#reparative action

[mcpuffin-fax]

Everyone, PLEASE read this post. It will save the lives of many people who understand exactly what is going on behind the scenes of Climate Change.

We all need to take charge in taking down these industrial monsters that continue to make profits off of our fears and limited knowledge of what they are TRULY doing when they say that they’re HELPING us tackle climate change.

[reasonsforhope]

People ask me sometimes how I'm so confident that we can beat climate change.

There are a lot of reasons, but here's a major one: it would take a really, really long time for Earth to genuinely become uninhabitable for humans.

Humans have, throughout history, carved out a living for themselves in some of the most harsh, uninhabitable corners of the world. The Arctic Circle. The Sahara. The peaks of the Himalayas. The densest, most tropical regions of the Amazon Rainforest. The Australian Outback. etc. etc.

Frankly, if there had been a land bridge to Antarctica, I'm pretty sure we would have been living there for thousands of years, too. And in fact, there are humans living in Antarctica now, albeit not permanently.

And now, we're not even facing down apocalypse, anymore. Here's a 2022 quote from the author of The Uninhabitable Earth, David Wallace-Wells, a leader on climate change and the furthest thing from a climate optimist:

"The most terrifying predictions [have been] made improbable by decarbonization and the most hopeful ones practically foreclosed by tragic delay. The window of possible climate futures is narrowing, and as a result, we are getting a clearer sense of what’s to come: a new world, full of disruption but also billions of people, well past climate normal and yet mercifully short of true climate apocalypse. Over the last several months, I’ve had dozens of conversations — with climate scientists and economists and policymakers, advocates and activists and novelists and philosophers — about that new world and the ways we might conceptualize it. Perhaps the most capacious and galvanizing account is one I heard from Kate Marvel of NASA, a lead chapter author on the fifth National Climate Assessment: “The world will be what we make it.”" -David Wallace-Wells for the New York Times, October 26, 2022

If we can adapt to some of the harshest climates on the planet - if we could adapt to them thousands of years ago, without any hint of modern technology - then I have every faith that we can adjust to the world that is coming.

What matters now is how fast we can change, because there is a wide, wide gap between "climate apocalypse" and "no harm done." We've already passed no harm done; the climate disasters are here, and they've been here. People have died from climate disasters already, especially in the Global South, and that will keep happening.

But as long as we stay alive - as long as we keep each other alive - we will have centuries to fix the effects of climate change, as much as we possibly can.

And looking at how far we've come in the past two decades alone - in the past five years alone - I genuinely think it is inevitable that we will overcome climate change.

So, we're going to survive climate change, as a species.

What matters now is making sure that every possible individual human survives climate change as well.

What matters now is cutting emissions and reinventing the world as quickly as we possibly can.

What matters now is saving every life and livelihood and way of life that we possibly can.

[destroyingangelneveragod]

Long-term Reparations for a Black Family

The below write-up is from a previous post I made for Courtney but I copy and pasted it as I'm fatigued and it's still relevant.

For those of you who know my blog, you know my friend Courtney needs support. The reality is it is unlikely that that will change soon given that she is a disabled single mom providing for 3 kids with a low-wage job. I love her dearly and she genuinely struggles every day. I want to make the world better for her. I talk often about the power of community care. Courtney needs this consistently. If you are a non-Black person who is financially secure, please consider giving her reparations every month or biweekly. I will put her paylinks below. To work towards and as an accomplice of Black liberation, you need to be committed.

This part is not copy pasted but new.

Currently, her family is struggling with food, getting their water on, and saving for next month's rent. They don't have water at the moment and her son has no clean underwear left. They really need the water back on. The sooner the better. They need 136 more to get the water. If you see this, please send a dollar if possible, or even 50 cents. Small donations add up. Give reparations consistently and commit, but if you can't do it consistently still help out when you can.

Cash.me/browni3mom

Venmo @courtney-reece-85

[flagellant]

In light of Yet Another trans woman being falsely fucking accused of shit like pedophilia/zoophilia/whatever the fuck to try and justify harassment and mistreatment by badfaith individuals (take your pick of which one because the playbook fucking remains the same) I'm currently trying to save up money to move out to a new cheaper place to live with a better job market. I'm a queer indigenous fag who wants groceries and shit along with aforementioned saving up, my Paypal info can be found here and my Venmo is @ItsTheInnkeeper.

