Clifton Johnson
@cliftontjohnson.bsky.social
Culture, sports, family and JUSTICE...in Chicago and beyond. [insert book title here someday] Opinions = mine.
Pinned
I'm just going to (re)post this whenever I need to remind myself. Maybe it'll help you too?
1. Focus on things in your control & take ONE action there.
2. Limit your inputs. You can't help if you're paralyzed.
1. Focus on things in your control & take ONE action there.
2. Limit your inputs. You can't help if you're paralyzed.
Reminding myself of this again. It is nearly a year later, but still just as true.
Find one action.
Find one neighbor I can help.
Find one way to connect with others doing the same.
That is the work. Always.
Find one action.
Find one neighbor I can help.
Find one way to connect with others doing the same.
That is the work. Always.
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
I think a lot of us get hope wrong. Hope, I do not believe, is an emotion. In fact, hope makes space for lots of emotions to exist alongside it. You can DO hope scared, angry, sad etc...
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
January 25, 2026 at 2:05 AM
I think a lot of us get hope wrong. Hope, I do not believe, is an emotion. In fact, hope makes space for lots of emotions to exist alongside it. You can DO hope scared, angry, sad etc...
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
Reminding myself of this again. It is nearly a year later, but still just as true.
Find one action.
Find one neighbor I can help.
Find one way to connect with others doing the same.
That is the work. Always.
Find one action.
Find one neighbor I can help.
Find one way to connect with others doing the same.
That is the work. Always.
I'm just going to (re)post this whenever I need to remind myself. Maybe it'll help you too?
1. Focus on things in your control & take ONE action there.
2. Limit your inputs. You can't help if you're paralyzed.
1. Focus on things in your control & take ONE action there.
2. Limit your inputs. You can't help if you're paralyzed.
January 24, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Reminding myself of this again. It is nearly a year later, but still just as true.
Find one action.
Find one neighbor I can help.
Find one way to connect with others doing the same.
That is the work. Always.
Find one action.
Find one neighbor I can help.
Find one way to connect with others doing the same.
That is the work. Always.
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
It’s not so much that Trump & co don’t think slavery was important, they want to remove this history precisely *because* of how important it was. They don’t want people to learn about slavery because then people would understand how it continues to shape the landscape of inequality in America today.
Signs about the history of slavery in the U.S. and the 9 people George Washington enslaved are being removed right now at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia, across from Independence Hall, months after the Trump administration threatend to do so.
How far we have not come in 250 years.
How far we have not come in 250 years.
January 22, 2026 at 10:19 PM
It’s not so much that Trump & co don’t think slavery was important, they want to remove this history precisely *because* of how important it was. They don’t want people to learn about slavery because then people would understand how it continues to shape the landscape of inequality in America today.
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
“another adult living in the home was outside during the encounter and had pleaded to take care of Liam so the boy could avoid detention, but was denied.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
ICE detains five-year-old Minnesota boy as he came home, say school officials
Superintendent says Liam Ramos and his father were taken into custody while in their driveway and sent to Texas
www.theguardian.com
January 22, 2026 at 4:21 AM
“another adult living in the home was outside during the encounter and had pleaded to take care of Liam so the boy could avoid detention, but was denied.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
There are people in Minnesota who are violating the law, and it's the people who are flash-banging babies, shooting people who pose no threat, and deploying tear gas against peaceful crowds.
The way to end the violence in Minnesota is for ICE to stop committing violence against Minnesotans.
The way to end the violence in Minnesota is for ICE to stop committing violence against Minnesotans.
January 15, 2026 at 1:54 PM
There are people in Minnesota who are violating the law, and it's the people who are flash-banging babies, shooting people who pose no threat, and deploying tear gas against peaceful crowds.
The way to end the violence in Minnesota is for ICE to stop committing violence against Minnesotans.
The way to end the violence in Minnesota is for ICE to stop committing violence against Minnesotans.
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
Stephen Colbert on the ICE murder of Renee Nicole Good: “The message from this administration is clear. Only they determine the truth. And when their forces come to your city: obey or die. And if you die, you clearly didn’t obey. This should be an alarm bell for the entire country.”
