> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.possibilities.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Remember 2016? - URL: https://www.possibilities.news/2016-standing-rock-minnesota-protests/ - Published: 2026-01-22T11:00:18.000Z - Updated: 2026-01-22T16:22:20.000Z - Description: The criminalization of protests has a long and ugly history, but 2016 was a turning point. - Author: Yessenia Funes **This edition is available to all (except the paid exclusives). Support my work and upgrade to paid** [**here**](https://www.possibilities.news/#/portal/signup) **for as little as $5 a month.** --- **LISTENING:** *"and we hate po-po / wanna kill us dead in the street fo'sho'"* **FEELING:** *elated! i'm a wife!* **SEEING:** [*my new planner*](https://valfre.com/products/gal-with-a-plan-2026?ref=possibilities.news) My feed is full of 2016 throwbacks. People posting photos of their Snapchat filters and colorful glam. I'm guilty of sharing my own #TBT reel to Instagram. That was the year before everything changed. I love nostalgia, but I love history more. There are always lessons to glean. 2016 taught us a lot, but I think we've forgotten. Welcome to **Possibilities**, a creative climate newsletter on the possibilities that lie where crisis meets community. I’m **Yessenia Funes**, and I want us to remember how this current political crisis has been at least a decade in the making. [Subscribe here](https://www.possibilities.news/#/portal/signup) In 2016, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe launched a remarkable campaign against the Dakota Access oil pipeline in North Dakota. I covered that story remotely for months, day in and day out. It was inspiring — but also enraging. [Youth](https://atmos.earth/political-landscapes/standing-rock-dapl-youth-runners-biden/?ref=possibilities.news) helped start a groundbreaking movement, but police quickly escalated the situation and grew violent. Leading national media outlets finally paid attention to the protests when private security for the private developer Energy Transfer [sicced](https://www.democracynow.org/2016/9/4/dakota%5Faccess%5Fpipeline%5Fcompany%5Fattacks%5Fnative?ref=possibilities.news) dogs on peaceful Indigenous advocates. Since those protests, which transformed the U.S. conversation on fossil fuel infrastructure and resistance, states have heightened their anti-protest laws to limit our First Amendment rights. Since 2017, 23 states have [enacted](https://www.icnl.org/usprotestlawtracker/?location=&status=enacted&issue=&date=custom&date%5Ffrom=2017-01-01&date%5Fto=2026-01-21&type=&ref=possibilities.news) some type of law to criminalize protest. I see the footage of what's coming out of Minnesota. Law enforcement officers are attacking civilians. Even local police forces are [speaking out](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/20/immigration-agents-minnesota-police-officer/88268058007/?ref=possibilities.news) against this brash use of violence. What I'm witnessing reminds me of the history of state-sanctioned violence in this country. This practice is older than Standing Rock — let's look to patrols against enslaved people or the civil rights movement — but 2016 was a turning point. And one we all collectively witnessed. 2016 was the year American voters first placed their bets on Trump. It was also the year that the country woke up to the injustices Indigenous peoples still face at the hands of dirty industry and government. That year also became the moment our elected officials began their parade to criminalize those who speak up. Some laws charge fees to protesters. Other laws heighten the risk for civil disobedience. Unfortunately, judges are [aligning](https://www.reuters.com/world/us-appeals-court-pauses-lower-court-order-restraining-immigration-agents-use-2026-01-21/?ref=possibilities.news) with President Donald Trump's agenda, legitimizing the violence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement against protestors. This isn't a coincidence: Trump appointed [over 200 judges](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/01/13/how-trump-compares-with-other-recent-presidents-in-appointing-federal-judges/?ref=possibilities.news) to federal courts during his first term. I don't have words of comfort to offer today. I simply offer a reflection of how we got here. I'm meeting with my local Democratic Socialists of America chair this week to figure out how I can plug in and help protect my community the day ICE agents arrive. I challenge you to figure out how you, too, can support your neighbors. The criminalization of protesters is a dystopic reality climate and environmental organizers know well. The planet and our peers are counting on us to demand more — of law enforcement, of elected officials, and of ourselves. 🌀 --- **MISSED MY POSSIBILITIES '25 PLAYLIST?** [**HERE**](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7oGjN7qmpRVTYlnSPym61Y?si=93f992044b554948&ref=possibilities.news) **IT IS. SAVE IT :)** **The newsletter ends here for free subscribers.** [**Why not upgrade?**](https://www.possibilities.news/#/portal/signup) ## Rest in Power **While we can't say for certain that climate change led to these specific weather events (we need attribution studies for that), we do know that the Earth's rising temperatures are already creating more frequent and/or stronger disasters like these.** Since Monday, Russia has been reeling with a [dramatic snowstorm](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/01/15/falling-snow-kills-2-in-kamchatka-as-winter-storms-slam-far-east-a91686?ref=possibilities.news) that has left at least two people dead. In Gaza, the [winter death toll](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260120-palestinian-baby-dies-from-cold-in-gaza-as-winter-death-toll-rises-to-9/?ref=possibilities.news) is up to nine. Last time I [shared](https://www.possibilities.news/2025-climate-justice-wins/) numbers in December, five people had died. The latest victim is a seven-month-old. As of Friday of last week, the [death toll](https://www.possibilities.news/2025-climate-justice-wins/) of the floods that affected Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe is over 100\. The number was previously 21. Severe wildfires this week have [killed](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7ypw4rjrzo?ref=possibilities.news) at least 18 people in Chile. The president has declared a state of catastrophe. On Sunday, firefighters were battling 24 fires. ## Currently Reading I've been trying to finish Julian Brave NoiseCat's "[We Survived the Night](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/688144/we-survived-the-night-by-julian-brave-noisecat/?ref=possibilities.news)," so I haven't been reading much else. ## Art ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/1a/0c1a1c44-c395-4236-a843-5697585f81d1/content/images/2026/01/01_bride-groom.png) ****JUNK JOURNAL: ENTRY 01.15.2026** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/1a/0c1a1c44-c395-4236-a843-5697585f81d1/content/images/2026/01/wedding-day.png) Photographs by Mariline Funes (Color i-Type Film/Polaroid) > I got married this week! Yay! ****I'm having so much fun junk journaling that I haven't been making collages, but I think I'll soon use my junk to make some collages. Hope you all are finding ways to create and tap back into analog mediums in our increasingly digital world. xx** \- Yessenia