Today’s my work anniversary! Here’s some of my thoughts, hopes, and concerns after 365 days in the fourth estate. open.substack.com/pub/mbumaqun...

Over a century ago, Black, white, & Hispanic sawmill workers secretly organized the Brotherhood of Timber Workers in East Texas. In an era of Jim Crow laws, workers demanded fair wages & basic rights for everyone – regardless of skin color or gender.

Happy Friday! 🙌🏾 This week, I had the chance to sit down with the @texasaflcio.org President, Secretary-Treasurer and Communications Director prior to their labor town hall with local union members in Beaumont. Read my latest: www.chron.com/business/art...

A different type of interfaith engagement took place in Beaumont, amidst a rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric in Texas and the United States. Read my latest ☪️✝️🪯 www.chron.com/news/article...

A white supremacist group that avows the Great Replacement Theory and exploits tragedies to stir up racial animus has a few local adherents posting flyers across Southeast Texas, including in Beaumont. www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article...

A great piece from the Observer on how to win elections by rebuilding the eroded civic foundations and third spaces of Texas. www.texasobserver.org/let-a-hundre...

How labor solidarity breaks racial and gender barriers in the Jim Crow South: The untold story of Southeast Texas, The International Workers of the World and The Brotherhood of Timber Workers. Read my latest. 👇🏾 www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article...

I got the chance to sit down with a genealogist in Beaumont and pinpoint the names and history of Ryan Coogler’s Southeast Texan grandmothers. This one was a blast to write - read my latest Black History Month story! www.beaumontenterprise.com/entertainmen...

I wrote two stories about Texas Black History being made in the past and present. ✨ To be young, gifted and Black ✨🖤 #IWW #LaborUnions #SouthernLaborHistory #RyanCoogler #PortArthur #Sinners

iindaba emlonyeni 🗣️

The NUJ stands in solidarity with all workers impacted by the appalling, cataclysmic cuts at the Washington Post. We agree wholeheartedly with @newsguild.org that a newsroom cannot be hollowed out without compromising its credibility, its reach and its future.

Tell Hearst: Keep Texas News written by Texans! The company is already trying to bust our unions and we need your help to keep these jobs in Texas! Sign the petition to support local journalism: bit.ly/TellHearst

While I’m a bit more charitable to Shawn Fein on account of cross-industry efforts to make the May Day 2028 General Strike viable, I share in the sentiment of this. industrialworker.org/why-we-oppos...

We stand in solidarity with Argentinian workers and Trade Unions in defending their fundamental rights! Collective bargaining, the right to strike, regulation on working hours, sick leaves are not to be dismissed! #ReformaLaboral #Argentina Read more www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-medi...

Once, unions shook nations and promised a better future. But today, their once booming voice has felt more like a whisper. Their mass mobilisation retreated into bureaucracy. Their gains rolled back by the most powerful ruling class in history. Still, are unions our best hope? youtu.be/RqtzjoY36W8

Congratulations! You've doom-scrolled your way to my indie game. It's a game about doing your job... while everything goes horribly wrong. It's called Tossdown and you can add it to your wishlist on Steam! store.steampowered.com/app/3241560/... #gamedev #indiedev

Manufacturing Consent was one of those books that changed a lot of how I looked at the world in college, but there is no excuse on earth for Noam Chomsky, who literally wrote the book on how power protects itself, to act as an aggrieved confidant and “valuable” friend to Epstein.

The Jeffrey Epstein Experience

The coverage on environmental quality violations and tax abatements has been continuing during my time in Beaumont, Port Arthur and the entire Golden Triangle. Here’s a spotlight on one community leader.

My last job at Rooster Teeth was entirely geared towards creating fun stuff like this for Death Battle, Red Versus Blue, RWBY and other shows that reflect some many distinct aspects of the culture. Love when more people see how impactful it can be. www.chron.com/culture/arti...

Looking forward to watching Anderson Jr., Pitre, Stingley Jr. and the whole @houstontexans.bsky.social defense give that vaccine denying has-been hell all game.

The enigmatic ICE arrest of a beloved employee at one Beaumont restaurant has made unexpected allies and garnered thousands of residents' signatures calling for answers. Here’s what I was able to verify and learn from the family. www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article...

The City of Beaumont’s financial relationship with the Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce has ended after a disagreement on how to measure economic development expenditures, according to city emails I obtained through an open records request. www.beaumontenterprise.com/business/art...

A great watch for Halloween! 🧟‍♂️🎃👻

NEW: during a brief post-rally Q/A, @jamestalarico.bsky.social told me he would make workers' rights and a nationwide gerrymandering ban some of his prime concerns if elected to the Senate. He also spoke about his position on the apartheid and genocide in occupied Palestinian Territories.