January 9, 2026 at 8:15 PM
Stephen Colbert on the ICE murder of Renee Nicole Good: “The message from this administration is clear. Only they determine the truth. And when their forces come to your city: obey or die. And if you die, you clearly didn’t obey. This should be an alarm bell for the entire country.”
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
For the last few months, I kept a document where every time I saw reports of fed immigration agents shooting or pointing their gun at someone, I made a note. The list grew and grew. It now includes 4 deaths. Here is what I noticed keeping that list.
www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/07/i...
www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/07/i...
Before ICE Shooting, Immigration Agents Repeatedly Used Deadly Force
The killing of a Minneapolis woman is latest by ICE and Border Patrol officers in recent months. Others have been wounded or threatened with guns.
www.themarshallproject.org
January 8, 2026 at 3:34 PM
For the last few months, I kept a document where every time I saw reports of fed immigration agents shooting or pointing their gun at someone, I made a note. The list grew and grew. It now includes 4 deaths. Here is what I noticed keeping that list.
www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/07/i...
www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/07/i...
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
57 yards in the air to a receiver with half a yard of separation. LMAO
December 21, 2025 at 5:01 AM
57 yards in the air to a receiver with half a yard of separation. LMAO
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
This came to me in a dream
December 5, 2025 at 12:24 PM
This came to me in a dream
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
'Four cones wins, but in order to get a cone you have to build a civilization. Which is where the spirit cards come in'
November 15, 2025 at 11:25 PM
'Four cones wins, but in order to get a cone you have to build a civilization. Which is where the spirit cards come in'
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
Remember: The richest 1% evade over $160 billion in taxes every year.
That amount would fund SNAP for a year with money to spare.
Ask yourself who the real freeloaders are.
That amount would fund SNAP for a year with money to spare.
Ask yourself who the real freeloaders are.
November 14, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Remember: The richest 1% evade over $160 billion in taxes every year.
That amount would fund SNAP for a year with money to spare.
Ask yourself who the real freeloaders are.
That amount would fund SNAP for a year with money to spare.
Ask yourself who the real freeloaders are.
Do you ever find yourself scrolling and scrolling, but getting lonelier with every click? Maybe, just maybe, you're asking the wrong questions. Check out this TEDx talk on how better questions can lead to deeper connections. www.brightthreadsleadership.com/better-than-...
TEDx Talk & Newsletter (Better Than Fine): View & subscribe now. — Bright Threads Leadership Group
Want quick insights on how to ask better questions? View this TEDx Talk by Bright Threads founder Amber Johnson, then get weekly tips for leadership & communication with the free Better Than Fine news...
www.brightthreadsleadership.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Do you ever find yourself scrolling and scrolling, but getting lonelier with every click? Maybe, just maybe, you're asking the wrong questions. Check out this TEDx talk on how better questions can lead to deeper connections. www.brightthreadsleadership.com/better-than-...
There's a lot of crisis unfolding in our city, but there's a lot of hope too.
My latest is a love letter to Chicago. "I see you stumbling through the stubborn, awkward rhythm of showing up, again and again. I see you fighting alongside people who sometimes frustrate and confuse you, and defending neighbors you may have never met, because you know they’re all your people."
In Chicago, We Run Toward Danger Together
"Faced with unrelenting state violence, Chicagoans have refused to be cowed," says Mariame Kaba.
organizingmythoughts.org
November 8, 2025 at 3:45 PM
There's a lot of crisis unfolding in our city, but there's a lot of hope too.
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
Has anybody tried giving him his childhood sled yet?
September 2, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Has anybody tried giving him his childhood sled yet?
