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hey, did yall know the quileute nation’s still (it is april 2021 as i write) trying to raise money to move out of that potential tsunami hazard zone and onto higher ground? i remember it was trending for a little while on tumblr when the twilight book came out but my corner of the web’s been quiet on it since.

there’s a lot going on all over the world right now but if you can spare them even 5 bucks, thats 5 bucks they wouldnt have had without you! please help them if you can.

https://mthg.org/

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my entire political stance basically boils down to "I care about other people" and MAN does it make people MAD

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Who to yell at if you’re dissatisfied with current happenings in the US government:

1) Student debt relief

This one you can lay square at the feet of the Biden administration. Debt relief, even if it is not total debt relief, can start occurring via executive order. It doesn’t require Congress, and no amount of President Biden saying he wants Congress to act changes the fact that he can (at least in part) act without them.

So who do you have to yell at? THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION. Also Congress, because they can do it too, Biden can just do it quicker and easier.

2) $15 minimum wage

I’ve seen a lot of yelling about this one laying the blame at the feet of Joe Biden. He’s not who you need to yell at for this.

This one does have to be done by Congress. There is no executive order that can be crafted on this front that would survive a legal challenge, it will have to be done by legislation. Democrats tried to push it through with Covid relief in the reconciliation. It didn’t work, which surprised most people other than people who have to know obscure budgetary rules for a living.

The Byrd rule is a rule that applies to the reconciliation process, and it basically states that: nothing can be passed through reconciliation that doesn’t directly impact funds expended by or received by the federal government. Even then, typically whatever is being passed has to be time-limited, ie have an end date. This is why a minimum wage increase didn’t make it through. The feds don’t pay minimum wage workers (unless they’re actual federal employees), employees do.

So, who do you have to yell at? MODERATE DEMOCRATS IN THE SENATE. ESPECIALLY JOE MANCHIN AND KYRSTEN SINEMA. If the filibuster is eliminated, then real legislation - not just reconciliation - can be passed with a bare majority. And with that bare majority, the minimum wage can be raised.

3) Stimulus/Survival checks

Also a lot of yelling about this one, and understandably so. Yes, Biden compromised and that’s frustrating. But! The only people who can actually give us checks? Congress. All federal expenditures must originate in Congress.

So who should you yell at? CONGRESS ALL DAY EVERY DAY.

4) Immigration detention for minors

Is the situation better than under Trump? Yes, because the racist traffic cone buried that bar 60 feet below Earth’s surface. Is it good? Of course not.

Where stand now: the Biden administration is reuniting the kids who were separated from their parents with their families, albeit slowly. They are housing unaccompanied minors (ie minors who crossed the border without a relative with them) in facilities contracted with Health and Human Services (HHS). They are better than the Trump-era cages. They are still not great. The average stay there is around 40 days, which I think we’d all agree is too long.

The Biden administration, through HHS, is responsible for awarding and overseeing those contracts. Immigration reform writ large, in the systemic and massive sense that is needed, requires Congress.

Who to yell at: THE ADMINISTRATION AND CONGRESS. Don’t yell about “kids in cages.” That’s an easy attack for them to deflect. They’ll just point out that this is stratospheres above what the last administration did, and they’ll be right. Focus in on: who is getting those contracts, how they’re vetted, why the wait time in those facilities is too long, creating and more humane and streamlined immigration process. Those attacks are harder to deflect because they are impossible to dispute.

Speak up, fight for what you believe in, and know who you should be yelling at.

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the positive difference it would have made in my life for my parents to talk to me this way as a child puts me in my grave to even consider

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When people, especially white people, consider a world without the police, they envision a society as violent as our current one, merely without law enforcement — and they shudder. As a society, we have been so indoctrinated with the idea that we solve problems by policing and caging people that many cannot imagine anything other than prisons and the police as solutions to violence and harm.

People like me who want to abolish prisons and police, however, have a vision of a different society, built on cooperation instead of individualism, on mutual aid instead of self-preservation. What would the country look like if it had billions of extra dollars to spend on housing, food and education for all? This change in society wouldn’t happen immediately, but the protests show that many people are ready to embrace a different vision of safety and justice.

Mariame Kaba, ‘Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police’

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FACTS!

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Oh my God! 😭 You dropped this queen 👑

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Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh asks the reporter, “why is this even a question?” about getting clean drinking water to First Nations reserves in Canada. He is right, if it were the suburbs somewhere, it would not be a question.

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im an asian american who can't work trying to escape an abusive and racist household and move out of a horribly racist town. im at a point where im scared of being hatecrimed every time i leave my house (multiple asian people have been killed in my town) but at home im still facing racism and abuse.

if you have a couple dollars to spare and want to help it would be invaluable to me

paypal (please ignore my deadname)

venmo: wormpoet

gofundme

reblogs are incredibly appreciated as well <3

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“Republicans can no longer bank on keeping power merely through pandering to the White base. Their solution: Take away non-Whites’ access to the ballot. The question is not whether we keep the filibuster, but whether we want to permanently enshrine white supremacy and thereby unravel our democracy.”

