harborpodcast

[harborpodcast]

saw a white woman refer to sam nordquist as "kid" - of course, little black boys are "young men" but grown black men are "kids." acknowledge him fully for what he was: a BLACK TRANSGENDER man. his blackness and transgender status in combination were what made him so vulnerable to this brutal abuse and murder. do not infantilize him. and furthermore do not erase his blackness to spotlight only his transness. this was a hate crime which shows yet again the compounding effects of transphobia and antiblack racism. it is not a coincidence that all five accused murderers are white, and can be linked to white nationalism on public social media profiles (such as emily motyka's confederate flag profile picture).

according to data aggregated from 2013 to the end of 2024, approximately 85% of transgender homicide victims in the usa are people of color - with a majority of victims being black transgender women.

also, if you're going to share pictures of sam, show what he actually looked like as himself - not the pretansition photo picked by basically every fucking news outlet. pre-transition and non-op/non-medically transitioning transgender people are obviously still trans, but that was not his current situation at all, and it's so profoundly disrespectful to latch onto an outdated photo to represent him. here's what he looked like in actual recent pics he chose to share on his own social media:

and if you can, help his family with their expenses. nobody should have to worry about associated costs while processing such a horrific loss.

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you have to transition. even if youre in your 40s 50s 60s. its your duty to make this world a better place

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- Timothy Snyder. The first and perhaps most important lesson from On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons for the Twentieth Century (2017)

Snyder's new book, On Freedom, was published in 2024.

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Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin

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in los angeles, the historically Black community of altadena has been decimated by the ongoing eaton fire.

afropunk has created a spreadsheet of gofundmes of displaced Black individuals and families affected by the current los angeles fires. the list is constantly being updated.

please donate what you can and share widely.

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one year of genocide later and israel has only expanded its reign of terror. make no mistake: their goal is to pillage, colonize, and destroy the levant so that they can rebuild it in their image. a year of outright ethnic cleansing while the world sits by and watches. this is not “war”, it is the intentional extermination of multiple populations, and it is not normal. people love to say “well there’s always conflict in the middle east” because they cannot fathom that arabs are human beings and that they are currently being subjected to inhumane atrocities. do not look away. do not let the spread of information slow. we are currently living through a genocide. what are you going to do for your fellow man?

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National coverage of the hurricane has been so heavily tilted towards the typical hurricane-affected areas that it is going almost completely unreported as of posting that the town of Chimney Rock, North Carolina has been completely leveled.

Aside from some residential areas, the entire town is gone.

I'm posting this because in the coming days and weeks there are going to be a lot of calls to help people who survived the storm and many are going to assume that this is business-as-usual hurricane season stuff, but it isn't. This storm tore through Appalachia, flooding regions that have literally never flooded like this. The hills and plants that hold soil in place have been severely damaged because this kind of weather event is so deeply unprecedented the plants that live here are completely unprepared for this to happen literally ever.

There are no undamanged highways in or out of Asheville. We can't even recover the phone and data networks until trucks can get into the area, and they can't get into the area because some of the roads are just GONE. The water was so fast and so intense it washed the dirt from underneath the pavement and chunks of road literally fell down the fucking mountains.

When you see things over the next few days asking for help, please understand that this is not typical hurricane season damage. Entire communities have been flattened. The infrastructure in much of the region is utterly destroyed and will take weeks just to begin recovery in some parts.

The phone and data grid are offline.

Power and water are out for most people.

The roads used for evacuation are undrivable.

This is an absolute nightmare scenario.

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Palestine fundraisers with easily-achievable goals

By "easily-achievable", I mean in the 50-60K range and below. Once again, drawing from my pinned list of fundraisers, which have all been vetted by Palestinians on Tumblr (check that post for the proof next to each family name). I'll update this post just like the main list and the "under 1000 donations" list. Many of these are extremely close to completing their funding. Let's help get them there!

As always, donate if you can, reblog if you can't!

LAST UPDATED 9/22

10K range

Aya's family Goal: 15K 1764 TO GO!

The Saftawi family Goal: 16K 1206 TO GO!

20K range

The Sami family Goal: 20K Half funded

Zaen and Yehya Goal: 25K 1/3 funded

The Ismaeel family Goal: 25K 1/3 funded

Ashraf's family Goal: 25K 1224 TO GO!

30K range

Ahmed's family Goal: 30K 1/3 funded

The Alnabih family Goal: 30K 3451 TO GO! No longer accepting donations

Issam Aziz's mother Goal: 30K 1812 TO GO!

Amira's family Goal: 39K 3/4 funded

40K range

The Hor family Goal: 40K Under 1/5 funded

The Abushammaleh family Goal: 40K 1/3 funded

The Shaqoura family Goal: 45K 2/3 funded

The Aburass family Goal: 45K 1/4 funded

Note: The Aburass campaign is in SEK, so the goal is technically 450K, but converted to USD it's closer to 45. Ultimately I decided to include this one since USD, CAD, GBP, and EUR will be more powerful here, and a huge chunk of the site's user base will pay with one of those currencies. The more hands on deck, the better.

