#activism

[maryellencarter]

i think the hill i'm going to die on here is that lasting anti-fascist activism begins and ends with unrestricted social services.

protests are great. kind of indispensable right now. but in times when we can be less reactive, you want to know what you're protesting *for*, not just against.

today i saw a post elseweb saying "why aren't white women fleeing maga? they have to know by now that tradwife means sex slave". and like... it's very simple. they can't leave because they would end up like me.

they're, we're, deliberately made unemployable so that we'll have to marry whatever mediocre white man picks us out. as it happened, i was unappealingly intersex, fat, butch, and autistic, so none of the mediocre white boys of my generation ever took a second look at me, but that didn't give me job skills or career connections.

i knew multiple women whose husbands divorced them and took the house as part of their midlife crises. they had to send the kids to live with relatives and take dead-end jobs like bagging groceries because they were in their forties with zero job experience. if they'd rejected the worldview, if they'd alienated their families and what few friends didn't victim-blame them for the divorces, they'd have had nowhere to turn.

it's been over twelve years since i got out. psychologically, medically, i'm healthier. but i've chased a fresh start through half a dozen states. i spent my inheritance getting a degree. none of it helped. there are no supports for abandoning (or being abandoned by) your support network.

you won't defeat fascism until my people are free to leave the cult if they realize they want out. until we can access free housing to get away from financial abuse, free comprehensive job training and placement services to help us start careers, national healthcare so we can flee across state lines if necessary without losing any medical care we're lucky enough to have access to, protections for children and teens so they can flee without needing a parent's help... universal basic income would be really good but there are smaller steps that could help with financial independence.

and it all has to be available to everybody, including people you think are "unworthy". people who hold the wrong opinions. drug addicts. people whose husbands or parents make too much money. people who aren't from around here. unrepentant bigots. if they want out, you have to give them a path out. minds can change later, once people are less scared and less pressured.

(i'm ex-catholic. do you want to hear about what happens when you force people to profess certain beliefs in order to access basic assistance? i have two thousand years of examples.)

"but if they really wanted out they'd do the Right Thing and leave without support!" Better to be one man's sex slave than turning tricks on the street. "staying just proves they're actually evil and there for the bigotry!" Live in your car for six months in 100°F heat, twice, and then talk to me again. There's no virtue in cutting yourself off from society just to prove some kind of moral point. All that does is get you dead or worse.

("JT, you're not dead" I'm a fucking cockroach. Most people would be dead by now. Survival bias goes both ways; we're not all the same model of airplane.)

[politijohn]

It’s not lost on me that Bernie Sanders is the only mainstream politician touring the country rn listening to Americans’ concerns, giving them hope that a better world is still possible. Not campaigning for President, not an election year, just inspiring swing town voters to use their power to incite change in their communities.

Bernie is 83yo, doing the work that every single Democrat could be doing simply in their own district. He’s packing overflow rooms by the thousands in suburban and rural towns, not “democratic strongholds”. It is possible to get through the next four years but the status quo Dems aren’t going to make that happen.

Imagine what a true progressive party could do for the US. Leftist policy is popular and wins elections. Bernie and others have told us this for decades. If you tuned out his message before, I have to wonder what side you’re truly on. Because his shtick has not wavered with everyday Americans.

Not me, us.

[sunbeamedskies]

You are not inherently an antisemite for criticizing Netanyahu or actions of the Israeli government.

You ARE inherently an antisemite if you excuse/justify/celebrate when random Israeli civilians are murdered.

Israel contains half the world’s Jews- you can’t celebrate half the world’s Jewish population dying without being an antisemite.

Watch how some so-called “activists” react to the antisemitic DC murders. If you don’t hear Jews crying out about what happened, you either follow no Jews or only tokens.

[rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world]

#Repost @gogreensavegreen

You might be more than one. You might be different ones at different times. 🫶🏽🫶🏽 you might not be one of these. There are more roles 💪🏽 but this is an amazing intro.

You can’t just like the idea and envision yourself in one of these roles you have to figure out how to be about it ♥️🫶🏽

Via @deiloh & @fablefulart

[givemearmstopraywith]

verso books has made books on palestine, mass protests, and student rebellions free to download on their website

[us-enviro-comments]

Environmental Comment Opportunities: 5/19-5/30

Due by May 19th, 11:59:

Rescinding the Definition of Harm under the Endangered Species Act (see prev posts)

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants (see prev posts)

Due by May 27th, 11:59pm:

Proposed 2025-26 Frameworks for Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations: the Fish and Wildlife Service establishes the outside limits within which states select season dates, limits, and other options (shooting hours, bag and possession limits, areas where migratory game bird hunting may occur) for the 2025-26 migratory game bird hunting season.

Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Manufactured Housing: DOE is proposing to push back the date by which manufacturers must comply with energy conservation standards.

