Two years ago next week my whole world crumbled & I’m feeling so many things about it. Mostly, I’m just grateful I’m still alive & I’m doing things I love. But I’m also grieving & I want to share this because I know I’m not alone in going through scary stuff & there is hope.

I experienced some of the most traumatic events of my life in Feb 2019, when leadership of the church I was a part of decided after nearly a year they were not ok with my decision to speak up about abuse I had suffered during my time there.

The leader who assaulted & abused me was no longer there, & up until this point I had believed platitudes that the rest of the team cared about what had happened. But I never saw any actual reform or self-reflection about the fact that this happened to an 18 year old intern.

The trauma from being assaulted was obvious & expected. But the trauma that came from the institutional betrayal was the deepest cut. Leaders who had prayed with me sat in front of me & laughed as I cried over words they had said about me behind my back. I was devastated.

Most of my friendships existed within that institution, & when this betrayal happened those friendships went silent. Overnight, I lost my entire support system, over lies said about me that I wouldn’t have access to read until I got a lawyer & they had to turn them over.

A lot of the conversation revolves around Nazis & yes, let’s hate Nazis. But that’s easy. More people need to focus on loving, supporting, & standing up for Jewish people. Antisemitic people aren’t only out-in-the-open white supremacists. Antisemitism is everywhere. 1/10

Punching Nazis, again, great-they’re trash that deserve a good throat punch -but it does nothing to solve the problem of antisemitism. Start by looking at yourself and understand the ways in which you, yes you, perpetuate antisemitic stereotypes. 2/10

Stand up for us when you hear other people perpetuating those stereotypes. Do more than just say “oh, sad” every time a synagogue or Jewish cemetery is vandalized (which is often). 3/10

Educate yourself. Regurgitating that 6m Jews were murdered during the Holocaust isn’t enough. How did it get to that point? They didn’t just start killing Jews. Years of propaganda & scapegoating- by the time Jews were dragged from their homes, their neighbors didn’t care. 4/10

Do you know anything else about the history of the Jewish people? That the Black Plague was blamed on Jews? A conspiracy that Jews were poisoning the wells? They burnt Jews alive. Jews always required to live in their own areas (Jewish Ghettos) throughout European history. 5/10

1. Thanks @glenmpani for your support when my mother passed on. You raised an interesting point on democracy that we should discuss further

2. Forms of democracy have existed in many societies at different times . Even prominent writers, such as Held (1996), suggest that democracy has evolved among societies and different cultures.

3. Both the form and practice of democracy are often contested and as aptly submitted by Street (2011: 305) “There are, of course, as many definitions of democracy as there are democratic theorists.” @glenmpani

4. While democracy is generally taken as the ideal form of rule, it is hotly disputed in other cultures.

5. Held,(1996: 7) believed that the most discernible and attractive form of democracy is one in which citizens in principle can extend their participation in decision-making to a wide array of spheres such as political, social and economic.

@paddua @USMarshalsHQ @SebGorka Remedy has been sought from both the Legislature and the Judiciary. Notice was given time and time again...people were given the opportunity to do the right thing. In every case they refused. What has not been used thus far to effect remedy is the Executive.

@USMarshalsHQ @SebGorka Donald Trump knew before he ever took office what needed to be done. He has quietly rooted out corruption in key positions and departments while manipulating the media since he took office...always talking loudly to keep people focused where he wanted them to look.

@USMarshalsHQ @SebGorka The pieces are now in place...Washington DC is occupied by 25,000 soldiers that the DEMOCRATS called in. Those soldiers answer to Donald J Trump and have been deputized as Federal Marshall's.

@USMarshalsHQ @SebGorka Marshalls are authorized to make arrests without warrants for federal crimes committed in their presence or for which they have evidence. On January 6th, the whole world watched approximately 90% of our congress commit treason by knowingly certifying a fraudulent election.

