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Torch & Tinder Press

@torchandtinder.bsky.social

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Books and zines for cultural resistance. Free Community Editions • Freedom is a practice. https://open.substack.com/pub/torchandtinder

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Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 1d

Silence serves the autocrat.

Every unchecked phrase of dehumanization moves the line of what’s thinkable.
Freedom begins when we choose to speak.

🛠️ Calling Out the Authoritarian Dialect — new in Torchlight Praxis

🔗 open.substack.com/pub/torchand...

Language as a Practice: Calling Out the Authoritarian Dialect

As democracies falter and strongman politics resurges globally, ordinary language becomes the front line. This guide offers tools to recognize and resist the creeping normalization of domination.

open.substack.com

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 1d

Freedom begins with words.

Language doesn’t just describe the world — it builds it.
Let’s choose words that defend freedom, not fear.

🛠️ Language as a Practice: Calling Out the Authoritarian Dialect

Read it now on Substack in Torchlight Praxis.

open.substack.com/pub/torchand...

Language as a Practice: Calling Out the Authoritarian Dialect

As democracies falter and strongman politics resurges globally, ordinary language becomes the front line. This guide offers tools to recognize and resist the creeping normalization of domination.

open.substack.com

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 1d

Revealed by Research

Studies show:
• Credible criticism reduces authoritarian appeal.
• Label manipulation shapes emotion.
• Moral framing alters judgment.
• Dog whistles bypass critical thought.

Learning to hear the difference is the practice of freedom.

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Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 1d

Modern Echoes

Old phrases never die; they just change costumes.
You’ve heard them before:
“Urban.” “Inner city.”
“Globalists.” “Woke.” “Invasion.”

Each is a mask for fear, a way to say the unsayable while pretending not to.
Language evolves — but so do the lies.

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 1d

Tell Tale Signs

Watch how power speaks.
Authoritarian language repeats across eras:

• Scapegoating & dehumanization
• False universals
• Threat inflation
• Weaponized morality
• Inversion of reality

Once you know the signs, you can spot them anywhere.

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 1d

Language as a Practice: Calling Out the Authoritarian Dialect

As democracies falter and strongman politics resurges globally, ordinary language becomes the front line. This guide offers tools to recognize and resist the creeping normalization of domination.

open.substack.com

Reposted by Torch & Tinder Press

Committee to Protect Journalists @pressfreedom.bsky.social · 3d

Journalist Mario Guevara has been deported from the U.S. back to his native El Salvador, despite having U.S. legal status.

“This is a case about first amendment rights,” Katherine Jacobsen, CPJ’s U.S., Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator, tells the BBC.

📺 Watch⤵️

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Reposted by Torch & Tinder Press

Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 3d

A core principle of this nation is that the military should not be asked to turn its weapons against fellow Americans. We cannot allow this unprecedented militarization of American cities to become normalized. Read: wapo.st/4mQhNHq

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Reposted by Torch & Tinder Press

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 4d

In the Third Reich, Hitler’s will replaced German law. Whatever he wanted, he did.

Life in the early months of Trump’s second presidency hews to this framework in important respects.

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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Reposted by Torch & Tinder Press

Haymarket Books @haymarketbooks.org · 4d

In celebration of Black History Month in Britain and Ireland, we're offering readers 40% off a range of titles on Black radical lineages, legacies, and futures. Check out the full list here ⬇️
www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/532-bl...

Black History Month 2025 in Britain and Ireland!

In recognition of Black History Month in Britain and Ireland this October, and celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Pan-African Congress in Manchester in 1945, we are offering 40% off books on the ...

www.haymarketbooks.org

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Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 4d

Voting is the first practice of freedom. A way of saying I exist. I belong. I choose.

Today is the last day to register in Texas (and in several other states). Don’t let the deadline pass you by.

www.vote411.org

VOTE411

Election information you need. Brought to you by The League of Women Voters Education Fund.

www.vote411.org

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 4d

🔧 Torchlight Praxis: Tools You Can Carry

The First Practice of Freedom: Voting

Freedom doesn’t begin with grand gestures. It begins with a signature.

torchandtinder.substack.com/p/the-first-...

#FreedomAsPractice #VotingRights #CulturalResistance #TorchlightPraxis

The First Practice of Freedom: Voting

A reflection on why voting in modern society remains the first practice of freedom. Every signature is an act of belonging, a simple, powerful choice to take part in shaping what comes next.

torchandtinder.substack.com

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 5d

What began as a digital event became something more—an embodied moment of cultural resistance.

Freedom isn’t just an idea; it’s something we practice together.

#CulturalResistance #FreedomIsAPractice

open.substack.com/pub/torchand...

The Fire We Shared: Reflections from the Torchlight Gathering

A reflection on what we built together and an invitation to help it grow.

open.substack.com

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 7d

"Speak Out Loud is a piece that encourages us to speak out against tyranny and speak up for human rights… Speak Out. Speak Loud.” —Musgo

substack.com/@musgopdx

MUSGO | Substack

MUSGO is the space where I attempt to write about art, culture, and life.

substack.com

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 7d

🔥 Speak Out Loud — artwork by Musgo — is live in Embers!

