I’m Fighting ICE with My Music

There’s little poetry left in politics, but music can still speak truth to power.

Credit: Paul Metsa

By Paul Metsa

I am a musician, songwriter, social activist, and radio host. Minneapolis was my home for 40 years. It’s where I cut my teeth as a songwriter and where I learned that a guitar in the right hands isn’t just a musical instrument—it’s an instrument for justice. But today, I’m writing from Duluth with a heavy heart and a steeled spine.

My musical heroes—Minnesota’s own Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and Phil Ochs—literally created the soundtrack to so many of the great protests of the last century. They never shied away from a fight with authority in the 1960s and ‘70s. Their legacy demands a response from musicians of all stripes, and I know plenty of musicians and concerned citizens who are happy to provide it.

Well before Woody Guthrie wrote “This Machine Kills Fascists” on his guitar, Americans were using music as a tool of resistance. During the Revolutionary War, the fife and drum were not just ceremonial to American patriots, they were instruments for communication, pride, and identity. That hasn’t changed in 250 years. I draw on the long tradition of American folk music to help people find courage and resolve in the face of injustice.

I lived less than a mile from the corner of 26th and Nicollet, the intersection where Alex Pretti was killed by federal agents. I’ve been speaking out against this administration for a while now, but the tragedy of recent events hit really close to home for me. When violence like the kind we’ve seen—violence perpetuated by state actors—hits your (old) front porch, it isn’t just “news” anymore. It’s a tragic murder that strikes at the soul of your community.

We are living through a time when music has been sucked out of our politics and replaced with the cold, hard machinery of fear. It isn’t just the headlines; it’s the quiet destruction of the places we love. My friends who are on the ground in Minneapolis tell me the same stories every day. Stories of ICE and CBP brutality, heroic community pushback, and state-inflicted terror. Nationwide, but especially in Minnesota, this country is seeing an unprecedented ICE presence that feels less like law enforcement and more like an occupation.

Small businesses are suffocating. Restaurants and retail shops—the lifeblood of the Twin Cities—are dying. When people are afraid to leave their homes, when workers are scared to commute, and when customers vanish because they don’t want to cross ruthless, indiscriminate federal agents, the economy doesn’t just “slow down.” It breaks.

This administration’s policies have turned neighbors into targets. I see the economic effect this has on families who have spent generations building something here, only to see it dismantled in a few short weeks by “Operation Metro Surge.” That’s creating long-lasting harm that might take families generations to dig themselves out of.

Some people ask why a musician needs to get involved in “the mess.” To me, there is no other choice. We are living under a government that demands a response. I recently put out a record called “Songs of Resistance and Resolve.” It debuted at the No Kings rally in Duluth in front of 5,000 people. Seeing thousands of faces singing along to the chorus wasn’t just a concert; it was a mobilization. Music is one of the last things we can all agree on. It crystallizes the anger, the love, and the real meaning of patriotism.

Whether it’s standing in solidarity with the families of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, or supporting the businesses on Minneapolis’s Eat Street that are struggling to survive, I use my voice and my radio show, Wall of Power Radio Hour, to keep the conversation honest. We can’t let what’s happening—what this administration is doing—get us down. We can lament the lives lost, but then we have to get up and keep fighting back. We have to keep singing, keep dancing, and keep working harder to love one another through this madness.

Songs are our strength. Resistance is our resolve.

Paul Metsa is a musician, songwriter, author, and radio host originally from the Iron Range of Minnesota. He currently lives in Duluth. His latest release is “Fires of Jerusalem.” He is a participant in Home of the Brave, which exists to show Americans the real-world consequences of this administration’s policies, and to highlight what bravery looks like in defense of American democracy. Stream or purchase Paul’s new record, “Songs of Resistance and Resolve,” at paulmetsa.com.