#american activism

[shadowbrightshine]

If we really want to reduce plastic bottle useage we need to fix the pipe systems around America.

For a lot of people it isn’t pickiness. They cannot drink their own tap water because it's unsafe to consume.

If we really want people to stop buying bottled water, they need to have water safe to drink in the first place. And a reusable cup, no matter how good, does not fix your bad water supply. The people who need better water will not get it by filling these cups with more bad tap water.

If we want to get rid of these insane companies selling water, we should try to put pressure on fixing our pipes and our resiviors. Not just in America but worldwide.

Not only is there over buying of expensive cups for clout, but that doesn't help at all. I don't blame people for buying a cup or two. (The people who bought 30 Stanley's I am not happy but it's not a moral thing.) I have reusable bottles. I like the smaller ones.

Mentioning Stanley cups I don't like them for a few reasons but, I am autistic and I have trouble with spacial awareness. I am knocking these over all the time because they are big and bulky. And unlike my cylinder metal bottle, the Stanley is open, so the water spills everywhere. And they are too big. They hurt when they fall on my feet or hit me in the hallway.

I think we should try to put more focus on fixing the pipes and the water ways. Everyone is supposed to have a tap in their home, (where I live) and yet I have friends who can't use it for anything but showers and dishwashing. One of my friends brings jugs of water home from water fountains or taps in public places because they can't afford to buy bottled water, but they can't drink their own water.

Personal filters would help, we should use them. But it's another thing not everyone can afford.

If we have a right to drinkable water, why do so many of us not have a source of water we can drink from in our homes?

I'm not doing a "we MUST DO THIS or you're a bad person! You're doing activism wrong! You are looking at the BAD kinds of work and not doing this RIGHT ONE."

That's not what I'm doing.

I'm tired of plastic water bottles and of giant cups. I just want to be able to drink my water.

It would solve a lot of problems if people could just drink from their taps safely.

[desert-rat]

basement remodeling is going well

[politijohn]

Source

Is this really satire?

[coolestguyonearth]

Hi everyone, serious post!

If you've been following me for a while or you're a mutual of mine, you probably already know that I'm Native American, but I feel the need to expand a little bit.

I'm a member of the Chinook Indian Nation - I don't expect you to know that name. We've been fighting for recognition as long as I've been alive, even though we've been here since the beginning of European presence in the West Coast, and long before it.

We are constantly fighting. The vast majority of our population was killed by disease and colonization, and with that we lost our language. But after that hardship we are still here. We are still alive. The government has effectively spat in our faces and said that not only are we unworthy of their time - we are unworthy of respect. Of dignity. I'm asking you, the people who take the time to read this post to dedicate even a fraction of your time to signing our petitions, boosting this post, or using the ChinookJustice hashtag on any major social media platform.

We don't just want our land back, we want our home back. We want the bodies of our ancestors, which are routinely dug up during construction. We want the relics of our tribe that are hanging up in museums to be returned, but first there needs to be a home for them to return to. Our campaigns have shockingly low amounts of signatures, but I'm hoping that the good people I know are here can change that.

Here you can sign the petition to restore our federal recognition. Here residents of Washington and Oregon state can contact their legislators in support of federal recognition for the Chinook Nation. Here you can donate to help us continue fighting. Here you can find information about Chinook justice, and here is our official Instagram.

If you spent time reading this, thank you, but if you went out of your way to sign our petitions, donate, or spread awareness, I love you for it.

[goryhorroor]

“2000s horror movies had to adapt rapidly in the new decade. by 2005, the horror genre was as popular as ever. horror films routinely topped the box office, yielding an above-average gross on below-average costs. it seems that audiences wanted a good, group scare as a form of escapism.”

[huariqueje]

Wave Swings - Patricia Chidlaw , 2024.

American , b. 1951 -

Oil on canvas , 32 x 24 in.

[uovoc]

my sister and I both agree that one of the best parts about china was how there's food everywhere. And not just, like, bags of chips, but real hot, cooked, tasty food. You hike to the top of a mountain and there's a guy with a cart selling chicken skewers and freshly steamed corn on the cob. When you hike to the top of a mountain in america, what do you get? Nothing. An uninterrupted view of nature. Where did we go wrong as a country

[devilofthepit]

Verified Palestinian fundraisers that have reached out to me recently/i am keeping an eye on:

@hyamshehabnew: €5,580/25,000 (22%). fundraiser here, verified (reblogged by @90-ghost) here. Muhammad has been fundraising for four months trying to save his family of 6, and his original account was deleted by tumblr. let’s spread his story!

