land of cabins & bonfires & beer land of ope & you betcha & i’m just gonna sneak right past ya land of cream of mushroom soup land of tater tot hot dish land of shoveling your neighbor’s sidewalk land of holding open the door land of the loon’s call across the lake land of the northern lights painting the sky land of the wilderness & the wild land of the mississippi river’s birth land of small things turning mighty land of teargas pluming against an umbrella land of children too scared to go to school land of blood on the car’s headrest land of boots & camo & guns land of SUVs flooding the streets land of masked men at my favorite gas station land of masked men demanding to see your papers land of masked men kicking doors down land of masked men choking people i know land of masked men brutalizing high school students
land of whistles shrieking in the night land of whistles shrieking in the morning land of whistles shrieking in the afternoon land of crying in your car land of bullets & shovels & brooms land of people stolen from their cars & their jobs & their homes land of those who are left land of neighbors land of this is your home, no matter where you come from land of whistles land of crowds land of kicking the teargas back under the SUV land of sex-shop-turned-community-center land of grocery store drops offs land of community patrol land of signal chats & zines land of printing in multiple languages land of you belong here & we will prove it land of proving it land of learning that love is a verb land of finding out exactly who you are & what you are made of
land of drums & song & rally land of all night noise outside of any hotel that dares house the devil land of ICE agents slipping on the ice land of winter & frostbite land of nature as our first love & ally
land of tater tot hot dish, discreetly delivered land of cabins, offered for a safe place to rest land of the northern lights, our cell phone screens flashing luminous across the internet as we film land of 10,000 neighbors land of small things turning mighty land of the minnesota goodbye: didn’t you know? we are bad at saying goodbye to those we love. we could stay here all night, shoes on in the entryway, refusing to open the door.
Photo by Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images
Earlier this week, an unexpected and fast-moving incident unfolded in St. Paul, Minnesota involving both federal and local law enforcement. As crowds gathered and questions mounted, one of our MPR News reporters, Sam Stroozas, realized she lived just blocks away.
She did what reporters do.
She went.
There wasn’t time to change clothes. Sam arrived in a bathrobe and slippers and began reporting from the scene.
A photo captured the moment. It circulated quickly across local media and online, sparking conversation — and, overwhelmingly, appreciation for Minnesota’s “Bathrobe Lady.”
But the reaction wasn’t really about the bathrobe.
It was about what it represented.
Local journalism often begins before a camera is rolling, before a live shot is framed, before a headline is written. It begins with proximity. With awareness. With someone deciding that what’s happening matters enough to go see it firsthand.
It begins with showing up.
That instinct, to move toward the story, not away from it, is shared across our newsroom. Reporters, producers, editors, photographers and engineers regularly respond in real time when news breaks. They work evenings, early mornings and weekends. They field tips, verify information, and help provide clarity in moments that can quickly become confusing or chaotic.
Sometimes, that work looks polished and composed on air. Sometimes, it starts in slippers.
Later this week, colleagues across the organization wore robes to the office as a lighthearted tribute to Sam and to the broader newsroom. It was a small, communal way to recognize something serious: the commitment to being present for Minnesota communities when it matters most.
Journalism is built on preparation, rigor and accountability. It is also built on people — people who live in the neighborhoods they cover, who are part of the communities they report on, and who care deeply about getting the story right.
This week’s moment offered a glimpse behind the scenes. A reminder that before the microphones, the editing bays and the published stories, there are human beings not only paying attention, but working to get the trusted facts to the community serve every day.
And when news breaks close to home, they go.
"Saw the Sam Stroozas photo. Now that is dedicated community journalism." –John in St. Paul
"Sam Stroozas recording ICE officers with her neighbors in her bathrobe and slippers brought tears to my eyes." –Ted
"Thank you to you all… Especially the Bathrobe Lady It’s been a rough ride here in the cities." –Robert in St. Paul
Every year, doctors at a hospital in the Yunnan Province of China brace themselves for an influx of people with an unusual complaint. The patients come with a strikingly odd symptom: visions of pint-sized, elf-like figures – marching under doors, crawling up walls and clinging to furniture.
The culprit is a mushroom, “Lanmaoa asiatica”, which causes hallucinations of tiny people if it’s not cooked thoroughly. And apparently, that mushroom can be found in multiple places around the world, with multiple appearances.
Bobsledding looks fast and cool and vaguely terrifying, but I (respectfully) didn’t really give a shit about Olympic bobsledding until this past weekend, when I learned about these two 40-year-old moms who’ve basically made a career out of making Olympic bobsled history and were poised to make even more.
Ahead of Monday’s women’s monobob, 41-year-old Elana Meyers Taylor already had five Olympic medals, three silver and two gold, making her the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympic history.
