea, lemon poppy seed muffin, and a strawberry smoothie, I had the pleasure of meeting Leah Rogne for the first time in Ely, MN. Leah is one of the founders of Northern Progressives, a chapter of Indivisible located in northern Minnesota. This group has held biweekly meetings for almost the last decade, aiming to educate about civil affairs and hold space for the current state of the world.

Leah has been politically active for the majority of her life. Born and raised in Kindred, North Dakota, she was raised with the attitude that adults were involved in civil affairs. Her father would come in from the fields, get cleaned up and head over to the Farmer’s Union meetings. Her mother would get cleaned up from her day and head to meetings with the League of Women Voters, a group that she helped to found in North Dakota. Both of these meetings encouraged the education of farmers, of women, and of children, all groups which have been historically overlooked when it comes to civic affairs. Everything was a family effort, and children were always encouraged. Leah was able to see that this is what adults do; adults know their rights and fight for what is fair and just. Naturally, this led to Leah’s long history of political activism.

The 1964 Freedom Summer project was a moment in history that Leah named as influential to her fight for equity. Black soldiers returned from WWII only to face rampant discrimination and hatred, unlike the treatment they received in the military. These soldiers were stripped of the rights granted to them in their fight for their country, only to be put back under the power of the white plantation owners. The racial equality movement was at a standstill in Mississippi, where lawmakers and citizens were unwilling to give Black folks the right to safely vote. The Freedom Summer project brought white volunteers down from the northern United States to assist the Black folks in registering to vote. Putting white people in harm's way had a larger impact, as the news would actually pay attention. This was proven to be the case when two white and one Black volunteer went missing during the summer, only to be found deceased many weeks later. The news was in an uproar, and it was later revealed that the KKK had organized a lynching of these folks. While this project did not succeed in helping to expand the number of Black Mississippians registered to vote, it did grasp the attention of the government, spurring President Johnson and Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Two of these folks came to Leah’s Unitarian Universalist church to speak on their work. Inspired, Leah and her brother started a chapter of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee to raise money for the Civil Rights Movement.

Leah attended her first years of college at Michigan State. She spent the next couple of years abroad, before finally ending up at Tougaloo College in Mississippi, a Historically Black College. In a time of widespread segregation and racism, this little college was an epicenter of Black excellence, boasting renowned professors and vibrant students. After graduation, Leah moved to California, where she began her activism full time.

In California, Leah became an organizer for the United Farm Workers in the grape and lettuce boycotts, led by César Chávez in 1965. The Filipino farmers were being treated unfairly, paid low wages, not provided water in the fields, and given terrible housing. When these farmers went to strike, they were met with a stripping of their jobs and rights, as the farmers did not have the right to unionize and strike because of their exclusion from the National Labor Relations Act. The grape and lettuce boycotts brought activists like Leah to the front lines, protesting the growers and picketing outside of establishments that continued to sell the produce.With the framework established by the Civil Rights Act, the boycotts were successful.

This was the background Leah gave on her life. The majority of our time, however, was spent talking about the present. Leah told me about her passion for history and the work she is doing to uncover her family’s past. She told me about family members who were affected by the funding cuts at universities. We discussed the ICE raids in Minneapolis and Los Angeles. I learned about Steven Cooper, a man who found a gun while cleaning out a car. He reported it to his parole officer, but was then charged with felony possession of a firearm. I learned about the Law Enforcement Accountability Network (LEAN) in Duluth, a group that was instrumental in getting Cooper acquitted. Leah was interested in my life, what I wanted to do, and how I was going to accomplish these things. And most of all, she emphasized the importance of organizing and community, especially during a time so politically divided.

Robert’s Rule of Order is the standard parliamentary procedure used for decision making and discussions within organizations. It is not often called by this name, but this is an order that is used very regularly and known well by Leah and other long-time activists. Robert’s Rules are used in the US government amongst politicians during legislative sessions. Knowing these rules is essential to know how the government work and how to create change. Leah discussed the idea of knowledge and the barriers that are created because of a lack of sharing it. In young, voting aged people, the knowledge has been taken away in our classrooms. There are no longer civics classes, and often only one semester devoted to learning the workings of the entire US government. This results in a large portion of the population lacking the resources to become involved and to make real change. This is why groups like Northern Progressives are so important, especially in rural areas like the northwoods of Minnesota. With knowledge and community comes power and the ability for change.

"We are not raging at the moon," Leah said. Activists like Leah at Northern Progressives are creating space for meaningful conversation, powerful gathering, and passionate community.

References

• Freedom Summer — Definition, Murders & Results | HISTORY
• Workers United: The Delano Grape Strike and Boycott (U.S. National Park Service)
• Law Enforcement Accountability Network Duluth

Lily Cartier
2025-07