@freepaleatine95: $5,533/$50,000 (11%). fundraiser here, reblogged by @/90-ghost here. Mahmoud has lost his brother, his house, his pets, and his work. His parents both need medical care which they hope to receive once they escape to Egypt and reunite with his sister. Mahmoud's original blog was also deleted by tumblr, so keep spreading his story!

@falesten-iw: kr7,918 SEK/kr2,000,000 (.4%). fundraiser here, reblogged by @/90-ghost here, #282 on @el-shab-hussein and @nabulsi's spreadsheet. note that SEK = .096 USD, meaning that $5 = 52 Swedish Krona. Falestin has lost so many family members and is looking to escape Gaza with her three children, nieces and nephews, and elderly mother seeking medical care. She's one of the people on this list that i've had the pleasure of speaking with briefly in dms and she has so much hope for the freedom and safety of her family, let's make her dream a reality!

@fahedshehab051/@fahedshehab9/@danashehab: €40,063/€50,000 (80%). fundraiser here, verified by @/el-shab-hussein here. 14-year-old Sahar is raising money to evacuate her parents, grandmother, and 4 younger siblings. less than €10,000 to go!

@mahmoud-sharif: $6,841/$60,000 (11%). fundraiser here, reblogged by @/90-ghost here. Mahmoud's wife, Soha, has just given birth to their fourth child, and they are hoping to evacuate Gaza to give that child a life outside of a war zone and to receive urgent medical care for injuries. their fundraiser also has initial verification information.

@mazenmanal: €1,554/€100,000 (1.6%). fundraiser here, verified by @apollos-olives here. Mazen is a young child who has been severely injured and needs medical treatment. The Al-Mansi family is in desperate need of food and medication. i have also spoken with Feras, Mazen’s father, who has told me how dire the situation is, please donate to and boost this campaign as much as possible.

@olagaza: $30,874/$50,000 (62%). fundraiser here, #205 on @/nabulsi and @/el-shab-hussein's spreadsheet. Ola is a graduate student who began teaching seventh grade math to students in Gaza in August 2023, less than two months before the war constant bombings began. donating helps provide her and her family with basic necessities.

@karamrafeek: €13,100/€20,000 (65.5%). fundraiser here, verified by @/nabulsi here. Karam's mother is ill and the two of them must travel to Egypt in order to get her the care she needs and escape the devastation in Gaza. in addition, Karam hopes to return to his studies that were interrupted by the bombings and displacement.

@dinamahammed99: $3,031/$6,000 (50.5%). fundraiser here. Dina is the sister of @mahmoud1995 (proof here), whose campaign has been vetted by @/90-ghost here. Dina is looking for aid in getting basic needs such as milk and food for her children, one of whom is only three months old and was born amid the bombing. they are currently living in a tent with no medical care and subject to extreme weather and pests.

@mahmoud1995: $11,249/$50,000 (22%). fundraiser here, reblogged by @/90-ghost here. Dina's sister Mahmoud is hoping to evacuate Rafah with his fiancee Sujood alongside his brother Mohammed, his wife, and their 1 and a half year old son.

@bilalassadabedrabou: €7,535/€80,000 (9%). fundraiser here, verified by @/90-ghost here. Bilal has survived five wars, and is now hoping to evacuate through the Rafah crossing to Egypt with his family. in addition to the money it costs to evacuate, Bilal is also looking for money to help complete his studies.

@tahseenkhazen: $9,446/$25,000 (37.8%). fundraiser here, reblogged by @/90-ghost here. Tahseen has lost his house and his business in the bombing. He and his wife are struggling to feed their three young children, including one who has celiac and cannot eat many things, and are no doubt barely eating themselves. the money from this fundraiser will go towards food and water.

Namer Matar: €2,030/€20,000 (10%). fundraiser here, shared by @/el-shab-hussein here. Namer's wife gave birth to twins during the war, but due to the poor conditions and scarce access to medical care, they became sick. one of them, Zakaria, unfortunately passed away, but his brother Ali is still fighting for survival. In addition, Ali is lactose intolerant and Namer struggles to find milk for him. evacuating Gaza is a matter of life and death for Ali.