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
🧵🧵🧵
Trump often lies about Chicago, using a great American city as a punching bag to entertain out-of-town racists who are scared of Black and Latino Chicagoans whom they’ve never met. He’s threatening a military occupation. Here’s a thread about Chicago, Trump and crime. 1/
Trump often lies about Chicago, using a great American city as a punching bag to entertain out-of-town racists who are scared of Black and Latino Chicagoans whom they’ve never met. He’s threatening a military occupation. Here’s a thread about Chicago, Trump and crime. 1/
August 24, 2025 at 6:56 PM
🧵🧵🧵
Trump often lies about Chicago, using a great American city as a punching bag to entertain out-of-town racists who are scared of Black and Latino Chicagoans whom they’ve never met. He’s threatening a military occupation. Here’s a thread about Chicago, Trump and crime. 1/
Trump often lies about Chicago, using a great American city as a punching bag to entertain out-of-town racists who are scared of Black and Latino Chicagoans whom they’ve never met. He’s threatening a military occupation. Here’s a thread about Chicago, Trump and crime. 1/
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
ESPN's tribute to Ryne Sandberg
July 29, 2025 at 2:27 AM
ESPN's tribute to Ryne Sandberg
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
Only EVERY SINGLE STUDY EVER DONE confirms that giving homeless people money is the best way to address homelessness. But we're not real data-driven at the best of times, and of course, these aren't the best of times.
I'm tired of this horrifically inefficient cruelty. Literally just...give people money.
July 24, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Only EVERY SINGLE STUDY EVER DONE confirms that giving homeless people money is the best way to address homelessness. But we're not real data-driven at the best of times, and of course, these aren't the best of times.
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
Gallup has new polling on immigration. Topline findings:
-Americans hate Trump's immigration policy (35% approve, 62% disapprove)
-Share who say immigration is a "good thing" for the country just hit an all-time high (79%)
news.gallup.com/poll/692522/...
-Americans hate Trump's immigration policy (35% approve, 62% disapprove)
-Share who say immigration is a "good thing" for the country just hit an all-time high (79%)
news.gallup.com/poll/692522/...
July 11, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Gallup has new polling on immigration. Topline findings:
-Americans hate Trump's immigration policy (35% approve, 62% disapprove)
-Share who say immigration is a "good thing" for the country just hit an all-time high (79%)
news.gallup.com/poll/692522/...
-Americans hate Trump's immigration policy (35% approve, 62% disapprove)
-Share who say immigration is a "good thing" for the country just hit an all-time high (79%)
news.gallup.com/poll/692522/...
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
The Senators that voted 'yes' on this disastrous bill represent more than 30 million FEWER Americans than the Senators that voted 'no.'
July 1, 2025 at 7:10 PM
The Senators that voted 'yes' on this disastrous bill represent more than 30 million FEWER Americans than the Senators that voted 'no.'
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
A few folks have DM’d me abt the Frederick Douglass passage I excerpted at the rally. Here it is:
“Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; 1/
“Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; 1/
June 28, 2025 at 4:17 AM
A few folks have DM’d me abt the Frederick Douglass passage I excerpted at the rally. Here it is:
“Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; 1/
“Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; 1/
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
Monstrous:
"They were crying in fear. One of the agents at one point lifted up his shirt, which displayed the gun that he was carrying....The 6-year-old boy was terrified to see the gun. He urinated on himself and wet all his clothing. No one offered him a change of clothing for many hours."
"They were crying in fear. One of the agents at one point lifted up his shirt, which displayed the gun that he was carrying....The 6-year-old boy was terrified to see the gun. He urinated on himself and wet all his clothing. No one offered him a change of clothing for many hours."
ICE arrested a 6-year-old boy with leukemia at immigration court. His family is suing.
A Honduran mother and her two children — ages 6 and 9 — sued the Trump administration over their arrest at Los Angeles Immigration Court, the first lawsuit challenging the arrests of children under a ...
www.tpr.org
June 27, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Monstrous:
"They were crying in fear. One of the agents at one point lifted up his shirt, which displayed the gun that he was carrying....The 6-year-old boy was terrified to see the gun. He urinated on himself and wet all his clothing. No one offered him a change of clothing for many hours."
"They were crying in fear. One of the agents at one point lifted up his shirt, which displayed the gun that he was carrying....The 6-year-old boy was terrified to see the gun. He urinated on himself and wet all his clothing. No one offered him a change of clothing for many hours."
Reposted by Clifton Johnson
The work is always the same! Care for more people! Especially people that are most under attack! Organize with joy, not bc the news is hope-giving, but bc there is joy in increasing our webs of connection and learning how better to care, together!
June 27, 2025 at 3:30 PM
The work is always the same! Care for more people! Especially people that are most under attack! Organize with joy, not bc the news is hope-giving, but bc there is joy in increasing our webs of connection and learning how better to care, together!