Author | Lightnews

Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 4h

Also, I should be clear: in situations of racism, I expect white men to confront other white men & expect white & lighter-skinned & 🇺🇸 citizen men to confront ICE. I do understand that men of color & particularly Black men face different threats than I face, particularly around assumption of guilt.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 4h

It’s just not fair that more of it falls on us. Men need to develop & act on their conscience too.

I will step in, but if I get injured, who’s around to take care of my kids? That’s what I mean about the cost is often higher — & if we’re smaller then the likelihood of injury is greater anyway.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 5h

I’ve found myself in similar situations where I, a 5’2” woman, am braver than the men around me in confronting threats. The research supports this, bc women are more likely to be active bystanders preventing harm than men are. The bro club pact far too often > the self-assigned role of “protector.”

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 5h

Look, I know women are brave & badass & I applaud the women up front getting that Nazi out, just like the woman in NYC in her work clothes standing in front of ICE vehicles.

But CAN MORE MEN PLEASE STEP UP?!

I know some are but it’s not proportionate, esp given how much more we have to lose.

LorennaCleary.bsky.social @lorennacleary.bsky.social · 5h

A closer view of this asshole and the assault.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 6h

This made me laugh and I had to send it to my sister bc we had a lot of back and forth about the CR report and the pushback by various nutrition science people.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 6h

I love Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Thank you. Language matters. Language shapes dehumanizing practice and policy.

LorennaCleary.bsky.social @lorennacleary.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you, Chicago.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 7h

Lots of typos I’m realizing. I was voice contacting and then sort of editing with one hand while getting kids out the door 🫠

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 7h

Here you go! It’s a little vague, haha, but I don’t remember more details. I just go by sight and feel.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 9h

I’m trying to be own little counter-balance, so in addition to big gloomy posts, here are some things I’ve cooked recently that turned out well if you’re looking for food inspo.

Oaxacan-style chilaquiles de frijol negro, Persian kuku w/ the last of the garden herbs, halibut cheek tacos, arroz rojo

Weekend breakfast photographed on a blue plate held above my houseplants. A fried egg sits on top of brown stuff with spots of green and red sauces on it.

This is:
Chilaquiles de frijol negro al estilo Oaxaqueño, with non-spicy salsa verde (I made it with only boiled tomatillos, garlic, onion, and cilantro -- no chiles) and very spicy salsa roja (that I made with chiles de arbol).

The black beans I cook with epazote and a chile pasilla plus garlic and onions, then I blend them with more (raw) onion and garlic plus a toasted avocado leaf and plenty of bean broth before frying that blended mixture. I learned to make this in 2002 in Oaxaca and haven't seen it outside of that region.

Persian kuku I made with the last of the garden herbs, Australian goat cheese, and barberries. It’s photographed here in low light from above, still in the cake dish I cooked it in lined with parchment paper.

One of my best meals of the year, BY FAR. Halibut cheeks (from Rio's bday fishing trip in Kachemak Bay) in a delicious carne asada marinade I made on tostadas with radishes from the garden.

It’s photographed from above on a blue plate with a line next to it. The halibut cheeks are nicely charred and the radishes are funny looking

A pan photographed on the stove from the side with the lid partially on.

I made Mexican arroz rojo from scratch but used brown rice. It took 3x as long as I expected but came out delicious.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, that makes it hard to prioritize or feel good about. Especially if it wants to replace Meta products, then it has to ALSO (in addition to bad news), encourage and reward people sharing funny stories or pictures of their food or pets and their art and their progress or whatever else.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 1d

Given our governor’s trouble with fiscal transparency, I wouldn’t count on him to be closely watching and reporting 🫠.

Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 1d

Never let us down, huh?

Maca Iglesias🇺🇸Thank You, President Biden🇺🇸 @rotterdamvvg.bsky.social · 1d

Alaska $25 million
Ballroom $300 million
Argentina $40 billion

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 1d

Time to replace the electeds who are terrified of Trump & folding like cards with brave people like the 7 million who protested last weekend and those standing in front of ICE agents.

Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 1d

ordinary americans are filming ice agents and trying to save their neighbors. for all the hemming and hawing during 2024 about how democracy was an elite concern, the elites gave up far more quickly than average people.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 2d

I hope that Dem & Ind candidates (& maybe even R candidates primarying far-R candidates from the left in conservative states?) run on curbing ICE’s power. I want to see them conceding *NO* ground about the legitimacy of ICE. Hit this issue hard.

