Rev. Fred Small

🙏 💚

"This Court has listened carefully to the reasons given by Öztürk’s captors for masking-up and has heard the same reasons advanced by ... ICE. It rejects this testimony as disingenuous, squalid and dishonorable. ICE goes masked for a single reason—to terrorize Americans into quiescence."

Trump administration illegally targeted pro-Palestinian protesters, judge rules The efforts to detain and deport noncitizen activists earlier this year represented an unconstitutional infringement on the First Amendment, the ruling says.

In a stinging rebuke, US District Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, rules the Trump administration’s campaign to arrest and deport international students for pro-Palestinian activism a “truly scandalous and unconstitutional suppression of #FreeSpeech” @aclu.org #RumeysaOzturk

wapo.st/4pPUT5I

I feel you. 🙏

At the UN today Trump called climate change the ‘greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.’

Congrats to the clever plotters for enlisting the planet’s glaciers, oceans and forests in their scheme.

I'm torn between horror at Mr. Trump's careening malice and embarassment for my country on the world stage. #TrumpUN

Twenty Lessons, read by John Lithgow Key selections from On Tyranny, for viewing and sharing

Here is my best guidance, rendered beautifully by the great John Lithgow. I first published these lessons nearly nine years ago, in late 2016. They open the twenty chapters of "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century."
snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...

ABC Pulls Jimmy Kimmel Off Air for Charlie Kirk Comments After F.C.C. Pressure

@jimmykimmel.com disparaged neither Charlie Kirk nor Tyler Robinson. He disparaged MAGA for trying to score political points off a tragedy.

This is government censorship by bullying. Shame on
Brendan Carr & the FCC--and on ABC for capitulating. #FirstAmendment

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/b...

Yesterday morning, hundreds of faith leaders, community members, and elected officials accompanied Blanca to ICE HQ in Burlington demanding that she be returned safe to her community. Blanca walked out without being detained and with an order to return in one year. She called this a “miracle." 🙏

#shame @postopinions.bsky.social @washingtonpost.com

National park to remove photo of enslaved man’s scars The Trump administration is ordering the removal of information on slavery at multiple national parks in an effort to scrub them of “corrosive ideology.”

Trump's erasure of #BlackHistory can't remove the stain of slavery. It will only make Americans more ignorant of our shared and complicated past--and less able to understand the present. @protectparks.bsky.social @profjeffries.bsky.social @nhannahjones.bsky.social @altnps.bsky.social wapo.st/4mnNDLt

It's my first edit on every draft. 95% of the time, it's an improvement. #BothAnd 🙏

Beloved Salem MA community leader Blanca Martinez has again been ordered to report to #ICE HQ in Burlington, where she risks immediate detention. A polio survivor, Blanca could die if denied treatment in custody. Please join me in prayer, song & vigil for Blanca 7am Tues. 9/16!
bit.ly/BlancaUpdates

Venezuela says 11 killed in US boat strike were not gang members amid reports vessel was returning to shore Interior minister says ‘murder has been committed’ while US Congress demands justification for attack

"Murder has been committed."

This was not a military operation. It was an extra-judicial killing for political purposes.

Trump has blood on his hands and an insatiable appetite for power. Will Congress hold him accountable?

#DefendDemocracy #RuleOfLaw #NoKings

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Charlie Kirk’s Toxic Legacy of Hatred and Division | Common Dreams We can condemn political violence and this hideous murder while also condemning Charlie Kirk for the rotten, vile hatred he fomented.

#CharlieKirk did not respect the inherent worth & dignity of every person. But by this failure he could not and did not forfeit his own. May his spirit learn the lessons of this lifetime & find peace. And may we rededicate ourselves to nonviolence of word & deed. www.commondreams.org/opinion/char...

NO KINGS Boston · No Kings **In America, we don’t put up with would-be kings.** The ACLU-MA, Indivisible Mass Coalition and Mass 50501 proudly continue working together with allies and you to make our peaceful movement bigger ...

Trump counts on our silence to allow him to grab more and more power. Let's make some (nonviolent but loud) noise at #NoKings Boston on October 18. Sign up now to join me! #DefendDemocracy @aclum.bsky.social @maindivisible.bsky.social @mass50501.bsky.social www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...

The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city.

This is not a joke. This is not normal.

Donald Trump isn't a strongman, he's a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.

This is 100% correct.

On Labor Day, Prayers for Liberty, an interfaith group dedicated to democracy, due process & human rights, will walk from Lexington to Boston to bear witness against growing authoritarianism. Join us for any portion of the walk or at stops along the way! #DefendDemocracy

www.prayersforliberty.org

Newsom: He is a failed president. Who else sends ICE at the same time while having a conversation like this? Someone who is weak, broken. His weakness is masquerading as a strength. The most unpopular president in modern history.

Please repost. 🙏

Dear friends in the Boston area:
Wondering what any of us in a blue state can do to resist the tidal wave of willful cruelty?
Please wake up early and join me in Burlington tomorrow morning.

#LoveThyNeighbor.
P.S. Everyone is thy neighbor.--God

@scotthalper.bsky.social

In these terrible times, I needed this story.

Having sipped Yafa's exquisite Chai Karak and experienced Abdulla Awad's ebullient hospitality, I was especially moved by Lydia Begag's heartfelt narrative. The tale of the souvenir check brought tears to my eyes.

Thank you WBUR & @cogwbur.bsky.social

Judge orders temporary halt to construction at Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention center A federal judge has ordered a temporary halt to construction of an immigration detention center — built in the middle of the Florida Everglades and dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” — as attorneys argue whether it violates environmental laws.

Breaking: Judge orders temporary halt to construction at Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention center.

I'm proud to support @biologicaldiversity.org, which joined @foreverglades.bsky.social & the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of FL in suing to stop this awful project.

apnews.com/article/flor...

If I could reach into my screen and grab one of those tarts, believe me, I would. 😃

"I can resist anything except temptation"--Oscar Wilde

One Million Rising: Strategic Non-Cooperation to Fight Authoritarianism · No Kings Across the country, authoritarian forces are getting bolder and more dangerous. Trump and his allies are not hiding their agenda: mass deportations, rollbacks of civil rights, weaponized courts, and f...

I'm attending No Kings's event, “One Million Rising: Strategic Non-Cooperation to Fight Authoritarianism” - sign up now to join me! #DefendDemocracy www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...

I haven't felt so inspired by a campaign since . . . @ayannapressley.bsky.social's in 2018! Will there be buses to NYC for #MA7 volunteers to knock on doors for @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social? #changecantwait

My statement on Donald Trump's threat to deport me and his praise for Eric Adams, who the President "helped out" of legal accountability.

With Trump all out for fossil fuels, we must #ActOnClimate locally.

Stop private jet expansion at Hanscom--or anywhere.

@massgovernor.bsky.social
@senatormikebarrett.bsky.social
@billmckibben.bsky.social @parkewilde.bsky.social
@chuckcollins.bsky.social
@xrboston.bsky.social
@350ma.bsky.social