Our love will see us through these dark, dark days... 🎵

Twin Cities Bluesky, how are we doing tonight?😔

Thank You💜 I want to say a heartfelt thank-you to everyone who shared, donated, or reached out after my recent mutual aid post.Together, you helped raise $1,499, which is more than double my original goal.

Hey friends, It's been a challenging few months since leaving my job in June due to workplace retaliation. The experience has taken a real emotional and financial toll, and I'm still working to stabilize while rebuilding.

Hey Blue Sky Minnesota! Came here to pop in and ask a couple questions. Did you or anyone you know make a data request to the City of St. Paul prior to the announcement of the cyberattack? Have you been provided an update from the records request unit since making the request?

Do any of my brilliant tech friends know anything about this? Please help my friend ♥️♥️♥️

Does anyone know if TextNow is compromised? It appears there are files being downloaded on to people's phones that seem to be spyware and gives hackers great access. I'm asking for the youth. This is really concerning. I've checked Reddit and folks are flustered.

Thanks to @hannahbeckler.bsky.social & Nicole Einbinder for leading the reporting & to Narimes Parakul, Rosemarie Ho, Darren Ankrom, Paco Alvarez, Sam Russek, Paige Oamek, Finley Muratova, @schuylermitchell.bsky.social, & @lucydeanstockton.bsky.social for the research behind our data findings

Thanks to Randy Yeip, Kim Nguyen & Dan DeLorenzo for the incredible data visualizations, to Rebecca Zisser & Isabel Fernandez-Pujol for design and photo work, and to Sophie Kleeman, @johnfocook.bsky.social & Kevin Kaplan for extra eyes on the edits.

Thanks to Courtney Coles, Kaylee Greenlee, Nick Oxford, Alyssa Schukar, Shelby Tauber, @octaviojones.bsky.social, and @patiencezalanga.bsky.social for the gorgeous photos and Matt Rota for the amazing opening illustration

This week at @businessinsider.com we launched a deep dive into the 8th Amendment, our nation's foundational protection against "cruel and unusual punishments." In analyzing nearly 1,500 cases, we found prisoners win less than 1% of the time. www.businessinsider.com/eighth-amend...

Predictably, most of the comments blame conservatives for these types of policies. But I’m here to remind everyone that both Ds and Rs pass and praise policies that make child removals and adoptions easier, and haven’t done anything to support the material needs of at-risk families

Grateful to have had the opportunity to work on this necessary story alongside incredible journalists. — The gutting of the Eighth Amendment www.businessinsider.com/eighth-amend...

What news stories/topics, (events, incidents, investigations) do you trust corporate news outlets can report on accurately and can believe with confidence? What stories/topics by these outlets can you not confidently trust their reporting on and search elsewhere for more info?

Trans journalists, particularly ones writing about trans issues, have been pushed out of the industry. It's why I started Assigned Media, and why I'm determined to grow and increase our capabilities. A 🧵 about the "quiet purge" of trans voices, what to expect, and what I intend to do about it.

I'm simply uninterested in class reductionist rejections of intersectionality. You cannot have a unified working class without recognizing that different marginalized and racialized groups have distinct needs that must be respected. Arguing otherwise isn't class consciousness, it's white supremacy.

My Twitter account isn’t showing Minneapolis folks. It’s as if it’s deprioritized their visibility.

I’m still kickin’, I’m still daydreamin’ on a strawberry swing 🎶

People are often surprised when I tell them this: both Twitter and Facebook/insta/threads are now specifically engineered to downgrade, hide, suppress real journalism. If this platform is different, that's a huge change

Despite the aggressive flies, Australia has been good. It’s wild to think this won’t be my reality next week. A challenging reminder that my purpose in life exceeds my current environment. Envious of travel photographers. #photography #blacksky

This.

NO ONE warns you about the flies in Australia. They are OUTRAGEOUS and THEY BITE.

