a “tutorial” i did… at the end of last year i think? anyway, originally, i was considering just leaving it on patreon only, but i think it would be more easily accessible for patrons and other people if i uploaded it here. i might make another collection of quick tips sometime.
Got a bit caught up in the moment with all the "fuck Simon" posts yesterday after the episodes dropped. I kinda forgot about the part in book 2 when Grace told Jesse that they were going to wheel MT, and then proceed to sic the Flecs on her after she turned out to be too much of a hassle. And all this because they were trying to separate her from Jesse with no regard for his thoughts in the matter, or with any remorse for her at all. At the end of the day, Grace and Simon are both terrible people with a long way to go for any real redemption, and we've only been reacting so strongly against Simon because we've actually seen him kill a character we cared about.
Ultimately, I am still hoping that Simon won't go the way of Mace. Maybe he won't be fully redeemed, but I am still hoping for a change of heart, if for no other reason than because I'm not especially fond of "irredeemable" child characters. And in this case particularly I don't think I'd like it if they made the most explicitly traumatised character a straight-up villain. But we'll just have to wait and see.
Another update from federally occupied Portland:
And here’s a video of Portland police officers shoving a random passerby off their bike and arresting them for the crime of…being on the road next to where the sweep was occuring:
And here’s a picture of the armored vehicles they’re bringing in to suppress the protests:
Just got some time off from being an Essential Worker™ and I managed to create a loaf of bread. This is my proudest achievement yet.
November ♥ 17837
October ♥ 27031
September ♥ 41161
August ♥ 153692
July ♥ 190913
June ♥ 211352
May ♥ 85571
April ♥ 61219
March ♥ 73132
February ♥ 55563
January ♥ 160384
Generated using the best of tumblr tool.
growing up reading fantasy books was such a bust cause your whole life you’re left wanting more from life and like there’s something missing and you’re just waiting for that missing part to begin but it’s never gonna come
Update; crunchy, but delicious.
Just got some time off from being an Essential Worker™ and I managed to create a loaf of bread. This is my proudest achievement yet.
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
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!
a few years ago there was an exposé in the intercept about how, according to the fbi, police departments are so thoroughly infiltrated by white supremacists that it's policy to avoid working with them when possible. just something to think about