About 700 people will be in attendance on Sunday night, May 31, in Boston, when the JFK Presidential Library and Museum honors the people of the Twin Cities of Minnesota with the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award® for risking their lives to protect their neighbors and immigrant community members from Metro Surge, an unprecedented federal presence of up to 4,000 Immigrant Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
“It’s a big deal to have this award go to all of the people in the Twin Cities who stood up against what they saw as federal overreach, and it’s a real honor to send that message and to stand with you all,” said Rachel Flor, Executive Director of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
NOTE: The full interview with Rachel Flor will on The Sheletta Show Saturday between noon and 2:30 p.m.
One Minnesotan who will be in attendance in Boston is Sheletta Brundidge, host of The Sheletta Show on WCCO Radio and founder of ShelettaMakesMeLaugh.com, a podcast network and production company.
Brundidge will be wearing a one-of-a-kind jacket with the faces of Renee Good and Alex Pretti on the back. Both were shot and killed by ICE agents during Metro Surge.
“They gave the ultimate sacrifice for their courage, and they should be in the room when that award is handed out,” Brundidge said.
The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award was first given out in 1989, and every year since has been given to someone who represents a contemporary example of political courage. Past examples include Barack Obama (2017), George H.W. Bush (2014), and Gabrielle Giffords (2013).
"President Kennedy's famous line, 'Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,' I think there's not a better example than what the people of the Twin Cities did over those days of the surge and how they stood together," said Flor.
The award typically goes to an elected official. But not this year.
“When our politics are under so much pressure, we don’t see as much progress in elected office, and we’ve needed the everyday people who are simply neighbors to stand up and defend these fundamental values of our democracy,” Flor explained.
During the surge, the stories of courage seemed never-ending.
“We were just doing what needed to be done,” said Brundidge, who led a prayer vigil at the Renee Good memorial and started a GoFundMe campaign for businesses affected by the ICE presence.
“People were making sure immigrant girls had tampons, hiding groceries behind dumpsters that we knew people would come and pick up later, doing bus runs, and even moms were using Slack like corporate CEOs to galvanize and get people to places where they needed to be,” Brundidge added.
Sheletta and her prized jacket she plans to wear to the gala in Boston Sunday.
(Audacy / Sheletta Brundidge)
Social media showed the world the scores of Twin Cities residents who battled the cold and blew whistles to alert their neighbors to the presence of tens of thousands who made signs and bundled up to peacefully protest during Minnesota’s coldest, most bone-chilling weeks.
“It was a robust response that was essentially leaderless,” Flor said. “Everyone felt a responsibility and took the lead in their own ways.”
Brundidge said going to the front lines with other protestors became a profound act of courage after the shooting deaths of Pretti and Good.
“I had to tell my kids, if I’m not here when you come home from school, mommy may be in jail or worse. I had to prepare them for that,” Brundidge recalled.
Unlike Brundidge, not every Minnesotan who showed courage during the ICE surge will be in attendance at the JFK Presidential Library in Boston when the award is given out on Sunday, May 31, but their instincts and courage will be honored.
“Often when people receive this award, they say, ‘We were just doing what was right.’ But not everybody does that.” Flor went on to say the people of the Twin Cities are an example of the agency in each of us to defend our democracy in meaningful ways and stand up for human rights.
Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, will also be honored on May 31 with a 2026 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve, which is critical to the stability of the global economy, despite years of personal attacks and threats from the highest levels of government.
Accepting on behalf of the people of the Twin Cities will be Imam Yusuf Abdulle, Co-Founder, Somali American Leadership Table and Executive Director, Islamic Association of North America; Natalie Ehret, Founder, Haven Watch; Carolina Ortiz, Associate Executive Director, COPAL; and Zena Stenvik, Superintendent, Columbia Heights Public Schools.
“Looking back now, you realize what a miracle it was that we showed the world what showing up for your brothers and sisters, your neighbors and the least of these looks like,” Brundidge added.
Twin Citians can “accept” their award virtually by streaming the ceremony live starting at 7:30 p.m. CST on Sunday, May 31 here.
"The real, just robust response that was essentially leaderless," Flor adds. "It was everyone, (who) felt a responsibility and took the lead in their own ways. And how remarkable is that?"