On Monday night, Meyers Taylor FINALLY won gold, completing her Olympic collection, and tying speedskater Bonnie Blair for the most medals won by a U.S. woman in the Winter Olympics. “I thought it was impossible,” Meyers Taylor said after winning gold, per ESPN. She also became just the second woman ever in her 40s to compete in Olympic bobsled. The first? Fellow Team USA’er Kaillie Humphries Armbruster, 40, who raced just two minutes and 29 seconds before her.
Humphries Armbruster, whose three previous Olympic gold medals are the most of any female bobsledder ever, finished third, her fifth Olympic medal. I would simply never talk about anything else ever.
“You get a lot of people that like to write you off as soon as you reach 40, it’s all downhill from there, is what you hear. I think Elana and I are both proof that that’s not true,” Humphries Armbruster said after their win. “As soon as you become a mom, your body’s not the same, and you can never get that high performance back, and I think we were able to show that that’s not true again.”
I am starstruck, inspired, and irrationally convinced I, too, could maybe become an Olympic bobsledder.
Eleven years have passed since ISIS broadcasted a gruesome video on February 15th, 2015, of the beheading of 20 Copts and a Ghanaian on a beach in Libya. The men, who hail from villages in Upper Egypt, were labor migrants in Libya when ISIS kidnapped them on two separate occasions in December 2014 and January 2015. The 21 quickly became a haunting, global symbol of ISIS’ brutality, embroiling them in the politics of the global war on terror. This politicization of the 21 reflect the predicament of Christians in Egypt and the broader Middle East who are instrumentalized by various powerful actors—from the Egyptian government to the American religious right—for political gain.
This spectacle of death came to represent modern day martyrdom for the Coptic Orthodox Church. The Church canonized the 21 as saints and honored them as martyrs, designating February 15th as the day to honor modern-day Coptic martyrs. When the bodies of the 21 were finally located, exhumed, and returned to Egypt, they were laid to rest in the village of al-Our in Minya, the hometown of thirteen of the men. Today, the Church of the Martyrs of Faith and Homeland—which signifies them as both religious and national martyrs—has become a site of pilgrimage for many Christians who pray to the 21 martyred saints and seek their intercessions. These ordinary Egyptian migrants were transformed into martyrs, honored for gaining the kingdom of heaven at the hands of ISIS. This incident reifies a strong identity that the Orthodox Church is a Church of Martyrs and its adherents are descendants of martyrs.
While the process of martyr-making sanctifies the 21 men and their suffering, it obscures a more insidious politics. Coptic critics have argued that the discourse of Coptic martyrdom, advanced by the Coptic Church, teaches Copts to accept suffering and dissuades them from calling for their rights. Notably, the Church primarily recognizes victims of terrorism as religious martyrs, yet sidelines Coptic victims of state violence, exemplified by the Maspero Massacre. The glorification of martyrdom ultimately absolves the government from its duty to prevent these deaths altogether. This is part of an entente between the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Egyptian government, whereby the Church offers political support in exchange for protection. Rejection of the discourse of martyrdom has driven some politically conscious Copts away from the sanitizing discourse of martyrdom and towards political advocacy that holds accountable the state.
Indeed, when the Coptic men were initially kidnapped by ISIS, the Egyptian government did not act with urgency in response to families’ pleas to intervene. Yet immediately upon the release of ISIS’ video, the Egyptian government declared them “sons of Egypt,” announced seven days of national mourning, and ordered strikes on ISIS strongholds in Libya. The government capitalized on this incident to justify its global war on terror, arguing that all Christians and moderate Muslims are united in opposition to the existential threat of terrorism and political Islam. Under the guise of the war on terror, President Sisi has committed massive human rights abuses that has demolished civil society, even suppressing the political speech of Copts. While Copts were initially supportive of President Sisi, they are increasingly becoming disenchanted by his policies.
Though glorified as religious and national martyrs in the global war on terror, the victim’s families and the new Church were not protected from sectarianism on the ground. During the funeral, Egyptian officials announced that President Sisi had ordered the Armed Forces to build a Church in honor of the 21 Libya Martyrs in the heart of al-Our, the village where the majority of the men hail from. The announcement sparked protests by some Muslims against church construction, fueling sectarian tensions that even resulted in some throwing Molotov cocktails at the Church. After holding reconciliation councils to calm sectarian tensions, the government agreed to relocate the Church to the outskirts of al-Our instead. Even when victims of terrorism are glorified, they are not shielded from sectarianism and the failures of the state to regulate religious difference.
Image: Securitized entrance to the Church of the Martyrs of Faith and Homeland, al-Our, Minya, Egypt. Photo by Miray Philips, 2022.