Ak Rita @ak-ritaj.bsky.social · 2d

"ar least 20 people have died in ICE custody so far this year. The number comes as ICE is also holding nearly 60,000 people in immigration detention"

2025 is the deadliest year to be in ICE custody in decades www.npr.org/2025/10/23/n...

It's the deadliest year for ICE in decades. As detentions rise, the trend may continue

There have been at least 20 deaths in ICE custody in 2025, the deadliest year since 2004. As the agency is ramping up hiring and increasing detentions, concerns remain about how to stop the trend.

www.npr.org

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 3d

7.) As for the “But can he win?” questions, I mean, who knows, but I think it’s better to rally behind someone we can trust & feel excited about than to hedge our bets on some middle of the road person we have to plug our nose to vote for. And he’s got an appetite for work & has thick skin.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 3d

I hope that helps! He has an easily searchable media presence. I’m just offering my observations as a social worker & advocate for children & gender/race justice, who’s worked with him & his wife in various contexts. + my kids have met & like him & I’ve observed his interactions on social media etc

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 3d

I realize I wrote that ^ one unclearly. I have heard and seen him say, including in argument w/ anti-LBGTQ Christians, that he believes trans and queer people were made that way by God, that there is no “mistake” and no “choice” and no “sin” in who they are. They are who they are & deserve ❤️.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 3d

I will say, as a single mama, I want v much for people making decisions that affect families & children all over the country to KNOW what it’s like to prepare meals & feed kids, to change diapers & do bedtime & coordinate childcare dropoffs, to go to public school events & help w/ homework. Esp men!

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 3d

6.) This is a personal one but I really appreciate how much he ❤️s his wife & children. His celebrations of them are genuine, frequent & bubbly; he glows with it irl. There’s zero doubt in my mind that he uses family like a prop as some politicians do. Nope. He’s just a genuine family man & good dad.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 3d

5.) Also, he’s smart but humble enough to know what he doesn’t know and when to take input from others & how to listen. IMO that combination of intelligence & grounded, humble, realistic confidence & self-reflection is one of the most important characteristics I look for in a leader or candidate.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 3d

When he was considering running, I asked him & others asked him variations of “But are you toooo nice? Too forgiving? Will you really fight back against fascism & oligarchy forcefully the way we need?”

I am reassured by his answers & his track record of that. Kind & firm. Loving & principled.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 3d

I hope that ^ reassures those who are concerned that he’ll be like the religious Right.

Moving on,
3.) He’s really really kind, fair, ethical, truthful, genuine, authentic. Everyone who’s met him will say the same.

4.) But that ^ doesn’t mean he’s a pushover. He stands up to bullies. Often.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 3d

I’d put him more in the MLK Jr. tradition of the ⛪️, where the ⛪️ is a force for bringing about a loving justice. In fact, in Jackson MS at the Civil Rights Museum I saw this white pastor who risked a lot to work w/ civil rights & thought “that’s Matt’s tradition — but also looks like him!”

A segment of a wall in the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum about voting rights work. In the middle is a portrait of Reverend Edwin King.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 3d

2.) Unlike the Christian Right, his approach to religion is that God accepts & ❤️s all, 🏳️‍⚧️& 🏳️‍🌈 people are perfect as they are, women deserve full equity & autonomy over their bodies, & people of other faiths are not going to hell. You should read his words on it versus mine but that’s my overview.

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Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 3d

🧵For those new to Matt Schultz, the candidate running against Nick Begich III for Congress in Alaska, I’ll provide some background from knowing him & his wife for the past ~8 years.

1.) His approach to ✝️ is about ❤️ & justice. Think Jesus, @jamestalarico.bsky.social, Mother Theresa, Bishop Budde…

Laura Norton-Cruz, LMSW, CLC @lauritadianita.bsky.social · 3d

I’ll post a lot more about Matt because he’s the first time I’ve TRULY trusted a candidate for statewide office. I’m not Christian, but if I were, I’d be his brand of it. He takes Jesus’ example v seriously in terms of helping the downtrodden & flipping the tables of those who exploit & harm them.

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