Harley Sherman: ‘Our community just gets bigger and more united.’
Harley Sherman is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota studying Asian and Middle Eastern studies, global studies and teaching English as a second language.
“This entire semester has been crazy because my family’s worried about me, so I’m worried about them overly stressing. And I’m worried about a lot of my friends because they’re not your type-A white person. I try to focus on being optimistic because it makes it easier to get out of bed in the morning. So I say, ‘The sun is out today,’ or ‘It’s cloudy, maybe it’ll rain,’ because I like rain, and always keeping in touch with everyone and sending ‘How’s your day?’ or just ‘Hey, thinking of you.’
“I grew up in South Philly. I lived there ‘till I was about 10, and then we moved to Delaware. My aunt and uncle moved out here the summer before my senior year. When I stepped on campus, I just got this feeling of needing to be here. I told my folks if I ever settle down in one place later in the future in the United States, it would probably be in Minnesota, just because I like the Twin Cities area and all the people I’ve met. There’s a lot of culture here, and it’s almost small town meets big city, so it’s a good in-between.
“I flew home from winter break the weekend after Renee Good’s murder. My folks and I were both very reluctant to let me leave ‘cause I was like, I don’t know what I’m walking into. I’ve had a lot of scares for friends who have been like, ‘ICE is right down the street from me,’ and I’ve been like, ‘If you need anything, let me know, hit me up. I’ve got two couches, there’s food, a bathroom, anything you need,’ just to make sure that the people I can have control over helping have that resource.
“It feels like everyone’s holding their breath for the other shoe to drop, and it still hasn’t felt like it’s happened yet, and every day I try to be as present as possible in the moment, be aware of my surroundings so that I can go home at the end of the day and tell my parents I am home, I’m OK, I made it through the day.
“I feel like everyone’s die-hard defending each other, and I feel like that’s really important. While this is a really bad situation, I feel like it’s brought the city back to being very, like, we are all here, we are all part of this country. We’ve got a group of parents who go down the block, pick up a bunch of kids from their houses and walk them to the bus stop. There’s a lot of watching out for each other, and I feel like that’s such a positive. I feel like it’s really helped the city feel more secure than it would be if we all were just hiding by ourselves.
“People are asking, ‘Hey, are you okay?’ People who wouldn’t normally reach out, even if you’re just acquaintances, are now being like, ‘You need anything? How’s your family?,’ not just being, ‘How are you?’ We are our own people, but also there are families connected to us, there are friends. I feel like through that, our community just gets bigger and more united.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview by Wren Warne-Jacobsen
