Joel Lesko
@sunshowerlearning.bsky.social
Inclusion Matters - Now More Than Ever
I'm a filmmaker, producer, and DEI educator for inclusion and belonging www.sunshowerlearning.com
🇺🇦🌴🥥❤️🙏🏽🫶 Let's be real and make good trouble. We support Ukraine.
I'm a filmmaker, producer, and DEI educator for inclusion and belonging www.sunshowerlearning.com
🇺🇦🌴🥥❤️🙏🏽🫶 Let's be real and make good trouble. We support Ukraine.
Reposted by Joel Lesko
NEW: Renee Good's brothers—Brent and Luke Ganger—were announced as additional witnesses in tomorrow's 3pm ET Congressional hearing "on the violent tactics and disproportionate use of force" by DHS agents. They join the Good family's lawyer, another CBP shooting victim, and others
February 2, 2026 at 2:52 PM
NEW: Renee Good's brothers—Brent and Luke Ganger—were announced as additional witnesses in tomorrow's 3pm ET Congressional hearing "on the violent tactics and disproportionate use of force" by DHS agents. They join the Good family's lawyer, another CBP shooting victim, and others
Reposted by Joel Lesko
youtube.com/watch?v=zJnk...
So… this is what Trump, Ice and President Steven Miller have unleashed on the American people. Teachers dropping a dime on “illegal” 7 year olds that only appear to be “illegal” because they look “Hispanic”.
Every American should listen to this.
So… this is what Trump, Ice and President Steven Miller have unleashed on the American people. Teachers dropping a dime on “illegal” 7 year olds that only appear to be “illegal” because they look “Hispanic”.
Every American should listen to this.
Kindergarten teacher wants kindergartener deported
YouTube video by Ben Palmer
youtube.com
February 4, 2026 at 12:51 AM
youtube.com/watch?v=zJnk...
So… this is what Trump, Ice and President Steven Miller have unleashed on the American people. Teachers dropping a dime on “illegal” 7 year olds that only appear to be “illegal” because they look “Hispanic”.
Every American should listen to this.
So… this is what Trump, Ice and President Steven Miller have unleashed on the American people. Teachers dropping a dime on “illegal” 7 year olds that only appear to be “illegal” because they look “Hispanic”.
Every American should listen to this.
Reposted by Joel Lesko
Former US Senator and Alabama gubernatorial candidate, @dougjones.bsky.social, says there's no “justice” in the Trump DOJ & how any DOJ investigation into the murder of Alex Pretti is performative. He joins me to explain how it’s time for the people to have the power again.
youtu.be/J_giH1ER-V4?...
youtu.be/J_giH1ER-V4?...
Former DOJ Official TORCHES Trump DOJ Over STUNNING FAILURES
YouTube video by Katie Phang
youtu.be
February 3, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Former US Senator and Alabama gubernatorial candidate, @dougjones.bsky.social, says there's no “justice” in the Trump DOJ & how any DOJ investigation into the murder of Alex Pretti is performative. He joins me to explain how it’s time for the people to have the power again.
youtu.be/J_giH1ER-V4?...
youtu.be/J_giH1ER-V4?...
Remembering Alex Pretti in the Rogue Valley. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
We must continue to say their names and remember their lives.
In 2026
Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres
Geraldo Lunas Campos
Víctor Manuel Díaz
Parady La
Renee Good
Luis Beltrán Yáñez–Cruz
Heber Sánchez Domínguez
Alex Pretti
ashland.news/hundreds-rid...?
We must continue to say their names and remember their lives.
In 2026
Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres
Geraldo Lunas Campos
Víctor Manuel Díaz
Parady La
Renee Good
Luis Beltrán Yáñez–Cruz
Heber Sánchez Domínguez
Alex Pretti
ashland.news/hundreds-rid...?
Hundreds ride to remember Alex Pretti, protest killings at hands of federal officials - Ashland News - Community-Supported, NonProfit News
Saturday, the Rogue Valley joined in as one of some 250 worldwide solidarity rides in honor of Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse and cyclist killed by federal officers in Minneapolis while filming ...
ashland.news
February 3, 2026 at 2:52 PM
Remembering Alex Pretti in the Rogue Valley. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
We must continue to say their names and remember their lives.
In 2026
Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres
Geraldo Lunas Campos
Víctor Manuel Díaz
Parady La
Renee Good
Luis Beltrán Yáñez–Cruz
Heber Sánchez Domínguez
Alex Pretti
ashland.news/hundreds-rid...?
We must continue to say their names and remember their lives.
In 2026
Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres
Geraldo Lunas Campos
Víctor Manuel Díaz
Parady La
Renee Good
Luis Beltrán Yáñez–Cruz
Heber Sánchez Domínguez
Alex Pretti
ashland.news/hundreds-rid...?
