Simini Blocker

For those who asked. The link tree for the Sameer Project is here: linktr.ee/thesameerpro...

A photograph of the Cave of Hands

Another photograph of the Cave of Hands, featuring warm terra cotta and cream and brown stenciled hand prints on a rock wall

Thinking about the Cave of Hands, some of the art dating back to 7,300BC, where 25% of the hand prints are thought to be that of children. Imagining those people gently holding their child up to the cave walls, and using their tiny little hands as a stencil. Art = love = the human soul

People are absolutely going to Hell with a capital H for what they've done to this man and everyone else who's been sent to these concentration camps.

Remember: your job is not to change their minds. That's no one person's job. By joining a wave of calls, you're doing your part to help. That's the beauty of collective action.

“You are an abolitionist, ain’t you?” “As to that, I cannot so readily answer. If by abolitionist you mean a zealot, I am none; but if you mean a man, who, being a man, feels for all men, slaves included, and by any lawful act, opposed to nobody’s interest, and therefore, rousing nobody’s enmity, would willingly abolish suffering (supposing it, in its degree, to exist) from among mankind, irrespective of color, then am I what you say.” “Picked and prudent sentiments. You are the moderate man, the invaluable understrapper of the wicked man. You, the moderate man, may be used for wrong, but are useless for right.”

Herman Melville on moderates, all the way back in 1857:

ICE *already* can't meet their detainment numbers without rounding up children, veterans, people born in the U.S., people with no criminal records, people at immigration hearings, plus academics and visitors with valid visas.

So who do they plan to detain with >10x the budget?

The answer is: you.

It is bizarre the way people with guns, bulletproof vests, riot shields, tanks, and other military gear act like rocks are an equal threat. It’s madness! If you are scared of rocks and think the punishment for having them thrown at you should be death, you shouldn’t be in law enforcement!

They can’t police trans people’s bodies without policing cis people’s bodies, and they can’t police immigrants without policing citizens.

Discovered both versions of the queer Love Island type show from the UK are both on hulu. Just binged the "I Kissed a Girl" season. Pure delight. Women!!

kind of just endlessly sad and grieving that there are so few voices in the public sphere making the basic principled argument that immigration is an affirmative good in every way and the best way for this country to serve humanity is to welcome people who want or need to leave their homes

Imagine putting on all this tactical gear and latching onto a military assault vehicle so you can storm a minimall on Sepulveda and apprehend a line cook at family restaurant.

Text reading: I had to come down to Los Angeles for Work and ended up trying to help with the raid last night. As a Bernie usefully. Waited by the entrance for detainees We were repeatedly denied access of any kind, and eventually LAPD force removed attorneys ice. Also tear gassed a baby under age two. Today they told us to come back at eight to see the clients, but they ever refused entry to us as well as politicians, including Jimmy, Gomez, and right now. They’re releasing some kind of gas, so the Attorneys can’t breathe

Text reading: Post it so everyone knows. When we were trying to chant their rights ice honked so no one could hear.

Here are some texts I got from an immigration lawyer friend of mine. Shared with permission. Some of the bleakest shit I’ve ever heard.

Toxic to the rule of law, and yet another example of ICE/CBP deliberately *not* looking for all those supposed criminals, drug traffickers, terrorists, etc.

They're going for literally the least dangerous, most law-abiding people they can find, the ones following every rule. The easiest targets.

If you have any relationship to TX-- you're from there, you have family there, you know people there-- now's the time to get on the ringer and rally against this truly disastrous bill.

It's a death wish for school libraries statewide.

I give through the Zakat Foundation, who I learned about from Sami Zayn. Giving can feel so futile in a world governed by evil men, but that makes it more imperative to do what we can.

Fourteen Thousand.

The long campaign to dehumanize Palestinians is, fundamentally, about this. To provide cover for the annihilation of a people and their culture, from the youngest to the oldest, to shrugs from the most powerful nations in the world.

"Quite frankly, after seeing the horrors, I think abolishment is a middle ground. I think the proper course of action is to explore criminal prosecution against these agents, based on what they’re doing.”

personally would like to see every store show what part of the price increase is due to tariffs bc if these tariffs ever come down, i need to see that price go right back down

I know she has a so-so reputation, but I think of this poem by Ani DiFranco a lot.

This is literally how the Holocaust started, and honestly I'm tired of saying so

if you’re an artist who ever thought “what’s the point? The world is Hell and I should do something that matters instead”

even in an ICE detention center people will treat art as sacred, seek it out, and find joy and comfort in it. You aren’t making art, you’re making hope.

Here’s the thing about the tariffs: there will be no “short term pain”. Only long term. Every time a company realizes they can get away with charging you extra they don’t ever lower the price again. They just gouge. Whatever price hikes there are will be here for good.

I feel like there is way more April Fools posts this year then I remember. happening today… in this climate??? My trust is fragile and cannot handle it. 😵‍💫

"Libraries of all types translate 0.003% of the federal budget into programs and services used in more than 1.2 billion in-person patron visits every year." - ALA

worthwhile thread on why due process is so vital

One bright side to being forced to live in an AI slop tornado is now I see my artistic mistakes as incredibly endearing. The human machine of my body made that weird line. My worst day of drawing is completely untouchably better than anything AI will ever produce until the heat death of the universe

THIS. The Bill of Rights specifically focuses on what the government SHALL NOT DO. Meaning, do to ANYONE.