Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com
Civic Technologist | Executive Director, Alliance of Civic Technologists | Army Veteran | Alumni of Code for America, Defense Digital Service and USDS #civictech #chicago
Really doesn’t like bullies
Signal: civicwhitaker.53
Really doesn’t like bullies
Signal: civicwhitaker.53
Pinned
Christopher Whitaker
@civicwhitaker.com
· Nov 10
Home
ACT is a decentralized network of civic tech volunteer organizations.
www.civictechnologists.org
#Introductions
Hi, I'm Christopher Whitaker & I'm a civic technologist w/ a hybrid background as a product manager & bureaucrat. I currently serve as director of the Alliance of Civic Technologists - a network of local #civictech volunteer groups. www.civictechnologists.org
Army vet / #chicago
Hi, I'm Christopher Whitaker & I'm a civic technologist w/ a hybrid background as a product manager & bureaucrat. I currently serve as director of the Alliance of Civic Technologists - a network of local #civictech volunteer groups. www.civictechnologists.org
Army vet / #chicago
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
just like in Chicago before, these folks in St. Paul are standing up to armed goons in full tactical gear in nothing but pajamas
November 25, 2025 at 10:15 PM
just like in Chicago before, these folks in St. Paul are standing up to armed goons in full tactical gear in nothing but pajamas
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
A good follow-up with some of the defendants against whom the cases were dismissed.
Many demonstrators were arrested; fewer were charged. And of those charged, many cases crumbled. Federal prosecutors declined to pursue some cases; in others, judges or grand juries declined to let them proceed.
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/chicago...
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/chicago...
Chicago Protestors Reel After Fending Off Federal Charges
The administration governs by propaganda. There’s bluster, threats, and even real violence...
talkingpointsmemo.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:56 PM
A good follow-up with some of the defendants against whom the cases were dismissed.
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
The feds repeatedly lied and misled the public during Chicago's immigration crackdown, a federal judge ruled in a scathing opinion. blockclubchi.co/3JVoFWJ
November 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM
The feds repeatedly lied and misled the public during Chicago's immigration crackdown, a federal judge ruled in a scathing opinion. blockclubchi.co/3JVoFWJ
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
Dave is who helped me after I got shot in the face. To hold a journalist for 30 hours on absurd charges is a very, very bad sign of things to come
Freelance photojournalist @davedeckerphoto.bsky.social was arrested while reporting on an immigration protest outside an ICE facility in Miami on Nov. 22.
He was held in custody for 30-plus hours and released with charges of trespassing and resisting an officer.
He was held in custody for 30-plus hours and released with charges of trespassing and resisting an officer.
Photojournalist arrested at Miami immigration protest, gear seized
Freelance photojournalist Dave Decker was arrested by Miami-Dade Sheriff’s deputies while documenting anti-deportation protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement …
pressfreedomtracker.us
November 24, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Dave is who helped me after I got shot in the face. To hold a journalist for 30 hours on absurd charges is a very, very bad sign of things to come
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
I once missed a Friendsgiving to help a new girlfriend finish a cover letter for a job. It meant I didn’t bring my maple mashed sweet potatoes. The group chat said “you better marry her, because otherwise that is inexcusable”
She is now my wife.
She is now my wife.
yes, hello, I would like to place an order for everyone’s funniest stories of holiday food-related family grudges / drama / chaotic incidents / lore
I feel like we need this
I feel like we need this
November 25, 2025 at 1:39 PM
I once missed a Friendsgiving to help a new girlfriend finish a cover letter for a job. It meant I didn’t bring my maple mashed sweet potatoes. The group chat said “you better marry her, because otherwise that is inexcusable”
She is now my wife.
She is now my wife.
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
love love love the civic tech representation here! <3 (Hidalgo, Norrick, Van Dyck, & Voegeli)
November 25, 2025 at 4:54 AM
love love love the civic tech representation here! <3 (Hidalgo, Norrick, Van Dyck, & Voegeli)
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
The quote that DOGE "doesn't exist" is a quote Reuters got from OPM director Scott Kupor. But Kupor *is* DOGE.