Reposted by Joel Lesko
“I have a lot of great friends in corporate media. But corporate media has been neutered right now. They’re afraid…. You need to support independent journalists at this time.”
Jimmy’s full interview with Don Lemon after his arrest…
Jimmy Kimmel Interviews Don Lemon for the First Time Post-Arrest
YouTube video by Jimmy Kimmel Live
www.youtube.com
February 3, 2026 at 1:25 PM
“I have a lot of great friends in corporate media. But corporate media has been neutered right now. They’re afraid…. You need to support independent journalists at this time.”
Reposted by Joel Lesko
Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman who survived being shot five times by a Border Patrol agent, spoke with the Sun-Times and WBEZ about her shooting, the federal government’s failed attempt to prosecute her and the role she now sees for herself in a fight for accountability.
Marimar Martinez, shot by Border Patrol in Chicago, speaks out after Good, Pretti deaths: 'I am their voice'
chicago.suntimes.com
February 3, 2026 at 1:28 PM
Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman who survived being shot five times by a Border Patrol agent, spoke with the Sun-Times and WBEZ about her shooting, the federal government’s failed attempt to prosecute her and the role she now sees for herself in a fight for accountability.
Reposted by Joel Lesko
Anyone with a heart and soul should agree that children and babies do not belong behind bars. Thousands of kids will carry a lifetime of trauma and PTSD, done in our name, funded by our tax dollars.
February 3, 2026 at 4:47 AM
Anyone with a heart and soul should agree that children and babies do not belong behind bars. Thousands of kids will carry a lifetime of trauma and PTSD, done in our name, funded by our tax dollars.
Reposted by Joel Lesko
In the late 1990s, Peter Thiel read a strange book called "The Sovereign Individual: How To Survive and Thrive During the Collapse of the Welfare State."
It predicted the decline of nations and the rise of a "cognitive elite" empowered by a new digital currency.
And now...(coming August 2026)
It predicted the decline of nations and the rise of a "cognitive elite" empowered by a new digital currency.
And now...(coming August 2026)
February 3, 2026 at 1:18 AM
In the late 1990s, Peter Thiel read a strange book called "The Sovereign Individual: How To Survive and Thrive During the Collapse of the Welfare State."
It predicted the decline of nations and the rise of a "cognitive elite" empowered by a new digital currency.
And now...(coming August 2026)
It predicted the decline of nations and the rise of a "cognitive elite" empowered by a new digital currency.
And now...(coming August 2026)
Reposted by Joel Lesko
At the very heart of the conflict raging in the United States is a conflict about human nature, a deep moral and philosophical conflict. I believe the isolationists will lose in the long run because they are not only out of step with the majority but they are out of step with reality....
When Love Thy Neighbor Is a Cry of Resistance
Today marks one full year for this newsletter, and here's the 77th post (I thought once a week was going to be a lot, but there's so much going on I wrote almost 1.5 times a week over the past year). ...
www.meditationsinanemergency.com
February 2, 2026 at 10:58 PM
At the very heart of the conflict raging in the United States is a conflict about human nature, a deep moral and philosophical conflict. I believe the isolationists will lose in the long run because they are not only out of step with the majority but they are out of step with reality....
Reposted by Joel Lesko
Journalist @ariberman.bsky.social says the FBI raid on election offices in Georgia is part of a "concerted effort" by the Trump administration to interfere in this year's midterms.
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/2/2/fulton_county_georgia_election
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/2/2/fulton_county_georgia_election
February 2, 2026 at 5:28 PM
Journalist @ariberman.bsky.social says the FBI raid on election offices in Georgia is part of a "concerted effort" by the Trump administration to interfere in this year's midterms.
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/2/2/fulton_county_georgia_election
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/2/2/fulton_county_georgia_election
Reposted by Joel Lesko
A white man in Dillard, Oregon was arrested for stopping people on the freeway to demand at gunpoint that they tell him if they were citizens. He shot and missed one + attempted to get another in his truck to bring to police. Before his spree, he called local PD to complain about "foreign" people.
Defendant contacted police before freeway shooting
Charles Glen Simmons, 53, of Dillard, is in the Douglas County Jail on $1 million bail after Thursday morning’s alleged crime spree. According to a press release from the Oregon
www.nrtoday.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:18 PM
A white man in Dillard, Oregon was arrested for stopping people on the freeway to demand at gunpoint that they tell him if they were citizens. He shot and missed one + attempted to get another in his truck to bring to police. Before his spree, he called local PD to complain about "foreign" people.
Reposted by Joel Lesko
"Not the odds, but the stakes."
Motto for my press criticism during the 2014 campaign, and a good place to end.
The only one of my "key distinctions" that actually broke into the public sphere.
Here's a news article about it: Not the odds, but the stakes. www.cnn.com/2023/11/15/m...