50K range

Amal's family Goal: 50K Under 1/5 funded

(Reblogged) The Baalou family Goal: 50K 1/5 funded

Walaa's family Goal: 50K 1/4 funded

The Shorbaje family Goal: 50K 1/3 funded

The Aldeeb family Goal: 55K 3/4 funded

The Khalaf family Goal: 55K 1/2 funded

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Currently listening to Harbor and just wanted to say that I am IN LOVE with the writing, the acting, the sound design, the heart of it all. It's intriguing and funny and so so human (ironically?) and I can't wait to hear more! Please give major kudos to the team 💖 (am I doing Asks right??)

Thank you so very much, kind stranger! <3 Its so heartening in these times to know our work has enriched you. Best of luck with your own stories! We'll keep eyes and ears out for your tales in the future. :)

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"Absolutely no one comes to save us but us."

Ismatu Gwendolyn, "you've been traumatized into hating reading (and it makes you easier to oppress)", from Threadings, on Substack [ID'd]

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KAT GIORDANO

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As pride month begins, let us not forget our Palestinian brothers and sisters.

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the North Carolina government is trying to ban people from wearing mask even if you have a medical reason. if you live in NC please message your local legislators the bill is going back to the house because there were amendments by the senate. You can follow this prompt and there’s other resources at the link. and yes Covid is still killing and disabling people.

please if you live in NC message your reps!

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new fav tweet

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PLEASE READ AND REBLOG🇵🇸

Urgent Help Needed to Evacuate Family from Gaza

Message from the creator:

Dear family, friends and kind supporters,

My name is Jennifer. I live in Louisville, KY. I am reaching out to you in a time of urgent need for my friend currently living through a genocide in Gaza. My friend Doaa Kasab, her husband and their four children are in desperate need to evacuate and then rebuild their life outside of Gaza. My aim is to raise an amount that will cover their fees to enter Egypt (5k per person), transportation costs, purchase clothes for themselves and their children, temporary accommodation once evacuated, settlement expenses until they find jobs and food expenses. A major problem they are currently facing is the cost of humanitarian aid in Gaza. Sometimes costing them $100/day to eat! Transportation to and from markets is another huge expense, ranging from $50-80, just ONE WAY! I've included photos of Doaa and her family, their life before and during the war. Any contribution you choose is greatly appreciated. All donations will be distributed to Doaa from me since her managing the fundraiser during this time is difficult. Doaa's bank account is with Bank of Palestine, I will transfer funds to her account directly from mine. Instead of me explaining their circumstances, I included a personal statement from Doaa below:

"Hello, my name is Doaa. I am from Khan Yunis, Gaza. I am a mother of four children and recently became displaced due to the war in my city. Before the war, I lived in a beautiful house with my husband and four sweet children. My husband and I had our own private business. We bought our own car after getting approved for a bank loan and my husband worked as a taxi driver here in Gaza. I miss living in our beautiful house and taking care of my family. We lived well and raised our dear children to love God and be good people. We were so happy living a calm life watching our children grow up safely.

On the night the war started, my children and I were visiting at my mother's house when suddenly her home was bombed. The house I was standing in with my four children was bombed. Two of my precious children were injured and I felt I lost everything seeing them hurt. In the days that followed our car got destroyed from the bombing and then our home.

All of the death and destruction around me has been so difficult to face especially while mothering my children. Each day things only get worse. Currently we are displaced from our home, living in a tent on the mediterranean sea in Gaza. It gets so cold at night and the food is scarce. There isn’t enough humanitarian aid being delivered so we are suffering greatly.

I never imagined I would be in a position where I would need to ask others for help, but unfortunately, I have nothing else in my hand at this time. We are unable to work and some of the aid that does enter Gaza is more money than we can afford. This fundraiser includes photos of my family and I. My close friend in the USA started this fundraiser since it’s difficult for me to manage with the events happening around me.

My goal amount reflects costs to cover rebuilding our lives once we are forced out of Gaza; we are still unsure of what the future holds. I thank you deeply for any contribution and truly wish you all well from the bottom of my heart. Love, Doaa and Family."

Doaa’s Instagram

Please share this with friends and colleagues so we can help this family through this crisis. Thank you for your support and consideration.

With gratitude,

Jennifer Gana

[harborpodcast]

Holy shit. The Israeli whistleblower story CNN just broke is insane. I cannot believe what I’m reading

[harborpodcast]

I have linked to this interview many many times because i think it is one of the best interviews that has been done with palestinians from gaza, on their political perspectives, their present and their future

on october 30th, one of the interviewees, khalil abu yehia was killed. this is the reality of genocide now. so many people i followed, quoted, shared from since the beginning of the war, only 20-something days ago, are now dead. so many who would have been part of palestine's smartest, bravest and most promising future, extinguished forever.