Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 1d

UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.

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Erin Vanderhoof @vanderhoofy.bsky.social · 3d

i spent the last few months reporting on a wild question: what makes a british aristocrat decide to become a big MAGA booster??? read my lengthy answer here: www.vanityfair.com/news/story/l...

Lady Victoria Hervey, British ’90s It Girl Turned Mar-a-Lago Habitué, Wants to Make England Great Again

A pandemic-era political awakening turned this aristocrat into a MAGA-hat-collecting Trump booster—and now she’s telling Vanity Fair why she backs Nigel Farage.

www.vanityfair.com

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 2d

www.wweek.com/culture/2025...

Can you put into words what that purpose is? You and the frog have really become icons of this protest.

There’s been a nice overall whimsy that has shown up. The frog is amazing. We had a bunch of other inflatable people here last night, too. I saw people playing Twister the other day.

What they rely on is fear. So by coming out in an absurdist manner, it speaks to them, to some extent, that we’re actually not that afraid.

It also dismantles their narrative a little bit. When they try to describe this situation as “war-torn,” it becomes much harder to take them seriously when they have to post a video saying [U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security] Kristi Noem is up on the balcony staring over the Antifa Army and it’s, like, eight journalists and five protesters and one of them is in a chicken suit.

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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 2d

Two new FTP resources that were shared this evening:

1. Friends of the Library 101 - www.librariesforthepeople.org/resources#fo... - created by FTP volunteers and designed by FTP steering committee member @kruttika.bsky.social - learn about from Friends of the Library groups are and do.

Resources — For The People

www.librariesforthepeople.org

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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 2d

"I am a proud woman of faith, and I know that faith and fear cannot share the same space. And so today I am not fearful, I am fearless, and as my faith teaches me, no weapon formed against me shall prosper." - @newyorkstateag.bsky.social

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 2d

INBOX — New York AG Tish James' statement on Trump's retaliatory indictment of her:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2025

Attorney General’s Press Office/212-416-8060 nyag.pressoffice@ag.ny.gov

Attorney General Letitia James Issues Statement on Donald Trump’s Weaponization of the Department of Justice

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today issued the following statement after she was indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s office of the Eastern District of Virginia.

“This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system. He is forcing federal law enforcement agencies to do his bidding, all because I did my job as the New York State Attorney General.

“These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost. The president’s actions are a grave violation of our Constitutional order and have drawn sharp criticism from members of both parties.

“His decision to fire a United States Attorney who refused to bring charges against me – and replace them with someone who is blindly loyal not to the law, but to the president – is antithetical to the bedrock principles of our country. This is the time for leaders on both sides of the aisle to speak out against this blatant perversion of our system of justice.

“I stand strongly behind my office’s litigation against the Trump Organization. We conducted a two-year investigation based on the facts and evidence – not politics. Judges have upheld the trial court’s finding that Donald Trump, his company, and his two sons are liable for fraud.

“I am a proud woman of faith, and I know that faith and fear cannot share the same space. And so today I am not fearful, I am fearless, and as my faith teaches me, no weapon formed against me shall prosper. We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights. And I will continue to do my job.”

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CFPB Union @nteu335.bsky.social · 2d

"We're just very hamstrung. We're like frozen in an ice cube."

-- CFPB worker and NTEU 335 member Alexis Goldstein helping to explain to @npr.org that the shutdown has been happening since Feb. at the CFPB.

Listen beginning at 6:28.

A week into the shutdown, federal workers are stuck in limbo : Consider This from NPR

It's been a week since a federal shutdown ground work at numerous government agencies to a halt. There's no indication that an agreement could come soon, as Republicans and Democrats in congress…

www.npr.org

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Federal Workers United @fedworkersunited.bsky.social · 3d

Federal Workers in DC met with Senate offices today to say “No Bad Budget in Our Name.” Our communities need a budget that protects critical public services and healthcare. We’re calling on Congress to hold out against Trump’s illegal power grab. #supportfederalworkers #wetookanoath

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Fight Chat Control @fightchatcontrol.bsky.social · 4d

🇩🇪 Germany is AGAINST Chat Control:

Jens Spahn: "We as the CDU/CSU parliamentary group are against indiscriminate monitoring of chats. That would be like preemptively opening all letters to check whether there's something illegal in them. That's not acceptable, that won't happen under our watch."

