If there are folks who would like to design a couple of "FUND OUR LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARIES" posters, holler at me at niapoetry@gmail.com and please tell me your rate for this. Poster size would be 11 by 17 landscape size.
I need to print some posters for a forthcoming event.
One week away! Register for what will be a very powerful event celebrating a decade of Survived & Punished, a national coalition of prison abolitionists organizing defense campaigns for people criminalized for surviving domestic or sexual violence.
Part two of my conversation with @tanuja.bsky.social is now live. We talk about conflict resolution, why some common approaches leave people feeling let down, how to make better apologies, how to receive feedback, and the relational skills our communities need to survive these times.
My latest is a reflection on the cycle of dread, disaster, and temporary reprieves we’re all navigating, what that cycle is doing to us, and how we can avoid losing ourselves to it.
This edition also includes a roundup of must-read pieces that have helped me think about this moment.
“In late February 2025 and again in late March, Illinois Answers Project and Sun-Times reporters sent questions to the police department about the gun and its disappearance.
Days later, the police reopened the internal investigation.”
Jail staff restrained Travis Braden, 39, to a chair in 2022 after he expressed suicidal ideation and swallowed a piece of metal. He filed a complaint and settled in January for $27,500.
“To me, it wasn’t enough,” Braden said. ”And the sad part of it is, there’s no accountability behind it.”
The photo depicts a few thin branches of a magnolia tree with sparse pink-and-white buds. A cardinal sits atop the highest branch, turning his head to look to the left. The red bird stands out against a light blue sky and a few wisps of cloud.
Iran closes all diplomatic and indirect channels of communication with the U.S., suspending the exchange of messages, following Trump’s threat to kill Iran's "whole civilization." -Reuters
Book cover for Read This When Things Fall Apart: Letters to Activists in Crisis. Features a drawing of a person wading into a body of water in a forest at night.
If you are already involved in justice work, but are struggling to hold this moment, my friends and I wrote a book for you, too. www.akpress.org/read-this-wh...
I was going to write today, but until we know more, I don't have any new words for this moment. What I will say is that if you are reeling, and you know you want to be part of making things better, Mariame Kaba and I wrote a book for you. I hope it helps.
this would be an amazing way for It to happen
i, for one, love bedtime
Stephen Miller urged Department of Homeland Security agents to “force confrontations” with protesters in Minneapolis.
Supt. Snelling just told the CCPSA that CPD established a perimeter to "control traffic" outside of a South Loop ICE facility in June.
The TRUST Act prohibits police from "any collateral assistance such as ... establishing a security or traffic perimeter surrounding such operations"
“We have a great opportunity in our movements to learn how to be opponents without being enemies. I think we would thrive in our groups and in our formations if we actually could hold space for lively disagreement, lively debate, exploring differences of opinions instead of doing this thing that I’ve also participated in, which is where we’re like, ‘Ooh, I don’t have the right opinion. If I don’t have the right opinion, I’m going to be out.’ Or, ‘You don’t have the right opinion. You’re out, you’re wrong, you’re not enough of a radical to be here,’ et cetera, et cetera.” - Tanuja Jagernauth
@tanuja.bsky.social: "What if we embraced our differences of opinion and got curious about where that opinion comes from?" truthout.org/audio/ruptur...
This two-episode arc was created by popular demand. Y'all told me you wanted more discussion on conflict resolution, so my bestie and I, who co-facilitate an emotional and spiritual support group for activists, are talking about it. ❤️
Today, I talk with @tanuja.bsky.social about rupture and repair in our movements. This is the first of two episodes about conflict, how we process it, and how we can keep our relationships and organizations strong.
Fund the public libraries. Just do it.
"[T]he pope ... criticiz[ed] anyone who would invoke Jesus Christ to justify a war."
BELOW: How Chicago feels about kings.
Ah, you think No Kings is going to accomplish anything? It's nothing compared to my approach of never being around other people for any reason
Walking thru the “Ultra Normie” No Kings rally in my extremely rural, white town and there are Patagonia wearing moms carrying signs that say “DEAD PEDOPHILES DONT REOFFEND” and “ICE GETS THE WALL” and I hi fived an old guy with a sign that said MY DADDY FOUGHT NAZIS AND SO WILL I” this is wild
amazing
Thank you @mskellymhayes.bsky.social for once again finding the words.
So recently I got this device called the Instruo Pocket Scion. It takes electrical signals from plants and passes them through a sound engine. I hooked it up to this calla lily in my garden and here's what happened:
When I was growing up in the 80s, I was told that the Soviet Union was the “evil empire”.
It’s us.
No words.
Painting of Isaac Newton's prism experiment
Isaac Newton discovers Pink Floyd's Dark Sude of the Moon (1660s)
Donald Trump is the reason you are waiting for 6 hours on line at the airport. I hope that helps.