Due by May 30th, 11:59pm:

Energy Conservation Program: Notification of Petition for Rulemaking: Dyson Inc. petitioned DOE to revoke the procedures by which manufacturers measure the coverage and efficiency of their air cleaner products. DOE is seeking views on whether it should grant the petition.

[ceoslayers]

The last quote Luigi Mangione liked on his Goodreads account (May 14, 2024) from Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.:

[homeoftherevenant]

"We do not have the responsibility of making gay life look good to straights so that they will accept us. I am not at all interested in promoting a cleaned up image to a straight world which is twice as corrupt and ten times as sick."

Vito Russo

Photography by Betty Lane, 1978

[activism4u]

No Kings

Nationwide Day of Defiance

June 14, 2025

[cae-the-car]

the kids online safety act passed the u.s. senate.

long story short (for anyone who hadn't heard of this before) the kids online safety act, aka kosa, is a bill that will censor online content and resources for lgbtq+ matters, reproductive healthcare, activism (INCLUDING PALESTINE AND LIKELY OTHER CRISES GOING ON LIKE IN CONGO OR SUDAN), mental health, etc. everywhere--its effects likely won't be contained to just america.

today, july 30th, 2024, the senate passed it 91-3. it has officially moved to the house of representatives.

is this a pretty massive setback? yes. do you have every right to be scared, sad, angry, or whatever else about this happening? absolutely. but should you give up hope completely? NO!

even though kosa passed the senate, the house is on break/august recess at the moment. we have around an entire month to get emails, calls, and faxes in to house reps, maybe more depending on when they decide to vote on it.

should it pass the house and get signed into law, we still have a whole 18 months before it actually goes into effect. this is plenty of time for digital rights orgs (e.g. fight for the future, the electronic frontier foundation) and other groups that oppose it to file a lawsuit against it. even if, worst-case scenario, it flies through the house immediately after the recess ends, we can still fight this up to march 2026.

so, yes, remember what's at stake here, but also remember that it's not over yet. we lost a battle, not the war.

below are some resources to learn more about kosa and how to contact your reps (first link) + a page that lets you directly contact progressive house reps, sign an open letter opposing the bill, and view others' testimonies against it (second link):

FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT.

[veganterrorist]

Families should be able to afford groceries and household essentials, whether they're employed or not, whether they're willing cogs in the capitalist machinery or not. The system is fundamentally broken if there are still people starving and left helpless. Food and water are a basic human right.

[thashining]

What the media won't show

[the-sacred-now]

Hey american tumblruser. Wanna do more about The Moment than harass your representatives (you're harassing your representatives, right?) but for any/all reasons you're not up to leaving your house to do it?

Look up your local organizations, pick your favorites. Get familiar, whatever that means in this context. Read over their website, scroll through their facebook page, watch any volunteer orientations, attend a zoom open house.

Once you are, reach out and ask if they need anyone to handle a mundane administrative task. Pick one you're familiar with, or can get familiar with, either that you can do sustainably or something that's a one-off, like building or cleaning up a website.

(I picked, "reply to emails asking questions that are already answered by your website.")

Lots of political/community orgs are getting a surge of activity right now. Good odds they're run by worn-out retirees. If they get an email saying, "I'm only available 30 minutes a week but do you need any data entry done?" or "Would you like some help line-editing your weekly newsletter?" the odds are very good they might actually physically cry with relief.

It's not glamorous, but it feels real good and it is important work. You won't make history but you'll know where you stood inside it.

[us-enviro-comments]

Public comments due MAY 19th 11:59PM: Support protections for the monarch butterfly, bleached sandhill skipper, and Suckley's cuckoo bumble bee

FWS reopened the comment periods for 3 proposed rules to list these species as threatened species under the Endangered Species Act; the comment period closes tonight! You can submit comments here on each of the three dockets in turn: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/19/2025-04443/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-reopening-comment-periods-for-three-proposed-rules#open-comment

Snapshots of each proposed rule:

Monarch butterflies: proposes to list the monarch butterfly as a threatened species and designate critical habitat for protection, including approximately 4,395 acres in Alameda, Marin, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Ventura Counties, California. Monarchs are iconic migratory insects in North America; they are seriously threatened by habitat loss, climate change, and pesticide use.

Suckley's cuckoo bumblebee: proposes to list the Suckley's cuckoo bumble bee as an endangered species under the ESA. This bee is a generalist pollinator native to northwestern North America, inhabiting western meadows; its population decline is due to loss of habitat, climate change, pesticides, and competition from introduced species.

Bleached Sandhill Skipper: proposes to list the skipper as an endangered species under the ESA. The skipper is a tiny golden-orange butterfly found only in a remote stretch of Northern Nevada. Warmer and drier conditions due to climate change and groundwater pumping have caused significant population decline.

[wisedeerdancer]

I'ma just leave these here for like... *Cough* Research purposes and such.