Germany voices opposition to Chat Control, tilting the balance.

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Ben Carlson @bencarlson007.bsky.social · 4d

It's crazy to see both stocks and gold booming in the same decade

This has never happened before in modern times

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 3d

Pathetic. bsky.app/profile/step...

Stephen Totilo @stephentotilo.bsky.social · 3d

SCOOP: Last year, Ubisoft cancelled an Assassin's Creed game set during Reconstruction. Was to feature a Black Assassin who, among other things, fought the rise of the Klan

Sources: Leadership nixed it over concerns re: U.S. political climate, backlash to Yasuke

www.gamefile.news/p/scoop-ubis...

Scoop: Ubisoft cancelled a post-Civil War Assassin’s Creed last year

Company leadership deemed the project too controversial for the moment, sources tell Game File

www.gamefile.news

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Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 4d

"There just isn’t enough time. There’s only what we manage to make of it—what we build, what we protect, what we remember to carry to the car. The gas mask. The snacks. The question we forgot to ask. The name of the person taken." My latest.

The Emergency Is the Atmosphere

“It’s meant to exhaust us. It’s meant to destroy us."

organizingmythoughts.org

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Aveta👾🇭🇹 @aliafonzy.blacksky.app · 6d

Can we get the word around for more donations to go to BlackSky so there’s funding for the infrastructure that can bring Link back?

From my understanding:

Relays are costly and expensive. Anyone feel free to chime in. Bluesky relays is what has him banned.

opencollective.com/blacksky

Blacksky - Open Collective

Decentralized social media built for community power, culture, and collective freedom.

opencollective.com

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Debt Collective 🟥 @debtcollective.bsky.social · 4d

Debt Collective, the nation’s first union of debtors, has a long history of participating in the private sector to purchase student loan debt. In 2023, the Debt Collective’s Rolling Jubilee Fund purchased nearly $10M of student loan debt directly from Morehouse College.

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Debt Collective 🟥 @debtcollective.bsky.social · 5d

Now: Debt Collective Raises Hand to Purchase Chunk of Federal Government Student Debt Portfolio

The Debt Collective has purchased billions in household debt over the past decade

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, after a new POLITICO report that the Trump administration is “exploring options to sell off parts of the federal government’s $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio to the private market,” the Debt Collective is announcing its willingness to purchase the entire portfolio for its true market value. The Debt Collective will then subsequently cancel the debt.

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Rudy wants revolution. @rude1.blacksky.team · 4d

P.S. I've been updating docs.blacksky.community based on questions and feedback so check that out.

Thanks again to the folks who trust us and contribute the funds that allow to continue pursuing this mission of providing communities with autonomous, safe spaces.

Gonna get back to work now 👨🏾‍💻

Introduction | Blacksky Documentation

docs.blacksky.community

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Sarah O'Connor @sarahoconnorft.ft.com · 5d

Great piece from @emmavj.bsky.social who is calling Peak Vibe www.ft.com/content/14ef...

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Meredith Whittaker @meredithmeredith.bsky.social · 6d

📣 Germany's close to reversing its opposition to mass surveillance & private message scanning, & backing the Chat Control bill. This could end private comms-& Signal-in the EU.

Time's short and they're counting on obscurity: please let German politicians know how horrifying their reversal would be.

Signal @signal.org · 8d

We are alarmed by reports that Germany is on the verge of a catastrophic about-face, reversing its longstanding and principled opposition to the EU’s Chat Control proposal which, if passed, could spell the end of the right to privacy in Europe. signal.org/blog/pdfs/ge...

signal.org

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Alexis Goldstein @alexisgoldstein.bsky.social · 7d

As we enter “week 2” of the shutdown, remember: the administration has shut the government down for months — ending USAID, cutting grants, freezing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau & dropping its lawsuits vs big finance: bsky.app/profile/fedw...