[heritageposts]

An Israeli influence campaign is using hundreds of online avatars and fake social media accounts to attack Democratic lawmakers critical of Israel and promote news articles disapproving of the United Nations Palestine refugee agency (Unrwa), according to a report by the Israeli online watchdog, Fake Reporter. According to the report, the targeted campaign has used more than 600 avatars, sending out 58,000 tweets and social media posts to circulate articles published by The Guardian, CNN and Wall Street Journal, among other major news outlets that amplify Israel’s position on the war. The campaign relies on three major social networks, UnFold Magazine, Non-Agenda and The Moral Alliance, which were created prior to the war in Gaza. But the Hamas-led 7 October attack on southern Israel sent the accounts into round-the-clock posting. The sites, according to Fake Reporter, are geared specifically to a “progressive audience”, publishing content on climate change, AI regulation, and human rights, in addition to the war in Gaza. They have more than 43,000 followers across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The avatars promoting the content talk up their identity with lines like, “As a middle-aged African American woman” and use hashtags like #FaithJourney and #AfricanAmericanSpirituality.

Some examples from the report:

And continuing,

The avatars were all created on the same day and their profiles were written with the same formula, subbing out just a few words. The declared gender and ethnicity of the avatars don’t match the profile photos, which have been taken from websites selling headshots. The campaign works to amplify news stories published by major media outlets. First, the fake news sites share the reports. Then, the avatars share them across social media, including on the official accounts of Democratic lawmakers. Avatars also shared social media posts showing video clips of what appeared to be Pro-Palestinian protestors calling for "massacres to be normalised" and calling for the US to "go to hell", contrasting that with peaceful protests of pro-Israel protestors.   In other cases, Avatars simply reshared widely published video clips of US lawmakers questioning the heads of Ivy League schools about antisemitism on campus.  [...] According to the report, around 85 percent of all the US politicians targeted by the campaign were Democrats, and 90 percent of them were African Americans. Ritchie Torres, a black Democratic Congressman with generally pro-Israel views, garnered the most social media engagement from the avatars. Other lawmakers targeted included Cori Bush; Lucy McBath; House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries; and Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock. Israeli news site Haaretz reported in January that the Israeli government had launched an online influence campaign to respond to pro-Palestinian content and reports about Hamas.  It’s unclear whether the campaign revealed by Fake Reporter is part of that initiative.

. . . continues at MME (20 Mar 2024)

[ghost-37]

Black people have culturally subsidized this country since our arrival

[azuremist]

(Note: The Tweets on the left is one of of MANY like it, and Ben Shapiro isn’t the only conservative rallying behind this sentiment.)

Do y’all remember that Bojack Horseman episode that aired in 2017 about how, no matter how much leftists rallied and cried against it, the government and right-wing groups wouldn’t ban guns…

UNTIL a marginalized group started using guns to feel more safe, and a member of that marginalized group committed a mass shooting, after which there were cries for them to be controlled more almost immediately by the previous gun-rights defenders?

Life is a fucking cartoon.

[inkskinned]

no, but really, we need to talk about the casual objectification that has become the fallback discourse of the internet: if you're pretty and dressed nicely, you're a slut. and if you're even vaguely outside of their body standard, you're fucking disgusting.

too-frequently, people position sex workers as being "the problem". they sneer you're addicted to pornography, you don't know what a real woman looks like. but real women are in pornography. the real bodies on display are not the issue here: the issue is that other people feel extremely confident when commenting on someone's physique.

2000's super-thin is slowly worming its way back into the public ideal. recently i saw someone get told to "go for a run", despite the fact she was on the thinner side of average. not that it would ever be appropriate to say that: but it's kind of like sticker shock when you see it. people think that is fat? holy shit. do they just have no idea about things?

but what are you going to do about it? that's the problem, right. because chances are - you're a normal person. we can say normalize carrying fat on your body, but we are not the billion-dollar diet industry. we are not the billion-dollar fashion industry. we are just, like. people. who are trying to make content on the internet, without being treated shittily.