— Republicans’ war on voting feels increasingly frantic (via wilwheaton)

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No but moralizing about how you don’t deserve the vaccine yet is greatly reducing vaccination numbers it’s not your job to worry about if you’re “stealing” a vaccine from someone else there is a National supply and when it’s your turn it’s your turn. Refusing to get vaccinated is not going to magically vaccinate a bed bound rural person. It’s just going to get vaccine doses thrown in the garbage. God.

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Actors of color often get typecast. Two photographers asked them to depict their dream roles instead.

How Hollywood Sees Me … And How I Want to Be Seen

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We are forced to live in a system that steals from us daily, Kill snitch culture.

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Most of the “keep up the work after the protests have ended!”-type posts I’ve seen are mostly focused on like, reading Black authors and listening to Black voices and unlearning racism, and obviously all of that is absolutely vital - but no amount of individual self-reflection will be able to dismantle institutional systems of oppression. So I wanted to put together some resources for continuing to build a culture of noncompliance and resistance to the police and prison system even after things have calmed down

But first, be aware that the protests aren’t over. It’s June 29th and there are still events and actions being planned regularly across the nation, and they still need your participation and support. If you’re able, please keep your focus there; this list is for what can be done long-term outside of the protests

Know your rights. Giving the police any more information than you absolutely have to will never and can never benefit you or anyone else - positive evidence given to the police is regularly thrown out in court, whereas negative evidence will be used against you. Know what to say and what you have the right to refuse. You don’t have to answer any questions without a lawyer present, you don’t have to give the police access to your house or car unless they have a current warrant signed by a judge. They will try to intimidate you - learn your rights and don’t let up, don’t ever cooperate with the police

Don’t snitch. If you see someone breaking the law in a way that doesn’t hurt anybody, keep your mouth shut. If cops knock on your door asking you questions about your neighbors or anyone you know, don’t answer

Don’t call the cops. If you can solve the problem in a different way, do it. Cops have on multiple occasions murdered the people they were called to help (or bystanders) without provocation. Don’t be complicit in that. Learn how to handle situations as a community or with the help of qualified experts

When you see an interaction with the police happening, stop and observe. If necessary, film the interaction. Organize and work with groups such as Copwatch to observe the police and hold them accountable

Use proper opsec, especially if you’re involved with anything that might make you a target for the cops. Downloading Signal is a great simple place to start

Learn about jury nullification, and spread the word. When serving in a jury, you have the right to vote not guilty on a defendant that you believe did commit the crime but doesn’t deserve punishment for it. Don’t be complicit in unjust punishment

Refuse to do work for the police or prison system. Workers keep the world running and the state relies on our compliance to keep our neighbors under their thumb. We can shut it down

Continue to support bail funds, even for non-protesters. Cash bail is unjust, and people shouldn’t be in jail just because they can’t pay

Continue to support legal defense funds as well, such as that of the National Lawyers Guild

Write to prisoners, either by yourself or with groups such as the Anarchist Black Cross or Black And Pink, and organize/support books to prisons programs, commissary funds, reentry programs, and other forms of prisoner support

Organize and support community-run crisis response organizations like the CAHOOTS program in Eugene, Oregon or the Birmingham Peacemakers in my hometown

Here are some other organizations to join that are doing good work in this area:

Black Lives Matter is obviously a huge voice in racial justice right now. The list of “official” chapters on their website is very incomplete, though, so you may have better luck doing a web search for “[your area] black lives matter” (beware of fakes though)

Showing Up for Racial Justice is another very active and widespread racial justice network

Critical Resistance is a grassroots prison abolitionist organization founded by Angela Davis

The Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement is another active prison abolitionist organization

The IWW’s Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee works with prisoners to organize strikes, phone zaps, and other actions combating injustice in prisons

Again, the Anarchist Black Cross does great work supporting political prisoners through letter-writing and more. The link I’ve been including is to an unofficial federation of ABC groups, though - there may be a group in your area that’s not part of that federation, so a web search for “[your area] black cross” may be better

Black And Pink is a prison abolitionist organization focused on queer people and people living with HIV/AIDS

Antifascism is of course an important aspect of racial justice and community safety. See @antifainternational‘s guide to getting connected to your local antifascists - though, again, beware of fakes (the “antifa checker” accounts on fedbook and twitter can help)

The police state and prison industrial complex rely on the complicity and cooperation of all of us to function and be effective. By building a culture of noncompliance and active resistance, we can drastically reduce the state’s ability to oppress communities of color. Don’t let the struggle be forgotten with the changing of the news cycle - keep up the struggle until all are free!

Boosts and additional resources are very much appreciated!

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Sorry, I could never be a capitalist, I suffer from “wanting humans to have their basic needs met” disorder, where I care about people who aren’t me.