@USMarshalsHQ @SebGorka Donald Trump went on camera before the American people and told us that he has tried every legal means to fix this problem. Right now a state of emergency exists in all 50 states and DC. The head of FEMA is a 26 year veteran who was ALSO just appointed acting secretary of DHS.

A few thoughts on food and land use 2021. This year, and throughout the decade ahead, the world has before it a remarkable obligation and opportunity to bring about a fairer, more inclusive, more sustainable and more resilient food and land use system.

Such a system would ensure that every human being has access to a healthy and nutritious diet; that all the world’s farmers and fishermen live dignified lives; and that the food system itself causes no further loss of biodiversity, no more climate change, and no more pandemics.

To achieve such a food and land use system would require concerted international effort – from governments, companies, farmer’s associations, scientists, and communities – akin in scale and ambition to the quest for a Covid-19 vaccine.

The good news is that a global pivot to more sustainable agriculture, healthier diets, & reduced food loss and waste – coupled with a major effort to protect and restore nature – would generate millions of jobs, as well as sustained economic growth and improved well-being.

To achieve these ambitious aims, action in four areas is urgently needed in 2021 and through the decade:
1.Increase flows of finance to fighting hunger. In the course of the past year alone, the number of acutely food insecure people in the world has risen to 690 million.

I asked the Taoiseach to ensure that the coroner carries out its duty in respect to the mass infant and child deaths in mother and baby homes👇.

It is the duty of a coroner to hold an inquest when a body is found in their district. See here: ℹ️ https://t.co/jQmq6ex1GK

The Government Action Plan👇published in response to the report makes no mention of inquests or accountability and simply does not reflect the magnitude of the crimes committed. In fact, it seems like a blatant attempt to avoid these very issues.

ℹ️

We need to make sure survivors get justice.

If you agree, I am asking you to email your TDs, the Taoiseach & the Min for Children to tell them there needs to be an inquest into the deaths, as well as redress, access to data, a commission for the disappeared and further research.

If you need some help getting started, you'll find a draft email template here: 📧https://t.co/h5v4LY3mkr

I recommend reading the joint statement from Adoption Rights Alliance, Justice for Magdalene laundries and the Clann Project: ℹ️

I have also put together a brief Q+A below on what has happened and will happen next in terms of the Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes👇👇👇.

Q. Where can I read a copy of the report for myself?

A. Right here:

THREAD:  A few quick thoughts on #Navalny and why the Kremlin opted for such a harsh sentence. 1/10

Ever since news broke about the failed assassination attempt last August it’s been clear the security services have been operating according with very simple logic.  2/10

The overriding goal was to destroy Navalny and to demonstrate that no move aimed against the security services would remain unpunished.  3/10

Thus, there was no way for the authorities to accept that Navalny could return and operate freely against Putin and the security establishment in the new political conditions created by the fact of the assassination attempt. 4/10

The current ruling is only the first part of a saga.The Kremlin has plenty of other potential criminal charges it can bring against Navalny.The goal is to make Navalny—and others-realize that they face the prospect of spending the rest of their lives behind bars. 5/10

The issue of Black families' trust is not only missing from school reopening plans, but also from many school reopening arguments.

But Black families make up more than 1/3 of our school district and many others, so it matters.

It absolutely matters.

Chicago Public Schools is the third-largest school district in the U.S. In the past 20 years, our classrooms have lost more than 5,000 Black educators, which has had a negative impact on many school communities.

Some of the direct causes of this loss are Rahm's 50 school closings, terminations in Black and Brown schools as a result of turnarounds, and annual layoffs targeting high-need schools with predominantly Black student populations.

CPS then failed to replace the Black teachers forced out of the system, and our district remains deeply segregated. So even as the Black workforce declined as Black schools were closed or turned around, educators were then seldom hired by schools outside of Black neighborhoods.

The decline of Black teachers has also been accelerated by CPS' chief policies of the last decade: student based-budgeting (SBB) and School Quality Ratings Policy (SQRP).

