“We are talking about the murdering of dreams, the imposition of an apparatus of hopelessness, designed to squelch any sense of an alternative future.” — David Graeber

Billionaires shouldn’t exist.

Heartbreaking RIFs at my school. So sad & mad.

Billionaires should not exist.

“I am an activist,” Coretta Scott King stressed. “I didn’t just emerge after Martin died—I was always there & involved.” A political partnership from the beginning, Dr. King married a feminist freedom fighter with unflinching determination. He wouldn't have been the leader he was without her.

*2026

Oh David, I missed your birthday! Happy, happy, happy birthday! I loved scrolling through everyone’s faves. Didn’t see the show with @hystericalblkns.bsky.social yet, which is, I believe, the first time I sent you fan mail. 💛💛💛

Sent this to a poet-friend & she reminded me that: in the country of poets no passport or visa required 💛

Good morning.

Roller rink, of course

A tulip for you.

Read that article about young people in Brooklyn having no-phone parties & once again thinking about a world in which we have publicly funded roller rinks rather than AI & police & imperialism & war. (cc: @anxiousrage.blacksky.app)

A little grief poem for Saturday morning.

Kids told me some whoppers this week, lol

Like this review of my brother’s new album—even the quibbles are actually compliments.

Ugh @mollycrabapple.bsky.social this book is so beautiful—work be damned! all I want to do is read on—but the way it is killing me w/ longing for my mom. I want to tell her all about it, hear her reactions, the memories it activates. She rarely cried, but this book would have left her weeping.

Join Rethinking Schools for a conversation on how teacher unions are leading the fight against fascism and ICE in their communities and schools.

An outstanding, comprehensive rebuke of AI mania in K-12 by @winterjessica.bsky.social that rounds out by highlighting the growing coalition of parents, educators, and other concerned humans that is working fast and hard to tamp it down.

I wrote about a Georgia case of pregnancy criminalization—in which a woman has been charged with murder and possession of a dangerous drug after an alleged self-managed medication abortion—and how the actually dangerous role of fetal personhood laws enable these cases:

I don't want Salah Sarsour to get lost in all the noise. Born in the West Bank, Sarsour was jailed by Israeli occupiers at 15, supporters say he was tortured. Just like today. After 30 years in the US, Sarsour is now sits ICE jail after being doxxed by Canary Mission and targeted by Marco Rubio

Correction: we *can* take furlough days—but only for teacher work days & paid holidays, so as to make sure the pain is felt only by education workers & not by the larger community. Even with sacrificing these days, we’re gonna have obscene RIFs. This fucking sucks.

Today's delight is this by @alexanderchee.bsky.social - open.substack.com/pub/querent/...

Bijou Cafe: Doesn’t exist anymore. Grey Wolfe: Doesn’t exist anymore. The kid who made her these paper claws: 18-years-old & visiting colleges this week.

So the governor has said my district cannot take furlough days, which means more RIFs, & the already razor-thin elective offerings for kids will just be a gaping hole. This is such an unbelievably bad move, @tinakotek.bsky.social.

When I moved to NYC for school in the 90s a favorite “new to town” practice to learn was ferrying strollers on subway stairs. I was especially impressed by the people who said nothing, just a firm “I got this” nod, one hand reaching down to grab the front of the stroller, & up/down the stairs.

This bullshit means I will be on here more than I should be—searching for answers in all the wrong places.

I always read @sarahljaffe.bsky.social & especially when she’s writing in @rethinkingschools.bsky.social!

I consistently repeat to folks that they do not in fact ever *succeed* on their own. Sometimes the assistance is visible, often it is submerged. None of the USian billionaires *succeeded* on their own. In fact, most of them continue to benefit from your money, labor, etc....

The 2026 Stevie Wilson DIY Young Artists Residency will award $2,500 grants to 14 artists to work on creative projects. Creative projects can take place between July to December, 2026. Applications are due by May 11. Please help us spread the word to eligible young artists.

Portland is really ugly this time of year.

I have a rule with this extraordinary podcast: I only listen once I have read the book. Gonna be hard to hold to my rule with this one. So I better speed through my TBR pile.

Regarding AI, again & again, I think of the Robin Kelley line: revolution is not a series of clever maneuvers but a process that can and must transform us. Read to be transformed; write to be transformed; make art to be transformed.

Friday good news. 14/15-year-olds. Unit exam. 6 primary sources. Select 3 on which to focus. Provide background & explanation re: Cold War & colonialism in Vietnam. No computers. 90 minutes of reading (on paper), writing (on paper), & quiet conversation (w/ other human beings). It was marvelous.

The nausea-deep ache-breathlessness-clenched jaw-hollowness-too much coffee feeling of missing someone who is dead. Also maybe just what it’s like to try to stay present in these times

Glad we’re laying off teachers (again) & taking furlough days (again) at my school right now

A quote for a future comrade card: “Friendship does not abolish the distance between people, but it makes it vibrant.” — Walter Benjamin

The grief posting continues into month 5…

My mom’s rough draft birthday note to my kid from last year on this day. A reminder to us all to tell our beloveds what they mean to us and what we want them to know as often and regularly as we can b/c our next rotations ‘round the sun are never guaranteed.

Mood. (from the comrade card archives)

Through the window

It bears repeating: what a year this week has been.

Looks like I accidentally pre-ordered Molly Crabapple’s book on the Jewish Bund twice. I was eager.

You, an individual, cannot "fix" the whole world. You can act at the scale of your life. You should act at the scale of your life.

The wisteria was a constant source of frustration for my mom—why didn’t it bloom as magnificently as others in the neighborhood? Ours always just had one or two anemic blossoms. And, of course, this year… so many blossoms getting ready to open. Unbearable.

teaching, man

From the comrade card archives.

From the comrade card archives.

We cannot cross until we carry each other.