Motto for my press criticism during the 2014 campaign, and a good place to end.
The only one of my "key distinctions" that actually broke into the public sphere.
Here's a news article about it: Not the odds, but the stakes. www.cnn.com/2023/11/15/m...
Journalism professor’s six-word mantra is a blueprint for how news outlets should cover the 2024 race | CNN Business
NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen implores newsrooms to organize 2024 campaign coverage around the stakes of the presidential contest — not the horse race.
www.cnn.com
February 2, 2026 at 7:16 PM
"Not the odds, but the stakes."
Motto for my press criticism during the 2014 campaign, and a good place to end.
The only one of my "key distinctions" that actually broke into the public sphere.
Here's a news article about it: Not the odds, but the stakes. www.cnn.com/2023/11/15/m...
Motto for my press criticism during the 2014 campaign, and a good place to end.
The only one of my "key distinctions" that actually broke into the public sphere.
Here's a news article about it: Not the odds, but the stakes. www.cnn.com/2023/11/15/m...
Reposted by Joel Lesko
Turning Points and Authoritarian Escalations
Is America’s descent into autocracy accelerating or is the Trump regime struggling to break through the democratic defenses?
In Minneapolis, the tenets of the white nationalist worldview are being refuted.
Some thoughts from my new piece:
🧵
Is America’s descent into autocracy accelerating or is the Trump regime struggling to break through the democratic defenses?
In Minneapolis, the tenets of the white nationalist worldview are being refuted.
Some thoughts from my new piece:
🧵
Turning Points and Authoritarian Escalations
Is America’s descent into autocracy accelerating or is Trump struggling to break through the democratic defenses? In Minneapolis, MAGA's worldview is being refuted.
steady.page
February 2, 2026 at 2:11 PM
Turning Points and Authoritarian Escalations
Is America’s descent into autocracy accelerating or is the Trump regime struggling to break through the democratic defenses?
In Minneapolis, the tenets of the white nationalist worldview are being refuted.
Some thoughts from my new piece:
🧵
Is America’s descent into autocracy accelerating or is the Trump regime struggling to break through the democratic defenses?
In Minneapolis, the tenets of the white nationalist worldview are being refuted.
Some thoughts from my new piece:
🧵
Reposted by Joel Lesko
Reposted by Joel Lesko
Last night, GOP Senator Rand Paul went on national TV to flatly reject DHS's lies about the Pretti execution:
"My advice to [DHS], if they're watching:
If you come into [our hearing] and try to justify that [Pretti] was assaulting a police officer, that cannot be acceptable."
"My advice to [DHS], if they're watching:
If you come into [our hearing] and try to justify that [Pretti] was assaulting a police officer, that cannot be acceptable."
February 2, 2026 at 1:20 PM
Last night, GOP Senator Rand Paul went on national TV to flatly reject DHS's lies about the Pretti execution:
"My advice to [DHS], if they're watching:
If you come into [our hearing] and try to justify that [Pretti] was assaulting a police officer, that cannot be acceptable."
"My advice to [DHS], if they're watching:
If you come into [our hearing] and try to justify that [Pretti] was assaulting a police officer, that cannot be acceptable."
Reposted by Joel Lesko
Billie Eilish during her #GRAMMYs speech for Song of the Year:
“As grateful as I feel, I don’t need to say anything except that, no one is illegal on stolen land. It’s really hard to know what to say and what to do right now, I feel hopeful in this room and we need to keep protesting… fuck ICE.”
“As grateful as I feel, I don’t need to say anything except that, no one is illegal on stolen land. It’s really hard to know what to say and what to do right now, I feel hopeful in this room and we need to keep protesting… fuck ICE.”
February 2, 2026 at 3:13 AM
Billie Eilish during her #GRAMMYs speech for Song of the Year:
“As grateful as I feel, I don’t need to say anything except that, no one is illegal on stolen land. It’s really hard to know what to say and what to do right now, I feel hopeful in this room and we need to keep protesting… fuck ICE.”
“As grateful as I feel, I don’t need to say anything except that, no one is illegal on stolen land. It’s really hard to know what to say and what to do right now, I feel hopeful in this room and we need to keep protesting… fuck ICE.”
Reposted by Joel Lesko
Bad Bunny: Before I say thanks to god, I'm going to say, ICE out. We are not savage, we are not animals, we are not aliens, we are humans and we are Americans.
February 2, 2026 at 2:33 AM
Bad Bunny: Before I say thanks to god, I'm going to say, ICE out. We are not savage, we are not animals, we are not aliens, we are humans and we are Americans.
Reposted by Joel Lesko
Reposted by Joel Lesko
Minnesota is turning out. Target stores packed with people Trump never expected—older white liberals, calm, organized, immovable. No chaos, no fear. Just deliberate bodies applying steady pressure. Protect them. This is disciplined, defiant resistance.
