Banksy

A nation is nothing!

Where the mainstream approach can afford to do "research for its own sake," or "research for pure knowledge," the Indigenous approach always seeks to make a difference to people's lives and hopefully encourage social change and justice. -Dr. Richard Katz

It's a useless, bad faith tactic.

"The recognition of the ‘rights of nature” can strengthen U.S. democracy. We need to begin incorporating “the right of a river or a forest or a mountain or so forth to exist and to be preserved and protected”into our democratic system. -Sonali Kolhatkar

We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.- Dr.  Martin Luther King

To know in the deepest parts of your soul that your birth grants you divinity, rest, care, and power is a seed planted in fertile ground. -Tricia Hersey

Only friction makes sparks. -Jil Filipovic

When authoritarian regimes collapse, it often looks sudden—leaders flee and the state unravels in real-time. But collapse is rarely spontaneous. More, it’s the result of a slow, self-inflicted erosion of power, set in motion when leaders overestimate their own support and push too far. -Ari Drennen

You can’t save the world, but together we can move in that direction. It takes us all doing what we can, taking the steps in front of us, reaching out to connect with others and to expand the actions we can take and the power we can collectively wield. That is what this moment asks of us.--JP Hill

Fascism cannot thrive when the voice of dissent echoes everywhere. Keep it up.

The movement that will finally put an end to this Age of Inequality many years from now will grow out of the purposeful, modest, but important work we do today. –Neal Meyer

Empires have risen and crumbled, movements have been crushed and reborn, but the pulse of those who refuse to surrender to despair, to hatred, to silence—has never stopped. -Frederick Joseph

The transformational exchange between teaching and learning centered on justice is not a limited exercise. It is the democratic practice we need in every classroom, community center, place of worship, kitchen table, backyard, boardroom, group meeting and other spaces. -Jalaya Liles Dunn

The share of Black people in senior leadership roles in major US companies has decreased by more than half since 2020.

We live in a nation that does everything to induce our rage, while simultaneously doing everything to deny that we have a right to feel it. -Brittney Cooper

When Trump discusses the Panama Canal, remember that this is just a simple-minded expression of Biden Administration tactics through which the U.S. expanded its military footprint in the region in order to diminish foreign influence.

The vast majority of people calling themselves Democrats or Republicans agree that big-money donors have too much influence in U.S. politics. Yet nothing changes because yep you guessed it.

Perhaps Trump views [tariffs] as a way to rebalance trade without jeopardizing capital inflows to the oligarchic class. More likely the greater goal is to accumulate personal power. -Dominik Leusder

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that capitalism has ‘lifted millions out of poverty.’ That’s never been true.

If you tremble with indignation every time an injustice is committed in the world, we are comrades. -Che Guevera

Reforms are used to keep Black progress at bay as super predators remove opportunity after opportunity... Reform takes advantage of our hopes of living outside the conditions created for us. We are punished for fighting for justice. -Bettina L. Love

Perfection is impossible. Allowing things to be enough gives you the freedom to be content without the need to constantly strive for better. Contentment doesn't end ambition, but it allows you to be enough. -Nedra Glover Tawwab

Class war is not inevitable, it is earned through solidarity. Solidarity requires careful confrontation with white supremacy--in our world and in your heart.

Despite the wealth of empirical evidence touting the benefits of Hip-Hop pedagogical approaches, public schools have largely not used them to make the urban education system more responsive to the interest-driven pursuits of Black youth. -Jabari M. Evans

Rather than operating at a breakneck pace until we crash and burn, respecting our seasons allows us to cultivate and build meaningful connections and projects throughout each cycle.-K. Hayes, M. Kaba

This is not a constitutional crisis. The crisis is the constitution itself, created to strengthen 'executive' power and foment empire, not restrain them. Trump and his handlers, all fascists, know this.

A recent study shows that among 84 top U.S. companies, 26% of all job cuts in 2023 included Black employees. At those same companies, the share of Black people in senior leadership decreased dramatically after 2020.

Americans spend the most on healthcare in the industrialized world – an estimated $4.9T in 2023 – but have the worst health outcomes, according to analysis by the Commonwealth Fund. -Michael Sainato

The greatest terror threat in the world today is unqualified, mediocre white men with power and influence they are unqualified to hold.

Your energy, attitude, and conversation style shifts when you're in the company of certain people. When you find yourself withholding, or being short, agitated or angry, listen to what your feelings are telling you. Feelings offer information. -Nedra Glover Tawwab

The Trump team thinks that as long as it shouts “wokeness,” it can take your health care away, put you out of a job, and turn a blind eye to predatory firms price gouging you, and you won’t realize you’re being screwed over. -Branko Marcetic

DEI programs were never designed to repair centuries of anti-Black oppression. But bigots think they were, and that's why they hate DEI so much.

An advanced reading copy arrived! To have a book come to life on screens and now hold it in my hands—no better feeling as an author. I can’t wait to get in your hands, in youth hands MALCOLM LIVES! The Official Biography of Malcolm X for Young Readers. Preorder now. us.macmillan.com/books/978037...

MAGA is profoundly corrupt, unmistakably anti-democracy. MAGA is explicitly a Nazi movement. You have replaced a swastika with a red hat. -Chris Kluwe, NFL punter

From Paul Ladipo:

Credit: Robert Raymond

Colonizers cannot decide who is illegal.

Either we spend time meeting children's emotional needs by filling their cup with love or we spend time dealing with the behaviors caused by their unmet needs. -Pam Leo

Creativity and skill emerge not from the pressure to make something perfect, but from the simple act of doing — repeatedly, in spite of suboptimal results at first. -Sheril Mathews

Self-confidence is better cultivated by focusing on your ability to adapt rather than on your ability to succeed.

As long as adult americans hold fast to our "don't try to change me" approach, we will fear the future. -Judith M. Green

Why is it that Trump can manage to keep promises (albeit, horrible ones that make the country worse off), but Biden somehow couldn't? What's the excuse? Or are you just going to tell me to "take a civics class" again?

Based on where and what you come from, it's likely that you've already won. That doesn't mean be satisfied. It means that what you can imagine next is entirely possible to accomplish.

This is what we all should remember.