Calendar time is here!!!! Happiness and cheer!!! You can get one of mine here: www.lulu.com/shop/riley-b... Also, if the images in mine don’t trip your trigger, may I suggest either @flowstatephoto.bsky.social or @bryanhansel.com’s calendars. I’ll put links to theirs as replies to this skeet.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m being alarmist but I can see a reality where Trump targets states like Minnesota, where so many are traveling here to receive gender affirming care, reproductive healthcare etc., so that others who are attempting to seek refuge in the state will have nowhere else to go.

I couldn't agree more. And it isn't lost on me that the folks I see pointing this fact out are Black women and trans folks. We know what it is like to have our existence politicized. Like, just our inclusion in cast lists causes uproar lol.

I know that much of the concern around the nonprofit killer bill (which passed) has been focused on political nonprofits. But I don’t know the Trump Administration will solely target political orgs. I think the definition that most are using to describe “political” organizations is narrow.

It's 5:09 pm in Adelaide, Australia and I'm trying to stay up for as a long as I can so I can adjust my sleep schedule. I'm not sure why I like to do this but I like to take photos of the planes I took. Adelaide reminds me of Los Angeles.

Just landed in Australia! ☺️

Bunch of British journalists on the radio earlier pondering whether Bluesky is going to be bad for debate and I really think that journalists massively overestimate how much time people want to spend each day on debating each other.

*waving at new followers* Welcome to Bluesky! Quick tips are pinned to my profile. If you're seeing me a lot on your feeds... you need more people! The more you follow people here, the more variety you'll find. A directory of Starter Packs is below. Have fun! blueskydirectory.com/starter-pack...

Here's the thing, Minneapolis: It's so common we're constantly hearing of more incidences. There are reputable bystander trainings online. There are tangible ways to show up daily to support trans people. Look into it. Build upon what's been done before. DO something.

I’m looking forward to my trip to Australia. Not too excited about the flight but still excited nonetheless. I can’t wait to sleep in and go to the ocean. I need this.

the best part about bluesky is that, unlike twitter, it isn’t putting annoying bull shit designed to piss me off in front of me every 3 minutes

I don’t know that their incompetence (Trump and accomplices) will be our only ally. They may not be as efficient as they expected, but the damage done will be enough. I don’t think they have to be efficient or effective to cause irreparable harm. Just look at the Democrats.

Sean Combs is trying to influence public opinion from jail in a bid to affect potential jurors, prosecutors say apnews.com/article/didd...

Over a million new Bluesky accounts were created yesterday. Unsurprisingly, some fakes are popping up here and there, such as this set of nine accounts with identical biographies and repeated banner images.

Hey y’all! We met and surpassed our goal. $693 in total were raised! Thank you! And thank you for not having me share the fundraiser on Twitter. I will post screenshots below of the transaction amounts and funds transferred to my friend.🙏🏾❤️

Hey Bsky fam, support is needed! A dear loved one is need of critical support to remain housed. Our goal is to raise $600 to assist with securing their housing. If you're able to assist, a little goes a long way. Screen grabs of funds will be provided. cashapp: Spatience518 Venmo: © Patience-Zalanga

This is my periodic check-in. Helllo. Is the mic on?

every change that causes a new Twitter exodus seems to have one thing in common: making it more toxic Bluesky isn’t perfect, but it really is a nicer place to be, and the best thing we can do for all of us is keep it that way there aren’t any specific rules here - but, if you can, be kind

oh my god you can actually connect to bluesky via telnet, like i'm doing it it works what the fuck

JUST IN: Cuba sees an island-wide blackout after the "failure" of one of its major power plants, according to the country's energy ministry.

Boosting!

Help support urgent evacuation efforts for Palestinians through @patiencezalanga.bsky.social’s photography fundraiser. The initial goal is to raise $5,000, but we will continue to raise funds throughout. Purchase, share, repost: patiencezalanga.darkroom.com #photography #prints #Gaza #Palestine

I’m sick and tired of doing the same thing.

If you’d like to watch my 4 minute video of my sister sharing her experiences on colorism, you can watch it here. www.instagram.com/reel/C1lPDrM... Makeup tutorial still happening but I felt like the question of colorism deserved it’s own video. Thank you for watching and supporting.💜

A couple of stills from videos I took of my sister. She’s letting me practice filming. I want to see more stories about Black Minnesotans be met with warmth, compassion and care.