February 1, 2026 at 10:41 PM
Minnesota is turning out. Target stores packed with people Trump never expected—older white liberals, calm, organized, immovable. No chaos, no fear. Just deliberate bodies applying steady pressure. Protect them. This is disciplined, defiant resistance.
Reposted by Joel Lesko
"When in doubt, draw a distinction."
Not sure where he got it, but in grad school one of my teachers taught me that.
This (long) thread is about the key distinctions I rely on as a critic. There's a Twitter version from 2021. This one builds on that one.
I will post them one at a time. Ready?
Not sure where he got it, but in grad school one of my teachers taught me that.
This (long) thread is about the key distinctions I rely on as a critic. There's a Twitter version from 2021. This one builds on that one.
I will post them one at a time. Ready?
February 1, 2026 at 4:31 PM
"When in doubt, draw a distinction."
Not sure where he got it, but in grad school one of my teachers taught me that.
This (long) thread is about the key distinctions I rely on as a critic. There's a Twitter version from 2021. This one builds on that one.
I will post them one at a time. Ready?
Not sure where he got it, but in grad school one of my teachers taught me that.
This (long) thread is about the key distinctions I rely on as a critic. There's a Twitter version from 2021. This one builds on that one.
I will post them one at a time. Ready?
"Hope does not mean saying this is not bad, and it does not mean saying that we can defeat it. It just means saying we will keep showing up. That we will not give up. ...we do not know how it will unfold, and neither do those we oppose."
From @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social's Meditations in an Emergency
From @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social's Meditations in an Emergency
February 1, 2026 at 2:54 PM
"Hope does not mean saying this is not bad, and it does not mean saying that we can defeat it. It just means saying we will keep showing up. That we will not give up. ...we do not know how it will unfold, and neither do those we oppose."
From @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social's Meditations in an Emergency
From @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social's Meditations in an Emergency
Reposted by Joel Lesko
Open letter to our Senators:
Gentlemen, Ladies, we don't really care about ICE not getting even more funding. We don't care about more "training" and more rules they won't follow.
We want ICE de-funded. Dismantled. Gone. Driven out of our cities.
Gentlemen, Ladies, we don't really care about ICE not getting even more funding. We don't care about more "training" and more rules they won't follow.
We want ICE de-funded. Dismantled. Gone. Driven out of our cities.
January 31, 2026 at 9:01 AM
Open letter to our Senators:
Gentlemen, Ladies, we don't really care about ICE not getting even more funding. We don't care about more "training" and more rules they won't follow.
We want ICE de-funded. Dismantled. Gone. Driven out of our cities.
Gentlemen, Ladies, we don't really care about ICE not getting even more funding. We don't care about more "training" and more rules they won't follow.
We want ICE de-funded. Dismantled. Gone. Driven out of our cities.
Reposted by Joel Lesko
Congratulations to my friend and our newest State Senator from Tarrant County, Taylor Rehmet! I met Taylor years ago through labor organizing.
Don’t tell us what can’t be done in Texas. When we show up #TexasTough, we change the game. Today we proved what we’ve known all along: Texas is in play.
Don’t tell us what can’t be done in Texas. When we show up #TexasTough, we change the game. Today we proved what we’ve known all along: Texas is in play.
February 1, 2026 at 6:20 AM
Congratulations to my friend and our newest State Senator from Tarrant County, Taylor Rehmet! I met Taylor years ago through labor organizing.
Don’t tell us what can’t be done in Texas. When we show up #TexasTough, we change the game. Today we proved what we’ve known all along: Texas is in play.
Don’t tell us what can’t be done in Texas. When we show up #TexasTough, we change the game. Today we proved what we’ve known all along: Texas is in play.
Reposted by Joel Lesko
ROLLING STONE: “The damage from Miller’s grand designs are plain for all to see. Americans’ mistrust and hyper-partisanship has grown only more poisonous. The country feels like a tinder box and Miller, and ICE are running around with lit matches.” www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
January 31, 2026 at 4:49 PM
ROLLING STONE: “The damage from Miller’s grand designs are plain for all to see. Americans’ mistrust and hyper-partisanship has grown only more poisonous. The country feels like a tinder box and Miller, and ICE are running around with lit matches.” www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Reposted by Joel Lesko
This is just insane. It’s only a matter of time before DHS kills another innocent person here.
(clip via MPR and @davidjbier.bsky.social on X)
(clip via MPR and @davidjbier.bsky.social on X)
January 31, 2026 at 6:13 PM
This is just insane. It’s only a matter of time before DHS kills another innocent person here.
(clip via MPR and @davidjbier.bsky.social on X)
(clip via MPR and @davidjbier.bsky.social on X)