The story of the 21 was not only significant to Copts and Egyptians, but reverberated globally, resonating with Christians worldwide. Within the Catholic Church, Pope Francis added the 21 to the Roman Martyrology, stating that “these martyrs were baptized not only in the water and Spirit, but also in blood, a blood that is the seed of unity for all of Christ’s followers.” A Catholic German author wrote a book about the 21, charting their journey towards martyrdom, and in the process characterizing them as exemplary Christians. A team of 70+ artists from across the world produced an animated film, shortlisted for the Oscars, in the style of neo-Coptic iconography, to counter the “propaganda” of ISIS’ video, and instead “showcase the spiritual victory won by the martyred saints.” These cultural materials are part of a broader repertoire of media, books, and songs about Christian martyrdom globally.
The American Religious Right have become some of the loudest advocates on behalf of Middle Eastern Christians. “Christianity is under unprecedented assault in those ancient lands where it first grew,” declared Vice President Mike Pence at a 2017 dinner hosted by In Defense of Christians. On behalf of the Trump Administration, he vowed to fight these “radical Islamic terrorists” who were driven by a “hatred for Christians.” The framework of the war on terror resonates with an audience that view the rise of Islamist violence as the ultimate threat to a civilized Christian America after 9/11.
Leaders from the American religious right found allies in authoritarian regimes, including President Sisi, in safeguarding Middle East Christians and fighting the war on terror. They argued that authoritarianism is better than political Islam for the survival of Christianity in the region. Evangelical delegations have visited President Sisi to discuss Christians religious freedom, terrorism, and Israel. In 2019, Evangelical leaders, Mike Pompeo, Joel Rosenberg and Johnnie Moore attended the inauguration of the largest Cathedral in Egypt by President Sisi and Coptic Pope Tawadros II. Upon their return, Joel Rosenberg and Johnnie Moore opined that President Sisi “deserves the friendship and support of the United States” for his efforts to “fight violent extremism, protect religious freedom, and promote peaceful coexistence.” They forged a political friendship over a shared enemy in Islamic terrorism.
The story of the 21 Martyrs does not only shape US foreign policy towards the Middle East, but also animates domestic anxieties about the status of Christians in the United States. The American Religious Right cite growing secularism, the spread of a “gender ideology,” the legalization of same-sex marriage and abortion as evidence of a war on Christians. President Trump has vowed to protect Christians in the United States and Middle East. Ahead of the 2025 election, Trump tweeted at the Coptic community, appealing to their “Steadfast Faith in God, Perseverance through Centuries of Persecution and Love for this Great Country” to vote him into office. The discourse of a global war on Christians is deeply intertwined with domestic anxieties about Christian persecution.
In asserting their own Christian persecution in the United States, members of the American Religious Right appeal to the imagery of Coptic martyrdom. The day before the 2021 January 6th Capitol Insurrection, Eric Metaxas, a Trump-supporting author and radio-host personality, tweeted a still image of the 21 martyrs kneeling in orange jumpsuits with the caption, “What price are you willing to pay for what you believe in?” Metaxas was equating Trump’s election loss to the beheading of Copts by ISIS, calling on his followers to sacrifice for their political beliefs. The tweet raised the ire of many Copts who rejected the politicization of the 21 by the American Religious Right.
Despite these political optics, critics have warned that President Trump’s Administration has fallen short on their religious freedom promises, failing religious groups domestically and Christians in the Middle East. While Trump has promised to protect Middle Eastern Christians, and has indeed won their political support, his immigration policies have directly harmed these communities. Refugee bans have made it more difficult for Christians fleeing violence to seek refuge in the United States. ICE raids and a wave of deportations targeted the Chaldean Iraqi enclave in Detroit. President Trump has also tried to ban the Diversity Visa Lottery, the pathway through which many Coptic Christians migrate to the United States. Declarations to protect Middle Eastern Christians do not translate to actual protections on American soil.
The politicization of persecution obscures a simpler story about hardship and abandonment. The 21 were men who were forced to leave the comfort of their homes for economic mobility. The day after ISIS released the video, a grieving father apologized to his son for not having “enough money to keep you from going to this place.” At the memorial Church in al-Our, next to the coffin of Milad Makeen Zaky Hanna, are his bloodied orange jumpsuit and zip ties, alongside his Egyptian passport and a note about money owed. In pursuit of a better life, these men found themselves in danger and neglected.
Only in their deaths have these 21 men become glorified symbols. While the process of martyr-making by the Church, Egyptian government, and the American religious right sanctifies the 21 men and their suffering, it also sanitizes their death in pursuit of a global war on terror.
Image: The personal items of victim Milad Makeen Zaky Hanna at the Church of the Martyrs of Faith and Homeland, al-Our, Minya, Egypt. Photo by Miray Philips, 2022.
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