as someone who has been on both sides of things: you are treated better when you are thin and pretty. this is statistically correct. i am not saying that you cannot be bullied for being thin; i'm saying there are objective institutional biases against certain bodytypes. there are videos of men and women who lost weight all saying: i now know for a fact exactly how much worse you're treated. in the comments, some asshole inevitably says something akin to you deserved to be dehumanized when you were fat.

which means that ... the easiest thing to do is be pretty and thin. it is the path of least resistance, because of course it is, because any time you post a picture of yourself without a thigh gap, someone immediately comments something like you need to try a diet.

the other half is also dehumanizing though, huh, just in a different way. when i put on makeup and nice clothes, i am told i slept my way to the top as a professional. do you know how many women in STEM have told me they purposefully dress to "unimpress" because they already struggle to be taken seriously and if they're ever considered pretty - it for some reason takes away from their authority.

so they make it seem like it's your fault. you, existing in a body - it's your fault! if you didn't want shitty comments, don't have a body. they position us against each other like chess pieces; vying for male attention we don't even need.

and i can be an authority on this unless you think i'm fat and unattractive. when i am pretty and thin, i'm an activist. when i am just a normal person who makes a good point: i am immediately dismissed. nobody fucking believes you if you're not seen as attractive. you literally lose value. you cease to exist.

but the whole time, it feels like - is anyone actually grounded the fuck in reality? the line of "pretty and thin" keeps shifting. nobody seems to understand what "a normal weight" even looks like, because it's not something that exists - you cannot tell a person's health by looking at their body. even if you think you could tell that, even if you're sure a person is dangerously overweight - people are not your dolls. they do not need to be dressed up or displayed properly to soothe your aesthetics. you aren't concerned for them, you're stealing their agency. you don't get to say if they're "allowed" to take pictures and post them on the internet - you don't get to tell them how to exist.

people hide behind "the obesity epidemic" without any actual qualifications. they crow things about "normalizing unhealthiness".

but it's bullshit. i have visible abs. there is a pair of parallel lines on my body, even when i'm relaxed; where my obliques meet my abdominal wall. i am proud of this because it means i'm strong, because i overcame an eating disorder only to be ripped as fuck. it is genetic and physical luck that i even get any definition, i'm pleased as punch.

but it does mean that my abdominal wall sticks out a little bit. the other day i posted a video of myself dancing, and, for a moment, my shirt slipped. you could see a little bit of my stomach. i was cartwheeling to the floor. moments before this, i'd had my foot over my head.

a guy slid into my DMs. a row of vomiting emojis prefaced: you should really lose some weight before you think about dancing.

i stared at it for a long time. there was a time when i would have been triggered by this, where it would have encouraged me to starve myself. i would have ignored the fact i'm flexible, agile, good at jumping: i would have lost the weight for a stranger's passing comment. i would have found myself and my body fucking disgusting.

and for what? to please what? because why? so that he can exist in this world without an unchallenged eyeball? what would my self-hatred even accomplish? usually i write paragraphs. obviously. on this particular occasion, in this body i've been at war with for ages: i just felt exhausted.

it shouldn't be even worth saying. it shouldn't be hard to explain. all of this emotional turmoil when he cannot even comprehend the most basic truth: i am not an object on display for him.

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

He’s cool 🧊 he’s hot🔥 Like a frozen sun.☀️

[beauty-funny-trippy]

[seizethenightagain2]

Brian Justin Crum 💜💜

As time goes on, I want this man more and more 🥵

[rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world]

There is nothing to celebrate today. If you are one of the lucky few with today off (as I am), take some time to learn why.

#LandBack

Repost from @intersectionalenvironmentalist

•

There is no pride in genocide.

As the U.S. celebrates Independence Day, we cannot dismiss the continuous acts of injustice against Black and Indigenous people.

✏️About the Researcher: @kianna_pete

Kianna was a Spring 2022 Social Media Fellow at IE and studied political science and ethnicity & race studies with a specialization in Indigenous/Native studies at Columbia University. ✨

💻Sources:

peoplesworld.org/article/july-4th-whose-independence-day-is-it/

nbcnews.com/news/us-news/six-things-you-didn-t-know-about-

fourth-july-n779331

smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-american-indian/

2020/07/01/do-american-indians-celebrate-4th-july/

meaww.com/independence-day-july-4-native-americans-do-they-celebrate-lost-traditions-early-suppression

culturalsurvival.org/news/united-states-independence-masked-genocide-and-imperialism