Roberta

Howard University students launched a solidarity encampment, DC and campus police threaten arrests.

It's a direct attack on peaceful protest and student power.

Howard students demand justice— they’re calling on community to mobilize and defend the encampment.

Show up. Speak out. Stand with them.

Title: A NOTE ON THE 50501 MOVEMENT Body text: If you went to any of the "Hands Off" protests organized by the 50501 movement and other organizations aligned with the Democratic Party, this is by no means an attack on you-it's a warning. We absolutely get it-you care about justice, you're frustrated by what you see, and you're looking for some way to make a difference. That alone matters. But it's also important to understand who's behind these kinds of movements and what their real role is.

50501 looks like it's about progress-about taking a stand against a tyrant. The reality of what it's actually doing is it quietly pushes people back into trusting the same systems that cause harm-like voting for politicians who fund war, support NATO, and work with law enforcement. Counterrevolutionary "movements" like this are not paths to liberation. They're how the state keeps control. The 50501 movement serves as a state-approved outlet for public frustration. It's essentially activism stripped of its teeth. You may have noticed that the rallies that took place today were symbolic protests that took place outside empty government buildings that only lead to a sense of accomplishment without really doing much of anything. You also may have noticed speakers using the opportunity to bring people back into one of the two parties and expressing the need to eventually "knock on doors." This is a classic tactic of pushing people who are rightfully experiencing discontent back into the system that's at fault to begin with

Palestine face surveillance, unjust arrests, and media blackouts—locally and nationally—50501 gets platforms, institutional support, shield from police repression, and praise from the electoralist bloc. That's not by accident. The experience is designed to feel safe and inspiring, but keeps us from building real power that could challenge the system of power affecting all of us. We are not here to shame anyone-on the contrary. We hope that you take this opportunity to see the difference between actions that call for liberation, and actions that want things to go "back to normal.” Palestine has taught us otherwise. With this genocide, nothing can be normal again. Ask yourself, if we are protesting for our rights, why are we standing next to the very systems that deny it? Let's be honest about what's performative and what's revolutionary—and let's move towards something real. The United Liberation Front for Palestine Statement - April 5th 2025

Images with alt text added bc I actually care about other people enough to copy and paste some goddamn text instead of spending more time telling people I don’t have time than it would have taken to just rewrite the stuff

Seeing The Encampments on a day when so many students are getting their visas revoked reminds me that schools have long been a site of oppression and despair, but learning and educating are tools of liberation. We have bring learning and educating back to the people.

UPDATED: At least 83 students -- at campuses for University of California, California State University and Stanford -- have had their visas revoked as of Monday evening.

THE ENCAMPMENTS

Just saw a screening of The Encampments with some fellow comrades at The Beacon in Seattle. The co-owner shared that they’ll continue to show screenings for as long as there’s interest.
thebeacon.film/calendar/mov...

Behind the bouquet: Hmong Flower Farmers of Pike Place Market These blooms are more than beautiful; they have a story to tell that dates back for decades.

Flower vendors in Seattle are usually Hmong family-owned businesses, here is an article about them and our history

Tweet from Yuval Abraham: "A group of settlers just lynched Hamdan Ballal, co director of our film no other land. They beat him and he has injuries in his head and stomach, bleeding. Soldiers invaded the ambulance he called, and took him. No sign of him since."

BREAKING: Yuval Abraham, co-director of Oscar-winning documentary "No Other Land," says Israeli settlers beat his co-director Hamdan Ballal, injuring his head and stomach — and then Israeli soldiers invaded the ambulance he was in and seized him.

Ballal's whereabouts are now unknown.

List of resources all of which are available in plain text in this post thread.

List of resources all of which are available in plain text in this post thread.

List of resources all of which are available in plain text in this post thread.

We want to make sure that you know about -- and share -- some more safe direct help resources available on Scarleteen and elsewhere, as well as some content on our site that might now or soon be particularly relevant to you if you live in the United States. (1/9)

We’ve always been searching elsewhere and otherwise, but now it feels a little more frantic.

This is quite literally the work I do… fuck these guys

Trump’s Goal of Burying History Won’t Work If Teachers Refuse to Stop Teaching Trump wants education to become indoctrination, and the Democratic Party isn’t fighting back. But we can.

Trump wants education to become indoctrination, and the Democratic Party isn’t fighting back. But we can.

major slay

Include disabled people in your resistance planning. In many ways we’re built for resistance, as we have to find creative and sustainable ways to survive every single day.

This is the time for intersectionality and community care. We need to work together and save one another.

[photo: Six orcas move through calm water. The image is taken just above the surface of the water and the image is slightly overexposed from the sun shining off the water, creating a dreamy glowing effect. Four of the orcas have a small portion of their backs visible above water while the other two only have the fins visible.]

Telling folks to just "plug in to community" rn is well-meaning and if you can do that, wonderful. But most people are not super connected to community for many reasons. So, if you don't have community rn that's ok, consider finding 2-5 ppl you can form a pod with.

www.soiltjp.org/our-work/res...

This is critical bc a lot of folks are gonna start wanting to take action (finally)

It’s part despair, but also a hopeful reminder that we can return again, and again, and again.

I’m re-re-reading @adriennemareebrown.bsky.social’s emergent strategy as I’m always walking away with new ideas of embodying liberation. However on this read-through I feel the empty space of the impending deaths from police brutality, COVID and genocide deeply.

this is a post about poop, you’ve been warned

Real friends check in on each other’s poops. It’s a true indicator of how things are going.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming…

Glimmers of joy under the weight of it all

Radical spaces get co-opted when you give them a course number

Today was viscerally reminded that third spaces do not exist in the academic institution. I know, obviously, but sometimes you hope.

There’s a zine about this! Look out for red flags

My friends and I working on a whole ass class activity around chisme. How it’s culturally sustaining, a way to protect ourselves, and a form of solidarity. It’s not anything new but we will be engaging in the spilling of the tea.

The opposite of diversity is segregation.
The opposite of equity is hoarding resources.
The opposite of inclusion is exclusion.
We need to name that these are segregationists who are excluding to hoard resources.

I wrote a poem about the ones who hold us:
open.substack.com/pub/robertal...

Showing up this way is one way to show support. I've also made this for my students so they can move from fear & rage to actions. I will keep adding to it but wanted to share with you all. Clearly inspired by @prisonculture.bsky.social @miamingus.bsky.social & others! docs.google.com/document/d/1...