Do You Want to Go to Prom With Us?
Over the last few months, I have asked a lot of people to prom.
It was an excuse to publicly thank some of the best humans I know — the ones who showed up while we were all witnessing some of the worst of humanity. The ones who saw neighbors in crisis and did not look away. The ones who chose community.
Our Dates
Juntos Podemos
If you have not heard of Juntos Podemos, you should.
Juntos Podemos was created by my friend Anai, after her uncle was taken. What she intended to be a one-weekend food and necessities drive evolved into one of the most extraordinary examples of mutual aid I have ever witnessed.
At a time when our neighbors were being forced into impossible choices — go to work and risk being taken, or stay home and risk not being able to feed your family or make rent — Anai galvanized an entire community. Individuals. Small businesses. Organizers. Complete strangers.
People came together to make sure our neighbors had food on the table, a roof over their heads, and support when they needed it most. What began as a response to a crisis became something much bigger. It became proof that when institutions fail us, community can still show up.
Minnesota 50501
Minnesota 50501 has also been doing the work of helping connect people, organize people, track deportation flights, share information, and remind us that none of us are carrying this alone.
Watching both of these organizations operate over the last several months has left me with one overwhelming feeling: gratitude.
So, naturally, Lotus Legal threw a Prom to say thank you.
Dresses, Dancing, Donations: A Night to Remember
On June 11, we gathered at Bauhaus Brew Labs — one of our favorite community spaces, and one we are all going to miss dearly when it closes later this month — for a fundraiser benefiting Juntos Podemos and Minnesota 50501.
People got dressed up. Flying Penguin Studios put together a photo booth that captured the energy so everyone could take home their joy. We laughed at each other's outfits. We took awkward prom photos. We watched people who have spent months carrying heavy things get to be silly for a night.
We even held a "prom wear drive" and collected four prom dresses so that our neighbors who have spent countless nights sleeping outside at Whipple — helping keep our community informed and safe — could have something special to wear, too.
Minneapolis Live and Local
With a bit of something for almost everyone, we took to the stage. The evening's lineup:
Singing Resistance (46th and Bryant Pod) kicked things off, leading us in songs and conversation about community and belonging.
The Drinkin' Spelling Bee, hosted by Marisa and Britt, reminded us that spelling can, in fact, be a competitive sport. Congrats to Jennifer, who took first place and a $100 gift card generously donated by Nokomis Tattoo, and Danielle, who took second place and a Nokomis Tattoo gift card of her own.
Portside Dive absolutely rocked the stage. (We knew them when, guys!)
DJ Phoenix took over next and got us moving.
DJ Nick Hyde closed out the evening with the dance party — and violin performance — none of us knew we desperately needed.
RedRocket Pizza even created “The Katie,” a specialty pizza for the evening, and donated one dollar from every pizza sold.
By the Numbers
There was dancing. There was singing. There was laughing. There was crying. There were balloons filled with our collective rage that we gleefully popped into oblivion. There was joy.
All of it matters, because joy is not the opposite of resistance — joy is the resistance. It is how we remind ourselves what we are fighting for.
Together, by the end of the night, we raised $2,719.46 for Juntos Podemos and Minnesota 50501.
The real gift was getting to spend an evening celebrating the people who have spent months taking care of everyone else.
To everyone who donated, volunteered, performed, promoted, attended, danced, sang, posed for photos, bought pizza, popped balloons, or simply showed up: thank you.
Bauhaus Brew Labs — we are going to miss you.
Your support and spirit brought us all together, so let’s keep it going and stay in touch. And thank you to every person continuing to remind us that community is not a thing we just talk about, it's a verb.
We keep us safe.
You can check out some examples of cute prom-posals on Instagram — plus find the Photo Booth collection and other photos from the event highlighted below!
Now, excuse me while our committee gets to work on Prom 2027.
xx — Lotus Legal PLLC
Disclaimer
This post is for general informational purposes only. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Lotus Legal PLLC.
If you want to change that, request a consultation.