[1mnobodywhoareyou]

Do you want to support fundraising efforts but feel overwhelmed?

As a white auDHD* person engaged in mutual aid efforts, I have some advice. Take what works for you, leave the rest. These strategies have been effective for me, and while not perfect, they can be beneficial. The important part is to *do* something.

See posts at a time that doesn't work for you? Save them somewhere for later and set a dedicated time each day/week/month to work through your list and move funds around.

Overwhelmed because of the sheer volume of asks? Create a system that works for you - give to the next one you see, prioritize the ones that are the closest or furthest from making their goal, etc. The only bad system is one that doesn't get people funds.

Worried that you're sending too little? It all adds up! 100 people sending $5 is $500. Consider finding a match to double your impact! That said, don't sit too comfy with your contributions, especially if you're financially privileged. If $5 is comfortable for you, bump up to $10 and so on.

Worried about sending too much? Set a budget. Stick to it. I will say, from experience, that this is highly unlikely and most of us have more than we think. You may find you can sacrifice some luxuries to help others in need.

Person you want to support is in a different country/currency/use a pay app/website you can't? The easy answer to this is to find someone else to support. But there are ways to work around this. Use your friends and networks to move money around. Paypal from Canada to the US and forward via Venmo. Use Wise to transfer from the UK to Canada and forward via etransfer. Etc etc etc.

Genuinely cannot afford to part with any funds? Share directly with your networks and include a call to action. It can be overwhelming and counteractive to reblog/forward every fundraiser. Instead, create a system with clear and appropriate boundaries.

Concerned about scams? Examine your suspicions of scams - these often arise from biases. Check resources for validity. When in doubt, help someone else. No need to report suspected scammers - just say no and move on.

*IMPORTANT NOTE* always always always send as friends and family. This lessens fees and taxes for the recipient.

Make fund redistribution a core aspect of your life. Incorporate it into your budget. Send funds at regular intervals based on how your income works. Dedicating 5-10% of your income is a really great place to start.

Feel free to add other tips and advice in the tags. Friendly reminders that shame is not an effective motivator and sustainable action is imperative.

*I specify this because a lot of flavours of neurodivergence deal with black and white thinking and/or perfectionism and it impacts our ability to *do* things. These are also tenets of white supremacy and do require us to actively work against them, even when it's uncomfortable/distressing.

massive massive thank you to @bbreaddog for proofing this for me <3

[mixupmycota]

A lot of folks are, reasonably, using the term "redemption" to talk about the solas and mythal's essence ending. We're all super used to talking about "redemption arcs".

This is not, I think, the word to use in this case. Solas provides us one himself in the game. He is not looking for redemption - indeed, there is nothing he can ever do that would undo what he has done, what he actively chose to do at various points across Thedas's history. He is also, potentially, utterly committed to this act up until the last.

Solas doesn't need redemption. He needs to, and is is looking to, make reparation. Initially, for the harm he did in putting up the veil. His chosen path there is an act that would result in mass murder on a continental and theoretically global scale.

The ending in which he binds himself to the veil and sets out to soothe the titans is much closer to an actual reparation for the much deeper initial harm that he did: the mass tranquilization of those titans and the severing of the dreams of the dwarves, an act that has resulted in them almost being driven to extinction multiple times.

I really like that ending, because unlike his plan to unleash an apocalypse, it is actually an act of repair. It is taking responsibility for the damage he did, and rather than just feeling very sad about it or continuing to do fresh damage in the name of sunk cost, he sets out to for real do something about it. It is the most any single individual in these circumstances could do to address systemic harm they are responsible for.

It's also much less punitive. I really like that ending, because it provides potential to break a truly ancient cycle that has been making that man self-isolate more and more for an unfathomable amount of time, which also fed in to so many of his more fucked up choices.

It is a harrowing prospect for anyone to do alone, so the idea of the inquisitor going with him, while something I have personal misgivings about, is also something I think could potentially help him, even if their relationship did not remain romantic.

I think that ending is much more interesting when we stop thinking about it in terms of the typical associations for "redemption arcs", and instead think about it through a restorative and reparation focused lens!

[sbd-laytall]

Okay, but it genuinely doesn't make sense WHY Lionel keeps Clark's secret. If this was like season three Lionel, he would've blackmailed Clark by now or worse.