[Thread: Fandoms]
I was called by a long lost friend's parents today. A bit of history, she was involved with the fandom(?) of a popular sports team for the past year or so. The involvement grew so intense that she was engaged with the fandom-things for better part of the day ->

She administered multiple social media "fan-accounts" for the team and the players, had a huge "friends-group" within the fandom itself etc.

In the last few weeks, she almost stopped speaking to her parents, and lost all the contact with her friends in the lockdown. ->

3 weeks ago, somehow a (alleged) rumor spread within their fandom circle's social media that she is a "mole for the opposite team" (or something like that) and she faced everything from abuses to rape threats (was reported to authorities. More on that later) ->

From what the description sounded like, the harassment was really worse than what political social media has (in my experience of hot takes in the past year)

Anyway, 2 days after this rumor, their "fandom team lost to opposite fandom team" on some online contest thing. ->

She was blamed by the "friends" in the fandom "for conspiring" and this person went into a literal shock.

Couldn't speak, couldn't eat, lay in bed all day, didn't even get up to visit the restroom and was deaf to everything. FOR 48 HOURS. Had to be taken to a doctor. ->

When Leah talked before a grand jury in 2012 many of her immediate friends leaped to her defense. Thankfully it was rather easy to box largely apolitical kids only passing through the punk scene out of anarchism forever. I worry the coming wave of repression will be far messier.

Today many folks see social media spaces like twitter *as* the movement or scene. And many folks less committed AFK can be louder on here, which means the housemates and buds of a snitch might create giant flamewars online, also making it harder for onlookers to discern norms.

Further, the next wave of state repression is probably going to look more like the 00s Green Scare than the 2012 Grand Jury, that is to say, *many* trials simultaneously. And *a fuck ton* of people snitched in the Green Scare.

I chalk the mass snitching in the Green Scare up to 1) many of the targets and their circles being only loosely ideological / firmly in the scene, and 2) the sheer scale of the repression, which sometimes let snitches bond together.

In contrast situations where Grand Juries failed usually involved highly ideological, highly committed people, with intense binds to the anarchist AFK scene. Folks for whom "I guess we're just going underground / serving time" was not a surprise development.

@cafreeland As a retired former RN in BC., in conversation with an RN I met who is working with Covid patients, she requested counselling through a program with her Vancouver City hospital. Was told she could have an appointment in SIX MONTHS. I know this is not at all providing support. 1/2

You state, "...when the pandemic is behind us." Currently, nurses are being traumatized with particularly the suffering of Covid patients and the high number of deaths NOW. I had fewer than 8 in my 34 yr. career in Critical Care. Some RN's now are having 2 of their ICU 2/3

patients die in one 12 hr. shift and may have to assist other RN's in ICU who lose their patients and have to prepare the bodies for the porter to take to the morgue. To not have immediate support and counselling for these nurses is absolutely not okay. There are going to be 3/4

many who leave a career they previously loved and spent 4 years preparing for a long professional career. Now they are disheartened and traumatized as well as exhausted physically (many are working double shifts, many more days without a day off) and definitely mentally and 4/5

emotionally empty. One nurse on Twitter two weeks ago stated in her ICU there had been 12 deaths! Imagine dealing with this one day and having to return to another day of more Covid deaths. There needs to be immediate provision with each hospital to provide an area in the 5/6

REAL TALK ALERT:
I’ve recently finished my 1st round of CBT (therapy) & waiting for my 2nd more in-depth CBT (god bless the NHS). My diagnosis & cause, which I don’t need to speak of here, are linked to my lower socio-economic upbringing, which is linked to a lot of past trauma

Which in turn affects my anxiety levels, my worth, my body image, my confidence & of course very low moods.
I tweet this not for any sympathy but
I want to normalise the idea that we can talk and reach out to people or in fact the services that are available

It’s insanely important and necessary for all. So please reach out. It is incredibly hard to have mental health issues in normal circumstances, but under a pandemic. Like literally fuck off, that’s something else. And I salute and feel all of you going through that.

