Say her name: Renee Macklin Good. For the history books, I want to go down as raising my voice and using my platform to bring awareness — and someday maybe justice — to the senseless murder of a mother of three who was protesting ICE in Minneapolis.
Renee and her wife Becca Good had recently moved to the Twin Cities to start a new life with their three children. Perhaps the lesbian couple thought that a bigger city in a blue state would provide some sense of safety that a red state could not.
Becca’s statement is read by @janashortal, a local Minneapolis St. Paul KARE-TV anchor, who reads in its full form. The statement reads, “This kindness of strangers is the most fitting tribute because if you ever encountered my wife, Renee Nicole Macklin Good, you know that above all else, she was kind. In fact, kindness radiated out of her.”
“Renee sparkled. She literally sparkled. I mean, she didn’t wear glitter but I swear she had sparkles coming out of her pores. All the time. You might think it was just my love talking but her family said the same thing. Renee was made of sunshine.”
Becca went on to tell reporters that when she, Renee and their six-year-old son road-tripped to Minnesota for the chance to make a better life, the couple held hands the entire car ride. Their son made drawings on the windows as the miles stretched on toward Minneapolis.
When they arrived, they found a vibrant and welcoming community and a “strong shared sense here in Minneapolis that we were looking out for each other.” Becca said she finally found peace and safe harbor.
What hits close to home is that sense of peace and safe harbor that we find here in Palm Springs. Because of the leadership of our police chief, Andy Mills, we know that law enforcement has our backs and equally protects and serves our community. Every LGBTQIA+ letter is respected and our small town doesn’t tolerate hate.
But as ICE agents and Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies under Chad Bianco work to enforce draconian initiatives from the federal government, Mills and his force may find themselves at odds. Our sense of safety and protection wanes.
We’ve already had mostly peaceful protests in the valley, but Renee’s murder by an ICE agent certainly has a chilling effect on wanting to do so. That’s part of the strategy, of course, just like the FCC threatens broadcast licenses and mergers to silence opposition.
It’s a troubling time for our world. Renee’s death won’t be in vain, and will hopefully go down as a pivotal time in our history. We need a turning point and, of course, we need justice.