Usually, Martha is the voice of reason, so it's very strange that she's still trying to defend him, and Clark is the one who has to tell her that they can't trust Lionel. He doesn't give a damn about the good of the world, and all he's ever done is hurt their family.

As bad as Lex may be, Lionel is 1000% worse. The only reason that Lionel gets treated better is because he's a master manipulator, as the show keeps on saying.

[liyawritesss]

America would rather implode before admitting its wrongdoings, first and foremost

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Tesnim Zekeria:

Last month, Bernie Moreno won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Ohio. Moreno benefited from an early endorsement from Turning Point Action, the far-right activist group founded by Charlie Kirk. On May 10, 2023, Kirk posted on X that he was "proud to support Bernie," and Moreno had Turning Point Action's "full endorsement."  In response, Moreno wrote that he was "honored to be endorsed by Charlie Kirk and Turning Point Action." Moreno said that "[f]ew have done more to fight back against the radical left than they have," and he looks "forward to working with them to defend for our America First conservative values in the US Senate." 

In 2023, Kirk repeatedly featured Moreno as a guest on his popular podcast and consistently promoted Moreno's candidacy to his 2.9 million followers on X. At the end of 2023, Kirk donated the maximum legal amount of $5,000 to Moreno's campaign through the Turning Point PAC.  At the same time, Kirk, known for his embrace of fringe views and conspiracy theories, launched a sustained attack on Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and legacy. At a December 2023 convention hosted by Turning Point USA, Kirk said that King "was awful" and "not a good person." Kirk's critique extended not just to King himself but to the civil rights movement itself. "We made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s," Kirk declared, trashing the legislation that outlawed segregation in public places and many businesses. 

In his convention speech, Kirk blasted the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as an effort to “re-found the county” and “get rid of the First Amendment.” He criticized courts for enforcing the law, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. "Federal courts just yield to the Civil Rights Act as if it's the actual American Constitution," Kirk complained.  A spokesperson for Turning Point USA, Andrew Kolvet, defended Kirk's attacks, saying respect for King's legacy was based on "fake history." 

Kirk announced he was "gonna tell the truth about MLK Jr" on MLK Day in January 2024. According to Kirk, a podcast episode attacking King and the civil rights movement was being put together by his producer, Blake Neff. In 2020, Neff was forced to resign from Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News after it was revealed Neff was posting racist comments online under a pseudonym. The episode, titled “The Myth of MLK,” kicks off with Vince Everett Ellison – a right-wing activist who claims that voting for a Democrat will send you to Hell. Ellison describes King as “despicable,” “immoral,” and “perverted.” Kirk repeatedly suggests that King’s legacy has harmed “Black America.” He asks Ellison if the lives of Black Americans have improved “the more that we have worshipped MLK.” Kirk also invites Ellison to talk about how “MLK's narrative and political activism led to the modern welfare state.” Ellison responds by accusing the civil rights community of keeping Black people poor, adding that the devil “rest[s] his head at the DNC” and that the DNC “use[d] MLK and all of those perverts with him.”

“I could say declaratively this guy is not worthy of a national holiday. He is not worthy of god-like status. In fact, I think it's really harmful,” Kirk says after the conversation with Ellison ends. Then Kirk, alongside Neff, spends roughly 30 minutes attempting to demonize the Civil Rights Act. According to Neff, the Civil Rights Act is “directly against this colorblind world that conservatives think MLK brought.” Kirk tells listeners that “in reality the language and the application of the Civil Rights Act…is a color preference act, not a color blindness.” Kirk adds that the Civil Rights Act “is making it harder for us to pursue Excellence as a society” because, as Neff puts it, “you have to discriminate against men, against white people.” On X, Kirk wrote that the "deification of MLK and his proto-DEI ideology marks the exact moment that the progress of black America goes sideways." Kirk suggested that MLK was responsible for the "disintegration" of "their cities," the "collapse" of "their families." Because of MLK, Kirk claims, "they" are "enormously dependent on government support." 

[...]

Moreno suggested white people should get reparations

Moreno himself has also had controversies involving racial issues. When he launched his campaign for Senate, Moreno floated the idea of reparations for white descendants of Union soldiers that were killed during the Civil War. “They talk about reparations. Where are the reparations for the people, for the North, who died to save the lives of Black people?” Moreno said. “I know it’s not politically correct to say that, but you know what, we’ve got to stop being politically correct.” 