Trump names picks for DOGE, workforce management posts
The president-elect also announced his choices for top jobs in the White House and at the Agriculture Department.
www.eenews.net
November 24, 2025 at 11:03 PM
The quote that DOGE "doesn't exist" is a quote Reuters got from OPM director Scott Kupor. But Kupor *is* DOGE.
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
How Residents In Chicago And LA Are Building Multiracial Solidarity Against ICE
blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/24/h...
blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/24/h...
How Residents In Chicago And LA Are Building Multiracial Solidarity Against ICE
Violent immigration crackdowns, looming safety-net cuts and arrests of street vendors are pushing Black and Latine residents in both cities to organize around their common ground.
blockclubchicago.org
November 24, 2025 at 11:50 PM
How Residents In Chicago And LA Are Building Multiracial Solidarity Against ICE
blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/24/h...
blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/24/h...
Broke: DOGE is dead
Woke: DOGE was specifically constructed in a way to avoid accountability partially by zombifying the USDS which still exists as an entity
Bespoke: Dead or not, there needs to be a blue ribbon committee and a massive internal cybersecurity review to root out all the damage.
Woke: DOGE was specifically constructed in a way to avoid accountability partially by zombifying the USDS which still exists as an entity
Bespoke: Dead or not, there needs to be a blue ribbon committee and a massive internal cybersecurity review to root out all the damage.
November 24, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Broke: DOGE is dead
Woke: DOGE was specifically constructed in a way to avoid accountability partially by zombifying the USDS which still exists as an entity
Bespoke: Dead or not, there needs to be a blue ribbon committee and a massive internal cybersecurity review to root out all the damage.
Woke: DOGE was specifically constructed in a way to avoid accountability partially by zombifying the USDS which still exists as an entity
Bespoke: Dead or not, there needs to be a blue ribbon committee and a massive internal cybersecurity review to root out all the damage.
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
There actually has not been enough reflection in the tech community about DOGE
November 24, 2025 at 4:10 PM
There actually has not been enough reflection in the tech community about DOGE
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
This is going to come as a surprise to current federal employees who were, as of Friday, interviewing people DOGE sent them.
Bye bye, “DOGE”.
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
November 23, 2025 at 4:40 PM
This is going to come as a surprise to current federal employees who were, as of Friday, interviewing people DOGE sent them.
I don’t know if DOGE is *really* dead - the organization that DOGE zombified in order to make their hires still exists, the projects are still in motion and who knows what cybersecurity threats are still lurking out there
November 23, 2025 at 4:35 PM
I don’t know if DOGE is *really* dead - the organization that DOGE zombified in order to make their hires still exists, the projects are still in motion and who knows what cybersecurity threats are still lurking out there
I got a job working at the Illinois unemployment office during the Great Recession and discovered that my software was from 1975.
Then I got really, really, irritated
Then I got really, really, irritated
November 23, 2025 at 1:53 AM
I got a job working at the Illinois unemployment office during the Great Recession and discovered that my software was from 1975.
Then I got really, really, irritated
Then I got really, really, irritated
The key to bureaucracy hacking is to reduce friction while STILL addressing the risk the regulations were attempting to address.
As I always say when some right-winger starts going on about "red tape that slows innovation", every regulation on the books represents a lesson we as a society learned the hard way, and then encoded so we wouldn't forget. It's someone's blood & pain.
I once knew a Federal bank examiner, and one time someone asked him why we had to KEEP inspecting banks over and over. He basically said every new batch of business school grads invents bank fraud from first principles.
November 23, 2025 at 12:34 AM
The key to bureaucracy hacking is to reduce friction while STILL addressing the risk the regulations were attempting to address.
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
As I always say when some right-winger starts going on about "red tape that slows innovation", every regulation on the books represents a lesson we as a society learned the hard way, and then encoded so we wouldn't forget. It's someone's blood & pain.
I once knew a Federal bank examiner, and one time someone asked him why we had to KEEP inspecting banks over and over. He basically said every new batch of business school grads invents bank fraud from first principles.
AirBnB CEO calling it “vibe revenue” just 👨🍳 😘
The underlying cause of every bubble - debt masquerading as financial innovation - depends on not just short financial memory & speculative neophytism, but reinventing jargon of finance, like how each generation of kids has new ways to say same things.