A bold, vibrant piece inspired by the psychedelic movement of the 1960s. It reminds us that art can spark memory, courage, and virtuous defiance.

open.substack.com/pub/torchand...

A watercolor artwork showing an open mouth with teeth and tongue against a green background. The word “SPEAK” is painted inside the mouth in bold turquoise letters. Above the mouth, the word “OUT” appears in black stylized letters, and below, the word “LOUD.” Swirling orange shapes frame the top and bottom.

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 8d

We can’t wait to see everyone tomorrow night! If you haven’t registered yet, there is still a little time left.

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 12d

There’s still time to register. Connect with us and our event collaborators for a night of shared freedom, reflection, and fire.

#freedomisapractice #resistanceisanecosystem

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 25d

Freedom is a practice we build together.
Join us for the Torchlight Gathering — Oct 2, 7–10 pm CST — a night of reflection, dialogue, and shared vision.
🎟️ luma.com/mdjzrt1t

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 11d

Embers is where voices like hers gather — a cultural fire that keeps imagination alive through poetry, stories, and reflection.

Read more from Embers here: torchandtinder.substack.com/t/embers

#PoetryOfResistance #CulturalResistance #PoetryCommunity #EmbersZine #SamanthaTerrell #SHINEInternational

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 11d

Samantha’s work carries a sharp awareness of contradiction, compassion, and survival.

In Braving Ruin, she moves from political irony to ecological grief — poems that remind us how cultural resistance is often born in paradox, lament, and witness.

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Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 11d

🔥 New in Embers

We’re honored to feature Braving Ruin: Three Poems by @samanthaterrell.bsky.social, curator of @shinepoetry.bsky.social

Braving Ruin: Three Poems by Samantha Terrell.

open.substack.com/pub/torchand...

Braving Ruin: Three Poems by Samantha Terrell.

"Braving Ruin" is our first contributor publication. We are honored to feature these poems by Samantha Terrell.

open.substack.com

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Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 11d

Get the free digital community edition of What Are We Supposed To Do?, and if you’re feeling generous, give Torch & Tinder Press a boost too.

ko-fi.com/s/829d018c73

What Are We Supposed To Do? Practicing Cultural Resistance: A Torch & Tinder Field Guide (Community Edition) - Torch & Tinder Press's Ko-fi Shop

Our first Field Guide, What Are We Supposed to Do? Practicing Cultural Resistance, explores strategies for navigating, sustaining, and strengthening c...

ko-fi.com

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 11d

Trump + Hegseth are convening hundreds of generals/admirals at Quantico. Framed as “esprit de corps,” but context matters.

substack.com/@torchandtin...

#historyrhymes #narrativecontrol #culturalresistance

Torch & Tinder Press (@torchandtinder)

Quantico and the Echo of Spectacle On Tuesday, President Trump will stand beside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as hundreds of America’s most senior military officers are gathered at Quantico. Offici...

substack.com

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 12d

Time to get ready. What’s your plan to stay safe?

#nonviolence #nokings #culturalresistance

open.substack.com/pub/torchand...

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 12d

There’s still time to register. Connect with us and our event collaborators for a night of shared freedom, reflection, and fire.

#freedomisapractice #resistanceisanecosystem

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 25d

Freedom is a practice we build together.
Join us for the Torchlight Gathering — Oct 2, 7–10 pm CST — a night of reflection, dialogue, and shared vision.
🎟️ luma.com/mdjzrt1t

Torchlight Gathering · Luma

Join us for the Torchlight Gathering — an evening of memory, resilience, and shared freedom. Together, we’ll carry the torchlight of truth and care,…

luma.com

Reposted by Torch & Tinder Press

Zinn Education Project @zinnedproject.bsky.social · 13d

Friday report

This week 260 teachers signed up at ZEP for people’s history lessons from Palo Alto, CA; Washington, D.C.; Punta Gorda, FL; Metairie, LA; Ocean Springs, MS; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Austin, TX; & many more cities.

Read a few of the many reasons why ⬇️ 🧵 #TeachTruth

I am going to download the Constitution Day resources. — Washington, D.C.
I’m deep diving into COINTELPRO and would like to download the lesson. — Ocean Springs, Mississippi
I am teaching American music history and wanted to explore resources to help frame that history clearly. — Austin, Texas
I came across some lessons at a workshop with the National Museum of the American Indian that I would love to use! — New York, New York

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Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 14d

“We celebrate this win, not just for our clients but for all of our First Amendment rights.”

And we do too. #culturalresistance

ACLU @aclu.org · 14d

The Trump administration can't be allowed to punish arts organizations that uplift trans and queer experiences.

We celebrate this win, not just for our clients but for all of our First Amendment rights.

Court sides with ACLU and queer performers over federal trans funding restrictions

As in many authoritarian campaigns, art has been recognized as a vital form of resistance — but bad actors have sought to curtail it accordingly.

www.advocate.com

Torch & Tinder Press @torchandtinder.bsky.social · 14d

Congratulations!

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