Unionized reporters in Chicago won a federal court order barring federal agents from threatening to arrest or using physical force against any person whom they know or reasonably should know is a Journalist. newsguild.org/release-fede...

Newest @deathbattle.gg episode is out. Had a blast playing Jackie Daytona! Huge shout out to the cast, crew, @ismahawk.bsky.social and literally everyone involved.

🏛️ Shutdown: I reached out to Southeast Texas’ congressmen to talk about what the local response strategy will be for 13,200 federally employed Southeast Texans who are working without pay. My latest: www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article...

An unprecedented labor victory for one group of Houston’s working class. A politician didn’t give this to them, thoughts and prayers didn’t give this to them, nor did scapegoating - seeing their coworkers as human beings earned them this deal. www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/new...

A lot of people are (understandably) focused on the Saudi Arabia and Kushner part of this, but the far bigger immediate impact will come from the new private EA being on the hook for $20 billion in debt. That could mean mass layoffs, more aggressive monetization, and other big cost-cutting measures

In other SETX labor & business news; Houston Public Media obtained a 116-page management agreement showing record-high revenue and profits figures at the downtown Houston hotel that’s embroiled in an unprecedented service-industry strike in Texas. www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/new...

Here’s one of the stories I wrote recently: August’s labor report came in, and unemployment has climbed for the second consecutive month in the Golden Triangle, despite job growth in the construction sector. www.beaumontenterprise.com/business/art...

Coming off the last few weeks of county tax abatement coverage in the heart of oil & gas country, it’s worth a good laugh to read one of the richest people give the game away. The business community will do anything to avoid paying New Deal-era tax rates again… Including right-wing nationalization.

The way watching football and the women’s Rugby World Cup all weekend really makes it feel like Autumn is unmatched.

Internet Surfing brought me this gem from the old job. delta.roosterteeth.com

What does trust and authenticity mean to you? Like, when you’re asked to build something with someone or rely on them, what are the types of things you are willing to excuse for the sake of broader goals and what begins to call character into question for you?

“Mamdani and Fateh gained credibility by identifying the problem as landlords, a powerful lobby others avoid crossing.” From @kenklippenstein.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/kenklippenstein/p/party-control-is-dead

Baristas in Beaumont, Texas are seeking representation in @sbworkersunited.org, and held a sip-in demonstration where they talked transparency in take-home pay, improved scheduling, harassment protections and more with their regulars. ☕️ www.beaumontenterprise.com/business/art...

City Council will be debating a voting on an ordinance to heavily restrict game rooms today. I’ve been making attempts to get the other side of the story from a pair of the new game rooms around town, and they have been resistant to talk. www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article...

ICYMI: The Governor Greg Abbot dropped the official list of priorities in the Special Session starting 1 week from today. Has a whole lot in its 18 loaded items, much of which pertaining to recent events and even shaping future ventures. Cutting through the noise: gov.texas.gov/news/post/go...

NEW: Hearst Newspapers, which currently owns @houstonchronicle.com, The San Antonio Express-News, the Beaumont Enterprise and most recently acquired the Austin American-Statesman, announced this morning it’s purchasing The Dallas Morning News. 📰

This week I’ve been chatting with Beaumont businesses and community members who are communicating a silent message of solidarity with the families who lost the most precious treasures during the July 4th floods… 🎀🎗️

Good morning BlueSky! ☀️ I’m making the conscious effort to be more active here, (let’s pretend like it’s not motivated by any recent events or headlines 😅) and wanted to say you should tap in to the community work I’ve done all across this great state we call Texas. Linktr.ee/Mamelaaa_Mbu

“CWA and Microsoft initially boasted a mutually beneficial relationship while the latter was attempting to get its purchase of Activision Blizzard across the regulatory finish line.” aftermath.site/microsoft-la...

Xbox producer recommends laid off workers should use AI to 'help reduce the emotional and cognitive load that comes with job loss': aftermath.site/xbox-microsoft...

The realization more people need to come to is that no higher institution is coming to save us when fascists march. Grassroots institutions save communities, but that often requires people have the long term vision & village-mindset to build those kinds of things - qualities Americans lack.

Things I heard today “I wish I could dance every dance, sing in every language, and cook every food. so I could make everyone feel welcome and at home.”

“They continue to portray it as not a complete ban on hemp, but when you restrict 95% of the cannabinoids that growers can grow — that distributors and retailers can sell, it’s a ban.” My latest for the Beaumont Enterprise. ✍🏾 www.beaumontenterprise.com/business/art...

In-depth no bullsh*t reporting from @hanrahan.tv on the blurred lines between governance, gangs, and what defines those who have a monopoly on violence. A must watch. 📺 : youtu.be/M7kVBXlEax4?...