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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 6h

“There would be less racism if you stopped talking about it”

There would be less poisoning if you stopped calling Poison Control!

There would be less fires if you stopped calling the fire department!

Like, do y’all hear yourselves?

I could talk about racism less if y’all would stop being racist.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 6h

“Criticizing Democrats helps the Republicans”

No. Not joining leftists in asking Democrats to stop funding a genocide when they were in office helped the Republicans.

Campaigning with a literal Republican who sided with Trump 93% of the time helped the Republicans.

God, wake up.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 11h

If a Republican were president, there would still be a genocide.

If a Democrat were president, there would still be a genocide.

But instead of demanding politicians stop the genocide, our takeaway was “if it’s genocide either way, let’s take what we can get.”

Ergo, capitalism.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 17h

There’s nothing wrong inherently with being a Swiftie. But there is something wrong with not being able to hold your favorite to a standard you’d have no issue holding your neighbor to.

It’s not a cult, but it is how cults start. You’ve put a stranger in power & beyond reproach. That’s dangerous.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 17h

“Why don’t you have this energy for anyone else?”

1: I do have this energy. Often. And mostly for men. You must be new here.

2. Protecting a billionaire over people being exterminated is wild.

3 (and I can’t stress this enough): other people deserving energy doesn’t mean your favorite doesn’t.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 17h

We should be able to criticize Taylor Swift without it seen as an affront to feminism.

Women are being devastated in multiple genocides right now, and she has been silent. Is that not an affront to feminism?

Be critical of ALL billionaires. When a man moves the way she does, you have a problem.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 23h

Two years.

We’ve watched a genocide for two years.

We’ve watched fathers carry what remains of the children in plastic bags for two years.

We’ve watched world leaders gaslight us for two years.

What we allow, we become.

Palestine must be free.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 1d

“Why can’t we all just get along, black, white or purple?”

Because unity is based on trust.

When white liberals & leftists are met with the slightest accountability, the anti-Blackness jumps right out.

How do you unify with people whose fight or flight response is becoming MAGA?

Decolonize now.

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Reposted by hey there, benji.

Tori Williams Douglass @toriglass.bsky.social · 1d

Hi, me again. It’s not Friday but I’ve got a
personal mutual aid request, specific to Seattle area.

Family friend lost their job and their housing. They tried to move back in with their parents but their parents said “Since you’re not a Christian you cannot stay in our home.” Big sigh.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 1d

When I was a homeless man living in Florida, there was a point when you couldn’t get SNAP benefits without enrolling in job training.

Why? Because the government assumed that if you needed help, it’s because you didn’t want a job.

As many as 60% of all unhoused people in America have jobs.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 1d

In 2025, I saw republicans cost people their jobs because they called Charlie Kirk a white supremacist.

In 2024, I saw democrats cost students their scholarships because they called the US complicit in genocide.

If you cannot criticize your government, you do not have a functioning democracy.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 1d

AmeriCorps, for all my misgivings about it, was where I began to gain confidence as a public speaker. It’s where I was able to put my skills to best use. It’s a springboard for so many, and I hate that the Republicans have done this to so many hard working people.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 1d

I worked for a few departments under the AmeriCorps umbrella, Public Allies and VISTA most notably as a service member and VISTA leader. The VISTA’s are paid near or below the poverty line per the guidelines of the program.

Some are far from home, now with no money coming in.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 1d

AmeriCorps was a huge part of my career & life post homelessness. It opened doors for me & allowed me to connect my work & my ethics.

AmeriCorps is currently closed because of the govt shutdown.

My heart breaks for the current service members who are furloughed. They work so hard & deserve better.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 1d

It’s impossible to focus on everything all the time when everything is important.

Christian Nationalism. Gaza. Sudan. All are important & happening at once. Which do we call a distraction?

We need to be careful about how we regard one another’s focus. The system is your enemy, not your neighbor.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 2d

The thing about right wingers wanting a Christian Super Bowl Halftime Show is that their only issue with Bad Bunny is that he speaks Spanish.

So they’re protesting with worship music, as if Jesus spoke English.

Imagine thinking Jesus healed the sick & fed the poor but drew the line at diversity.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 2d

I didn’t think I’d be doing this as long as I have. I didn’t know so many people would be listening. And every day, I’m still surprised at who chooses to listen.

I don’t know what’s next, but I feel like there’s more to be done and more to say. And I’m glad you’re along for the ride with me.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 2d

The average life expectancy of a Black male in America is around 69 years, nine less than my white counterpart.

Being that I’m about halfway through the ride, you start to think about what really matters to you.

And part of that is what I do here. the work I do here really matters to me.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 2d

My birthday is this Friday, October 10th.

I thought getting older meant giving less of a shit. But now, as I look into the mirror and learn of new gray hairs that have appeared overnight, I realize it’s not that I don’t care. It’s that I’m more selective of what I care about.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 2d

Remember when republicans protested Paul McCartney’s Super Bowl Halftime Show because he wasn’t American?

Yeah, that’s because it never happened.

But now, they want to do a Christian halftime show in protest because they think Bad Bunny is an immigrant.

But they’re not racist, right?

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 2d

I remember being homeless.

I remember walking for miles looking for work.

I remember the looks people gave me at the gov’t offices.

I remember how hard it was to get basic things done.

This is why the notion of “handouts” is offensive. You never work harder than when you need help in America.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 3d

Saying “good thing I like my friends cancelled” when you’re friends with a known Trump supporter kinda outlines the problem, doesn’t it?

When riches detach you from reality, the artist becomes a corporation.

On the bright side, Swifties might’ve learned class consciousness with this one.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 3d

A friendly reminder that if you go to a church where the pastor supports the regime that zip tied children in Chicago, you don’t have to go to that church anymore.

Remember, at a certain point, complacency becomes complicity.

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 4d

There is nothing inherently wrong with being a Swiftie in that there’s nothing wrong with having interests.

That said, upon watching concert footage, my reaction was “a room full of young people singing about the life of someone they’ll never see or touch but likes white supremacists.”

So…church?

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hey there, benji. @benjaminfaye.bsky.social · 4d

A reminder that your ability to ignore this & “not be political” is built on wealth inequality secured during slavery.

The only reason white folks tell themselves these lies is to offset the reality of the horror wrought at the hands of their ancestors and how that horror manifests now.

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