GOP #OHSen nominee Bernie Moreno’s campaign is being bankrolled in part by White Nationalist-friendly organization Turning Point USA’s political advocacy arm Turning Point Action led by Charlie Kirk.

[eurovision-del]

And as for the other final happening tonight, here’s what I make of the Söngvakeppnin finalists:

Bashar Murad – Wild West

ANITA – Downfall

Sigga Ózk – Into the Atmosphere

Hera Björk – Scared of Heights

VÆB – Movie Scene

Iceland does not like me this year. Four out of five of my personal qualifiers got left in the semis, including my two favourites. I don't think either Blankiflúr or CeaseTone's performances were perfect, but I still think both were decent - I especially liked Blankiflúr's staging and I'm honestly sad she didn't qualify.

With both those two out, Bashar Murad jumps to the top of my ranking, though honestly he just might have made it there anyway! I thought he gave a really good performance, his vocals were good and the choreography was very slick. The overall darker tone of the staging fit the tone of the music really well. I also honestly appreciate him incorporating all the nods to his home country, such as the green/black/red colour scheme, I always enjoy when artists incorporate their heritage. However, given the current context I support it even more so.

Wild West is both my favourite song and had my favourite performance in the semis, so I definitely want it to win tonight. Credit to the other artists, I did enjoy both Anita and Sigga’s performances, both really sold their songs and brought the energy they needed, but in both cases the music isn’t quite doing it for me. I’m glad Iceland held Söngvakeppnin as a contest, and whatever decision they make regarding Eurovision I will support.  

[strivia]

I constantly see the 'parental/protective Miguel O'Hara' tag in fics, often towards Miles, and I am not a fan. Miles already has multiple actually GOOD parental figures, gtfo Miguel For me to ever want him to be anywhere fucking near Miles ever the fuck again he's gonna have to fucking WORK for it. Stay the fuck back Miguel, you've done enough damage. *hisses at him*

[earmo-imni]

I generally curate my dash very well, so I don’t typically see the horrendous reading comprehension that populates much of Tumblr.

But lately I’ve been going through the tag for my newest hyperfixation character, who in canon deals with some very sensitive topics, much like the rest of canon, and god damn if the reading comprehension on this site isn’t complete SHIT

[reasonsforhope]

“Kenya's government has been ordered by a human rights tribunal to make reparations to the Ogiek, an indigenous, forest-dwelling people who they tried to evict from their lands, marking a huge win for indigenous rights, on a continent where wins are few and normally far between...

These traditional people have been forced in self-defense to enter into a 13-year legal conflict with the Kenyan government, who have engaged in several varied attempts to oust the community entirely from their ancestral lands through eviction notices, physical attacks, forced evictions, and home demolishing.

In court documents uploaded to the internet, the bench unanimously dismissed all the arguments offered by the Kenyan government claiming it was implementing [a previous] 2017 judgment. Then it slapped a reparations fee of just under $500,000 for material damages, and just under $850,000 for moral damages.

In addition, the ruling underlines that the Kenyan government must take all necessary measures, in consultation with the Ogiek community and its representatives, to identify, delimit and grant collective land title to the community and, by law, assure them of unhindered use and enjoyment of their land.

The bench furthermore ordered the Kenyan government to recognize, respect, protect and consult the Ogiek in accordance with their traditions and customs, on all matters concerning development, conservation or investment on their lands.” -via World at Large, 7/4/22

[destroyingangelneveragod]

Hey y'all, this was shared with me by a friend today, I think the graphic is a bit old but she is still in need!!! Share around so that your "canadian" followers can see and donate. Especially vital that y'all keep showing up beyond February but also PLEASE show up in the form of reparations for Black and Afro-Indigenous people tangibly this month, I beg.

[michellesanches]

Book Summary - "How to Do the Work" by Nicole LePera

In “How to Do the Work”, renowned holistic psychologist Nicole LePera presents readers with a transformative roadmap to self-discovery, healing and growth. Drawing upon her professional expertise and personal experiences, LePera offers actionable steps to break free from patterns that hold us back, unravel unresolved traumas and create a path toward authentic well-being. This article explores the…

[serenity-the-firefly]

idk i just find like….not quite land acknowledgements, but when people attempt to list every single privilege they experience, to be deeply suspect. like nice public flagellation, have you bothered to do something with that privilege? Or are you just going to keep doing the social justice equivalent of self deprecating jokes?