Greetings! I’m here at a noise demonstration situated at both Marriotts in Pasadena. It is *extremely* loud. In one spot, several people are blaring multiple Spanish language songs at once; the only one I can identify is La Chona. Also some screams.

Another guy at this noise demonstration in Pasadena is just wailing on a mailbox. Absolutely unhinged wailing on a mailbox. Hard to say it’s not fascinating to watch a man just go ham on a mailbox.

Happy birthday Kelly!!!! 🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾

Today’s issue. On newsstands across the South Side and online at issuu.com/southsidewee...

Get in loser, we're going to put our bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, to make it stop

At a raucous meeting Thursday in Pilsen, residents and elected officials angrily demanded the city’s police oversight commission hold formal hearings about potential cooperation between CPD and federal immigration agents.

Friendly mention for anyone, if you want thoughtfulness and honesty this might be helpful. The wonderful and wise “Read this when things fall apart” edited by @mskellymhayes.bsky.social is meeting the moment

People are going to try and lure you into debates about whether Maduro was a good guy or not and the thing is, it doesn’t matter for the purposes of discussing whether violent kidnappings and extrajudicial murders by the US government are ok. No, they aren’t! End of convo.

Love this from Guillermo del Toro

Horrifying

#Phoenix get your “How to Report ICE” zines with the local hotline number and stay safe out there. drive.google.com/file/d/1ofWS...

If you're going into Zohran's term thinking he's going to "give you what you want" and not thinking of this time as one in which it'll be easier to organize for what you want. . . I'm afraid you will find yourself very disappointed

Not to be controversial but I think we should use tools and resources to make people's lives less miserable instead of more

It's on sale for half price. www.akpress.org/read-this-wh...

"Fuck ICE" Seen in Chicago, Illinois

Saturday, from 1-5 pm at Solar Intentions in Edgewater, we are gathering to raise funds to free Luis, one of our immigrant neighbors who was detained by ICE. His stepdaughter is a dedicated volunteer. Community members are working to raise$12,000 to cover his legal bills and bond. bit.ly/4iXtrjj

Y'all we have one more day to make 19 presents happen. Please help if you can.

Our last episode of the year is a conversation about what resisting ICE has looked like in Chicago, what we've learned, what it's cost, and where we go from here. I'm so grateful to Gabe Gonzalez, Rey Wences, and Jocelyn Walsh for this convo. This one is special to me. Audio + transcript:

Max Blaisdell’s 2023 investigation of how CPD deals with—or in most cases, doesn’t deal with—abusers on the force is once again relevant

This year, because of the impact ICE raids, our holiday gift guide is focused on La Villita/Little Village. We urge you to shop at the Discount Mall and other businesses on 26th, ride the holiday trolley, have dinner and be in community with our beloved neighbors who help make Chicago strong. 🎄❤️🎄

The @southsideweekly.bsky.social’s final issue of 2025 is on newsstands, and it’s chock-full of incredible stories. Here’s a preview. On the cover: @almacampos.bsky.social and Max Blaisdell’s investigation of how immigrants seeking legal paths to citizenship are defrauded by scammers. 1/🧵

Don’t look away. sahanjournal.com/immigration/...

I wrote a thing I was afraid to write! [Falls over] Huzzah! 🎭 #playwrightstuff #pleaseclap #RuptureRepair #writingcommunity

True facts

“I am so bored by AI. One of the things I love about the theatre is AI can’t do it.” Ethan Hawke is a dude 👌🏻

Shutting it down for the night. Our toy drive is ongoing. Please feel free to support if you can. Toys: bit.ly/48pJUrK Teen gifts: amzn.to/4rDn7BG Good night to all.

Thank you @mskellymhayes.bsky.social for this newsletter and the powerful reflection questions!!!

Turns out police superintendents CAN order their officers to intervene in unlawful immigration detentions.

What’s your favorite season? Me? I love them all: Spring, Summer, Fall, Station Eleven

In one shocking case, a pair of fraudsters in Chicago and Melrose Park were named in complaints with the Illinois Attorney General alleging they defrauded clients of more than $100,000 between 2022-23 alone. @ilattygeneral.bsky.social didn’t answer our questions about the status of those complaints.

A months-long investigation by @almacampos.bsky.social and Max Blaisdell examined how immigrants who are trying to follow a legal path to residency can be defrauded by unscrupulous “notarios.” With @typeinvestigations.org

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has proposed disastrous cuts to our city's libraries while setting aside $5M for a ShotSpotter replacement. As library associate Sara Heymann told me, “Libraries embody everything we need to fight back against fascism.” My piece on what’s at stake and how to fight back:

December should be for sleepytime tea drinkin and that’s it

The same road this picture was taken. My neighborhood.

This week, I talk to @tamaranopper.bsky.social about abolition in practice — how people learn through engagement with state violence, what gets in the way of developing shared analysis, and why abolitionists need to take recruitment and counter-recruitment seriously.

Every year around this time, I ask folks to consider doing something in support of Native people. This year, please join me in supporting the Native Organizers Alliance as they build grassroots power, defend Native voting rights, and equip our people for collective struggle through skill-building.

Yesterday I tried to put everything I knew about whistles—where to get them, where to get instruction sheets, how to distro—into one place so you can build off it for your own community's whistle needs: dansinker.com/posts/2025-1...

Help us send 2,000 books to readers who are incarcerated this winter through our Books Not Bars program

New "How to Report ICE" zines up today: #Nashville #Asheville (In North Carolina folder) #TwinCities Metro Area (in Minnesota folder) #NewYorkCity en Español! I am working on the backlog and will have more out tomorrow!! drive.google.com/drive/folder...

South Side Weekly’s reporting on the South Shore raid was featured on @maddow.bsky.social yesterday! (Story link in thread)

I’m very proud of this collaboration—it’s yet another way Chicagoans came together and organized to defend our city.

I am going to say this only once but fuck these white racists. Fuck them to hell.

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

I'll be donating to help free Operation Midway Blitz detainees, and I hope some of you can join me. We tried like hell to prevent as many detentions as we could in Chicago. This is another opportunity to help our neighbors remain in our communities where they belong.

615 of the estimated 3,000+ detained immigrants who were kidnapped in Chicagoland during Midway Blitz are expected to be eligible for bond this week. The Midwest Immigration Bond Fund shows up for people in detention who need bond, but it costs, at minimum, $1,500 per person. Pls help them.

“We need to give thanks for the solidarity and communal bonds that allowed us to show up for each other and for our neighbors. We need to take care of ourselves and get some rest. Then, we need to prepare, because Bovino and his goons will be back.”

“Short bursts indicate an ICE sighting. Long whistles indicate agents making arrests. If you hear the whistle and you’re undocumented, said [Whitney Hu, a community activist and organizer with South Brooklyn Mutual Aid], ‘you hide. And if you’re somebody who’s not, you go to the street.’”

Wow. Between the story, music, character development, set design, lights, dramaturgy, powerful actor performances, and visionary direction, REVOLUTION(S) is a must-see, and I never say that lightly. Thank you @mskellymhayes.bsky.social for taking me! I’m figuring out how to see it again asap!