The underlying cause of every bubble - debt masquerading as financial innovation - depends on not just short financial memory & speculative neophytism, but reinventing jargon of finance, like how each generation of kids has new ways to say same things.
November 23, 2025 at 12:17 AM
As I always say when some right-winger starts going on about "red tape that slows innovation", every regulation on the books represents a lesson we as a society learned the hard way, and then encoded so we wouldn't forget. It's someone's blood & pain.
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
"Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning."
November 22, 2025 at 7:04 PM
"Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning."
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
Marimar Martinez is a US citizen who was shot by ICE five times in Chicago.
She was then arrested, labelled a “domestic terrorist” and slandered on social media.
All charges against her have been dropped.
In this interview she shows on of the seven holes the ICE agent put in her body.
She was then arrested, labelled a “domestic terrorist” and slandered on social media.
All charges against her have been dropped.
In this interview she shows on of the seven holes the ICE agent put in her body.
November 22, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Marimar Martinez is a US citizen who was shot by ICE five times in Chicago.
She was then arrested, labelled a “domestic terrorist” and slandered on social media.
All charges against her have been dropped.
In this interview she shows on of the seven holes the ICE agent put in her body.
She was then arrested, labelled a “domestic terrorist” and slandered on social media.
All charges against her have been dropped.
In this interview she shows on of the seven holes the ICE agent put in her body.
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
hi friends, I’m so thrilled @publicgood.tech is on BlueSky! I've been a board member since 2021 & I care deeply about this org: the only one dedicated to supporting the people who do the very hard work of civic tech
Heads-up: I’m asking for donations give.socialgoodfund.org/t4pg-fund?re...
Heads-up: I’m asking for donations give.socialgoodfund.org/t4pg-fund?re...
November 22, 2025 at 5:58 PM
hi friends, I’m so thrilled @publicgood.tech is on BlueSky! I've been a board member since 2021 & I care deeply about this org: the only one dedicated to supporting the people who do the very hard work of civic tech
Heads-up: I’m asking for donations give.socialgoodfund.org/t4pg-fund?re...
Heads-up: I’m asking for donations give.socialgoodfund.org/t4pg-fund?re...
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
“If every time that ICE strikes, they leave each community more mobilized, interconnected, and radicalized than before, we can use their efforts to eventually become capable of defeating them.”
For months, protesters have sought to tie down ICE agents at a holding facility outside Chicago.
Here, participants reflect on this strategy, evaluating it alongside other strategies such as rapid response networks and showing how Democratic politicians have been instrumental in supporting ICE.
Here, participants reflect on this strategy, evaluating it alongside other strategies such as rapid response networks and showing how Democratic politicians have been instrumental in supporting ICE.
Reflections on Resisting ICE in Chicago
Participants in the ongoing protests at the ICE holding facility in Broadview reflect on what has worked and explore the complicity of Democratic politicians with the violence of ICE.
crimethinc.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:01 AM
“If every time that ICE strikes, they leave each community more mobilized, interconnected, and radicalized than before, we can use their efforts to eventually become capable of defeating them.”
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
One thing that is tough about rapid response/patrols, besides constantly being threatened by armed secret police, is that for the most part they see the defeats. There are exceptions, but you’ll never know how many people were saved by slowing feds down, whistles, community alerts, etc.
November 21, 2025 at 6:20 PM
One thing that is tough about rapid response/patrols, besides constantly being threatened by armed secret police, is that for the most part they see the defeats. There are exceptions, but you’ll never know how many people were saved by slowing feds down, whistles, community alerts, etc.
*seeing IL-SEN candidates on this list and tearing a hole in the page as I cross them off my ‘potential people I would vote for’ list*
November 21, 2025 at 10:27 PM
*seeing IL-SEN candidates on this list and tearing a hole in the page as I cross them off my ‘potential people I would vote for’ list*
Reposted by Christopher Whitaker
With ICE and border patrol goons spreading out across the country, I put together a resource guide for buying, printing, and distributing whistles, based on my own experience. Now is the time to whistle up, hope this helps. dansinker.com/posts/202…
November 21, 2025 at 9:35 PM
With ICE and border patrol goons spreading out across the country, I put together a resource guide for buying, printing, and distributing whistles, based on my own experience. Now is the time to whistle up, hope this helps. dansinker.com/posts/202…