MINNEAPOLIS – Raycurt Johnson strolls into a local theater in south Minneapolis, shaking off the cold. He's carrying a tambourine in one hand and a bullhorn in the other.
"I was born in the civil rights era, and I'm still doing that," the 65-year-old says with a laugh.
Around him, other musicians unpack their instruments, mostly brass: tubas, trombones, trumpets.
Together they make up a community band called Brass Solidarity, formed in the aftermath of the 2020 murder of Minneapolis resident George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin - a killing that embroiled the city in protests and riots. The band plays once a week in George Floyd Square, where the killing occured. When Renee Macklin Good was killed by a federal immigration agent earlier this month just blocks from there, the band started playing music in her memory as well.
"Music is healing," Johnson explains.
The following week, Brass Solidarity was at Good's memorial site, playing for people gathered there.
"It was really interesting because there was a lot of mournfulness coming in, but people were rocking with us, and jamming with us," says Daniel Goldschmidt, another member of the band who plays the melodica.
In a video posted to the band's Instagram, the crowd dances joyfully in a long train around piles of flowers and candles left in Good's memory.
Since then, Brass Solidarity has turned out for several anti-ICE protests, and updated their repertoire a bit to include critical lyrics about ICE and other federal agencies.
Goldschmidt, a practicing music therapist, says the music isn't just about bringing the mood up in an otherwise depressing environment – it also helps calm people down, at a time when many are angry. Which is especially helpful as local leaders here continue to urge restraint, and President Trump threatens to deploy the military to Minneapolis.
"Street band music has the ability to bring down the temperature in spicy situations on the street during protests," Goldschmidt says.
The band has been playing even as the temperatures have hovered well-below freezing. At one recent event, a trumpet player had icicles forming on the end of his bell, as he blew air through the horn continuously even when he wasn't playing, just to keep it warm.
"The horns lock up. Someone's here with a wooden clarinet right now. That's not gonna work when it's cold," says Alsa Bruno, a singer with the band. "And yet, we show up."
In recent days, the band has been meeting and playing indoors, as the weather has dropped into the negative single digits. But members are still showing up at outdoor events, banging drums or singing into bullhorns.
"This is not a moment for us to give in to insecurity. It's actually the moment that we get to stand together in the cold, knowing we're all cold, being arm in arm, knowing that this weather is just weather," says Bruno. "It's temporary. We're forever."
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