Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Jack Tripper @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 1h

“The African American unemployment rate has surged over the past four months, from 6 to 7.5 percent, while the rate for white people ticked down slightly to 3.7 percent. On top of a slowing economy, the White House’s actions have disproportionately harmed Black workers, economists said.”

Black Unemployment Is Surging Again. This Time Is Different.

www.nytimes.com

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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 4h

Vought is at war with large swaths of the population, with the very idea of a society defined by democratic pluralism. If you have correctly identified that this guy is now in a really powerful position, that people like him are in control of the government, how is that not the main story?

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LongTime🤓FirstTime👨‍💻 @longtimehistory.bsky.social · 1d

ICE secretly kidnap autistic boy during bathroom break—never notify parents.

Mother reported him missing a week ago—turns out ICE had him detained the whole time.

He was helping sell fruit and asked to go to the restroom—by the time she was done helping a customer he was gone.

Houston, Texas

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Jack Tripper @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 1d

They’re actively working to resegregate housing, and our “allies” refuse to name racism while they’re doing so...

◥◤Kriston Capps @kristoncapps.bsky.social · 1d

HUD laid off so many fair housing investigators on Friday that it shuttered the regional offices that oversee discrimination cases in 9 states: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

HUD Issues Layoff Notices, Targeting Fair Housing Staff With Deep Cuts

Fair housing staffers who investigate claims of housing discrimination at field offices nationwide were among the hundreds of HUD staffers who received layoff notices.

www.bloomberg.com

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Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 1d

They're talking about killing leftist activists. They're talking about murdering people organizing in defense of immigrant communities, doing mutual aid work, and protesting their violence. They are talking about murdering people like me and my friends. We must do more than acknowledge it's fascism.

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 3d

My gosh. After the US bombed multiple boats in the middle of the ocean, murdering people on grounds that they were allegedly "carrying drugs," the US Attorney General says "Just like we did with cartels, we're going to take the same approach, President Trump, with Antifa."

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Nina Jo Smith @njsmith.bsky.social · 1d

Read. And support mfp.

Ashton Pittman @ashtonpittman.bsky.social · 1d

ICE left David, a 17-year-old boy, stranded on the side of Interstate 20 after pulling over his immigrant father, Hector, in Mississippi.

David began running in the scorching sun after the car and watched as it disappeared from sight—soon headed to a Louisiana ICE prison.

Here's their story.

ICE Stranded a 17-Year-Old on I-20 After Arresting His Father. The Mississippi Dad Now Faces Deportation.

A 17-year-old watched as ICE arrested his immigrant father, Hector, on I-20 in June. The family faces mounting legal fees and the risk of deportation.

www.mississippifreepress.org

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Maya @mayitapepita.bsky.social · 1d

while other demo politicians eagerly throw trans ppl under the bus, Zohran is out here doing immensely respectful, place-based trans history in NY. this tells us not just about him but who he has around him. so so refreshing to watch this right now.

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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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 1d

The Sudan Solidarity Collective supports organizations led by Sudanese civilians: including emergency response rooms, mutual aid, labor and farmers’ unions. Please give what you can and/or share.

Nisrin Elamin @nisrinelamin.bsky.social · 1d

The Sudan Solidarity Collective is doing a big fundraising push to support our partners in El Fashir to support food distribution, evacuation and medications.

Please help us boost our support. Please share and donate 👇🏾 .

sudansolidarity.com

Home - Sudan Solidarity Collective

Solidarity with Sudan! Support the Emergency Response Rooms doing life saving work in Sudan by donating to the Sudan Solidarity Fund. Workshops4Sudan is a new fundraising initiative of the Sudan Solid...

sudansolidarity.com

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Maya @mayitapepita.bsky.social · 1d

*Palestinians. Name the people using the terms being denied to them.

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Rebecca Colesworthy @rcolesworthy.bsky.social · 2d

🚨🚨 @utaustin.bsky.social is working to eliminate its Black studies, Latin studies, and gender studies depts -- utterly reneging on its mission and depriving students of the full educational opportunities they deserve. Please--scholars AND publishers--share & write to UT leaders. #SaveUT

UT Austin wants to eliminate its Black studies, Latino Studies, and gender studies departments. Tell them you won't stand for it.
UT President, Jim Davis, president@utexas.edu
UT Executive Vice President and Provost, William Inboden, provost@utexas.edu
College of Liberal Arts Interim Dean, David Sosa, david_sosa@austin.utexas.edu
#EducationalLiberty #SaveUT

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Maya @mayitapepita.bsky.social · 2d

aren’t these folks just like… embarrassed ? this is embarrassing lol

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 2d

😵‍💫

www.dailytarheel.com/article/26e4...

UNC schools of data science and information science to merge, forming unnamed ‘School of AI’

SDSS Dean Stanley Ahalt will be made dean of the new school while SILS Dean Jeffrey Bardzell will stand as the University’s Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer and Vice Provost for AI.

www.dailytarheel.com

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Maya @mayitapepita.bsky.social · 2d

terrifying and dramatic escalation of fascist targeting, with two incredible scholars leaving the US because of it

Todd Wolfson @proftwolf.bsky.social · 2d

Mark Bray and Yesenia Barragan, and the family, have safely embarked on their trip to Spain after being questioned by DHS.

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Heba Gowayed هبة جويد @hebagowayed.bsky.social · 2d

My career is listening to people who flee places that get increasingly unsafe. A few months of "wait & see" can make a world of difference for safety & prospects. I've lived under authoritarianism myself.

Leticia James getting indicted, Mark Bray trying to flee & being stopped.