Federal Workers United @fedworkersunited.bsky.social · 12d

The Trump administration has been shutting down the government & slashing public services for months. 12% of the federal workforce has already been cut. This is not about numbers. It’s about power. But together, we will win. Read: prospect.org/politics/202... #SaveOurServices #SupportFederalWorkers

The Government Has Been Shut Down for Months

Today is the day we stop pretending that it’s not.

prospect.org

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Alexis Goldstein @alexisgoldstein.bsky.social · 7d

The next day, @fedworkersunited.bsky.social joined @reprashida.govpeeps.us to discuss fighting back through the #ShutdownShowdown:
bsky.app/profile/fedw... /5

Federal Workers United @fedworkersunited.bsky.social · 9d

Federal workers: Join us TONIGHT for an organizing call! We're gathering to discuss prospects for organizing and fighting back through the shutdown, no matter how long it lasts. This is a call for inspiration, brainstorming & solidarity. Register here: bit.ly/FedWorkerSho... #SupportFederalWorkers

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Alexis Goldstein @alexisgoldstein.bsky.social · 7d

On Weds Oct 1, federal workers including Paul Osadebe joined @fairshareamerica.bsky.social for a rally to tell the country “it’s not business as usual when people’s rights are being taken from them.”

Rally summary at: substack.com/inbox/post/1...
/4

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Alexis Goldstein @alexisgoldstein.bsky.social · 7d

Also on 9/29:

HUD tries to fire two brave fair lending attorneys, Paul Osadebe and Palmer Heenan, who blew the whistle on the agency’s attempted shuttering of the division tasked with fighting discrimination in lending:

bsky.app/profile/alex... /3

Alexis Goldstein @alexisgoldstein.bsky.social · 12d

Today’s attempted firing of two whistleblowers at HUD is a “stunning act of illegal retaliation” — @fedworkersunited.bsky.social

Osadebe and Heenan warned about HUD’s attempts to shutter the office of fair lending, tasked with fighting discrimination in housing.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump Housing Agency Removes Lawyers Who Filed Whistleblower Report

The fair housing attorneys said they face retaliation for signing a report criticizing the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s leadership.

www.bloomberg.com

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Alexis Goldstein @alexisgoldstein.bsky.social · 7d

Mon 9/29: Rally w/ workers from @fedworkersunited.bsky.social,
Reps @ramirez.house.gov, @ivey.house.gov, Sens @vanhollen.senate.gov:

“The way you stand up to a bully is not to cave to the bully. The way you stand up to the bully is to say NO to the bully”

federalnewsnetwork.com/government-s... /2

Under threat of RIFs and a government shutdown, some federal employees ‘not buying it’

At a grassroots press conference Monday evening, federal employees described the “terrible toll” the Trump administration has imposed on them this year.

federalnewsnetwork.com

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Alexis Goldstein @alexisgoldstein.bsky.social · 7d

Here’s a quick roundup from last week of just a few of the ways federal workers reminded Congress that the “shutdown” started in January: /1

cfpbunion.shop/products/hol...

Hold The Line T-Shirt

100% of proceeds go to the CFPB Union Solidarity Fund.

cfpbunion.shop

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CFPB Union @nteu335.bsky.social · 9d

We're one of 35 labor unions who signed the "No Bad Budget in Our Name" letter from federal workers telling Dems in Congress to do their damn jobs and FIGHT! #SaveOurServices #TrumpShutdown

Labor Notes @labornotes.bsky.social · 10d

A coalition of unions in the federal sector signed on to an extraordinary @fedworkersunited.bsky.social letter urging the Democrats to fight Trump administration cuts, even at the price of a government shutdown. labornotes.org/2025/10/will...

‘Willingly Forgoing Paychecks’: Federal Workers Support Shutdown Fight

A coalition of unions in the federal sector signed on to an extraordinary Federal Unionists Network letter September 29 urging the Democrats to fight Trump administration cuts, even at the price of a ...

labornotes.org

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Alexis Goldstein @alexisgoldstein.bsky.social · 7d

Passage is from chapter 6 of “Medgar & Myrlie”:
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Joy Reid's 'Medgar and Myrlie' traces extraordinary lives and love of civil rights leaders

A love story is helping paint a fuller picture of the civil rights movement. Activist Medgar Evers was killed in 1963 by a white supremacist outside his home in Mississippi. His murder thrust Myrlie E...

www.pbs.org