But also here is a call to men. Some of you may well know this. But you need to talk and ask for help. It’s not a weakness. No one thinks less of you. You can’t ignore it and it’ll go away. Asking for help, talking about your feelings, seeking guidance doesn’t make you lesser

Lots of people may well look at me and think he’s doing ok in theatre, he’s got his shit together, he’s a big guy. But any success doesn’t make you feel any better if your mind is determined to belittle it, I may be 6ft1 but that doesn’t stop me feeling about an inch tall

#RightNow for every singel one of us charities are either directly helping us or helping people or causes we care about 1/11

#RightNow there will be people living on your street who rely on charitable support 2/11

#RightNow you might be heading out to a green space, almost certainly cared for by volunteers and charities 3/11

#RightNow there are charity shops shuttered on your local high street, leaving charities without a key source of income 4/11

#RightNow you'll probably know someone close who has received a vaccination, guided through the process by a volunteer 5/11

2020 was a hard year, filled with unprecedented challenges.

We have a lot of work to do in 2021 but I am so proud of our office and the work we have accomplished in my first year.

Here’s just a sample.

In January, we implemented primary care diversion for parents to help break the cycle of incarceration.

In February, we instituted the boldest bail reform policy in the nation, ending our office’s practice of asking for cash bail.

We also implemented groundbreaking new policy directives to stop racist pretextual stops and end the use of gang and status enhancements.

In March, in response to COVID-19, we began our work to safely reduce the jail population to prevent an outbreak in the jails and our community. Ultimately we reduced the jail population by about 40%.

In April, we started an innovative Economic Crimes Against Workers Unit to protect vulnerable workers from exploitation—especially during the pandemic.

1. 🚨 Announcement!

I, with everyone, have dedicated my last five years of time & money to crowd sourced projects digging into Republican finances, writing as much as possible, & working to topple the far-right agenda.

I will still do this, but I'm narrowing my messaging.

2. My personal platform is equality, safe access, and inclusion of marginalized communities to natural areas, making marganilized communities partners and stakeholders in the environmental conversation, & including unsafe & dirty living conditions as a mental health issue.

3. I will also teach & encourage everyone, especially children, to tell their environmental story from their backyards & communities by using very basic equipment (such as cell phones) and how to use these stories to gain public awareness & stop #EnvironmentalRacism

4. Environmental solutions aren't these big ideas which are only available to governments & corporations.

Environmental health, especially those in cities, include trash pickup, standing water, more sidewalks for both walking and bike riding, air & water quality, clean parks...

5. Bus stops in front of parks with wheel chair access, emergency call buttons in parks, security available in parks which represent all citizens, lighting in neighborhood parks, natural areas which double as educational resources, green spaces, urban gardening, and so much more.

A horrifying report from the Government Office of Accountability (@USGAO) on two secretive and abusive DHS programs at the US-Mexico border. Before the analysis, a reminder that neither @POTUS nor DHS secretary nominee @AliMayorkas have agreed to end them.

Very troubling to see the stunning lack of context on the length and conditions of detention from @USGAO. @CBP held asylum seekers in unsanitary, punitive conditions well beyond the 72-hour limit. GAO also takes for granted certain false or misleading assertions by DHS.

Before I dig into those issues, a couple of highlights from the data. CBP placed a total of 5,290 people into either program (HARP for Mexicans, PACR for non-Mexicans), which hold asylum seekers effectively incommunicado while they are rushed through a “credible fear” interview.

Of the total, at least 3,730 people placed in the
programs were removed from the US. There are about 50 people in detention now pending removal (whose cases should be reviewed given the deportation moratorium!). These folks were all denied a meaningful opportunity to seek asylum.

The majority of people placed in the programs were families with children (not single adults). Only 20 percent of those asylum seeking families spent 7 or fewer days in CBP border jails, which is already way too long. 86 percent of people spent "20 days or fewer" in border jails.