This is not okay.

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 2d

New Yorkers know Attorney General James for who she is: a champion for justice who fights relentlessly for the people. Donald Trump knows her only as an obstacle to his corruption.

My full statement:

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New York Attorney General Letitia James @newyorkstateag.bsky.social · 2d

This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.

I am not fearful — I am fearless.

We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights..

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 3d

Harvard is punishing pro-Palestine protestors but also this is fine

“Germany belongs to the Germans, France to the French, Britain to the British, America to the Americans”

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Harvard College Will Ignore Student Magazine Article Echoing Hitler Unless It Faces Complaints, Deming Says | News | The Harvard Crimson

Harvard College Dean David J. Deming said during an interview on Friday that he would not review or comment on an article in a conservative student publication that echoed language from an Adolf Hitle...

www.thecrimson.com

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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 4d

This very very very bad. I cannot stress this enough. I said that they crossed the Rubicon with arresting Ras Baraka several months ago. This is very bad and portends more bad things for regular people.

Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 4d

The President of the United States is calling for the mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois to be jailed.

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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 3d

This will go absolutely nowhere, but, I'm glad they're asking it, and I hope it gets coverage as part of DeSantis's ugly bloodlust execution spree.

If Florida kills Samuel Smithers next week, it will be the state's 14th execution this year — nearly 3 times more than the 5 carried out in Texas.

In the Supreme Court of the United States
SAMUEL LEE SMITHERS, JR.,
Petitioner,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Respondent.
ON PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT
PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI
CAPITAL CASE
DEATH WARRANT SIGNED
Execution Scheduled: October 14, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. ET

CAPITAL CASE
QUESTION PRESENTED
1. Does the execution of the elderly violate the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment based
on the evolved standards of decency?

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Mikki Kendall @karnythia.bsky.social · 5d

You could just talk about Jim Crow. I promise you, there's no need to leave America's shores to talk about life in a fascist state

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 5d

Under the Third Reich, most Germans generally lived in the law-bound normative state, while Jews and other disfavored people were victims of the arbitrary and violent prerogative state.

The dual state is characterized by the facade of normalcy obscuring the fact of an authoritarian state.

The “dual state” theory was invented to describe Nazis. The Supreme Court could take us there.

Authoritarianism—but make it look like the rule of law.

www.motherjones.com

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 4d

We've become numb to genocidal rhetoric around trans people.

Robert Downen @robertdownen.bsky.social · 5d

Citing the “martyrdom” of Charlie Kirk, Texas AG Ken Paxton says his office is pursuing sweeping undercover investigations into “leftist” groups. “To those demented souls who seek to kill, steal, and destroy our country, know this: you cannot hide, you cannot escape, and justice is coming."

"Leftist political terrorism is a clear and present danger. Corrupted ideologies like transgenderism and Antifa are a cancer on our culture and have unleashed their deranged and drugged-up foot soldiers on the American people," said Attorney General Paxton. "The martyrdom of Charlie Kirk marks a turning point in America.
There can be no compromise with those who want us dead. To that end, I have directed my office to continue its efforts to identify, investigate, and infiltrate these leftist terror cells. To those demented souls who seek to kill, steal, and destroy our country, know this: you cannot hide, you cannot escape, and justice is coming."
The radical Left has incubated an environment where political violence is not only justified but celebrated and praised. In July, nearly two dozen armed leftists connected to various Texas-based Antifa-like groups ambushed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") facility in Alvarado, Texas. On September 10, 2025, a leftist assassin connected to the radical transgender movement murdered Charlie Kirk because of Kirk's bold support for truth, love of country, and unshakable faith. Two weeks later, another deranged leftist opened fire at an ICE facility in Dallas.
President Donald Trump has officially designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization and instructed his administration to "utilize all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations — especially those involving terrorist actions — conducted by Antifa." Building on President Trump's bold actions, Attorney General Paxton has instructed his office to initiate sweeping investigations into radical leftist organizations engaged in or providing support to those performing political violence.

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Maya @mayitapepita.bsky.social · 4d

this illegitimate corrupt and hateful court my God

#TuckFrump @realtuckfrumper.bsky.social · 5d

Supreme Court voices free speech concerns over conversion therapy bans

thehill.com

Supreme Court voices free speech concerns over conversion therapy bans

twp.ai

Maya @mayitapepita.bsky.social · 4d

Thank you so much for your work on the ground and in disseminating info for folks outside. Been sharing your writing with fam to catch up.

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Dana El Kurd @danaelkurd.bsky.social · 4d

Grieving for all the lives taken. I dont know what we look like as a society when this is over

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Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · 5d

It's not just that they're going to strike down a law against conversion therapy, it's that they're going to do it on behalf of made-up claims from a straw plaintiff who can't honestly show the law affected her at all

Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · 5d

One thing about American's widespread distrust and disapproval of the Supreme Court is that mainstream news coverage mostly doesn't dwell on stuff like standing, so people don't even begin to grasp how rigged the Court truly is www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

Supreme Court Live Updates: Justices Seem Set to Rule Against Colorado’s Ban on Conversion Therapy

www.nytimes.com

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Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 5d

How many videos have you seen of protesters being brutalized? Pretending this imagery still changes the math the way you wish it would is an insult to the people whose bodies you would treat as props. Ghandi's era was more complex than many of you make out. This is not the 60s either. Things change.

Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 5d

We’re in a moment now where it would be worth people taking three hours to watch Gandhi, particularly the scene of the salt march. There is value to making the brutality of your opponent so plain as day that no one can argue with it. The clarity of that brought down an empire

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