When people ask me about allyship these days, my response is that the only ally I want is someone who will put their body on the line and nothing else. I am tired of fake bystanders who do nothing. I am tired of White allies who have a lot of talk but no action. I am tired of White allies who ask “where is Kamala Harris?” but have no smoke for their White cousins who got us in our current mess in the first place!

So as I began to learn more about Representative Melissa Hortman of Minnesota, I write this article in her honor to acknowledge that she placed her body on the line through a life of political service that also spoke out on behalf of women of color. I will address that in a moment after I delineate a bit of her career.

Hortman knew she wanted to be a politician by the age of 10 after watching the campaign unfold between President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. When Carter lost, Hortman decided she would be the first woman president. Eventually, she went on to be a lawyer in a family that did not have lawyers. And, after spending some time in Washington, D.C., she fell in love with D.C. and decided she wanted to run for Congress one day. With that knowledge, Hortman knew that she was going to have to live in her home state of Minnesota. Therefore, her first job out of law school was with legal aid, where she sued slumlords who did not provide heat or exterminate cockroaches.

After working as a lawyer, Hortman got involved in her local Democratic Farm-Labor organization and was approached to run for office. After a few unsuccessful runs, she finally won an election and became a representative. After much success, Rep. Hortman served as Minnesota’s speaker of the House from 2019 to 2024. However, it was in 2017 when she went viral.

On April 3, 2017, Rep. Hortman rose on the Minnesota House floor to criticize a handful of legislators who were off in a side room apparently playing a card game instead of listening to several female legislators of color speak against a bill that increased penalties for protesters who block freeways.

Hortman said to the men “I hate to break up the 100 percent White male card game in the retiring room. But I think this is an important debate.” Unbelievably, the men were upset that Hortman noted that they were 100 percent White men. They called her racist for noting that they were all White men. Can you believe they wanted HER to apologize? However, Hortman replied by saying, “I’m really tired of watching women of color, in particular, being ignored, so, I’m not sorry.” The phrase “So, Not Sorry!” became associated with Hortman and went viral.

In her 2017 moment, Rep. Hortman demonstrated the type of anti-racist activism that we need in the world today. I am heartbroken that a “Christian” nationalist gunman took such a soul and her husband out of the world. In 2017, Hortman did exactly what needs to be done by those who put their bodies on the line to push forward an anti-racist agenda. Essentially, we must continue to locate ourselves, name the issues, and demand change.[1]

When we locate ourselves, we situate ourselves in particular, historical, social, economic, and cultural contexts. There is no abstract BS. When we locate ourselves, we identify the connections between our lives and the wider social structures. As a White female, Hortman could identify herself accordingly and name her power while acknowledging her colleagues of color and the oppression that they were experiencing. Hortman located herself and the power that she had to make a change in that particular, historical moment.

Secondly, Hortman named the issue by specifically calling the White men to task for ignoring their colleagues of color. Hortman named the particular card-playing situation and the White men as the key players. It is interesting that the White men sought to call her racist and demanded an apology when she named the facts of the situation. Naming issues can be sobering. Naming issues can be uncomfortable. Naming issues force people to see matters that they would rather ignore. Naming issues also put a target on the person doing the naming. Nonetheless, Hortman put her body on the line in such a situation.

Finally, Hortman demanded change by simply imploring the men to take heed and listen. Demanding change is part of what anti-racist work entails. Demanding change is a constant struggle in anti-racist work. Demanding change is a constant becoming in anti-racist work. Demanding change is a constant “doing” in anti-racist work. We never arrive in anti-racist work.

With that thought, I want to thank Rep. Hortman for her work. I also want to acknowledge that our world deserves so much more than the political violence in which we are currently living.

Moreover, my final question becomes: who is next to pick up where Representative Melissa Hortman’s work has left off? Who is next to put her body on the line?

[1] Remi Joseph-Salisbury, and Laura Connelly. Anti-Racist Scholar-Activism. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2021.