Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Matt B, People's Book

@mattbormet.com

280 followers 540 following 540 posts

I own a bookstore @peoplesbooktakoma.com I am a low power FM DJ https://spinitron.com/WOWD/dj/164535/Matt-Bormet I am a high power poster Sell me your zines for my store if they don't suck

spinitron.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · Jan 22

I like owning my little store and meeting people who walk into it every day and looking into their eyes and having a conversation and understanding other people are inherently good and you should treat them as such, until they give you other reason. So yeah

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 1h

Dance Hall Days a top hit imho

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 9h

Available at @peoplesbooktakoma.com 😄

tim d (he/him) @timdevin.bsky.social · 11h

given today's political climate, and the fact that so-called Columbus Day is coming up, I thought I would share this passage (from one of my books) about the fascist history of Columbus Day in America

#Fascism #ColumbusDay

Columbus Day
And nothing sums up that hard right shift better than the story of Columbus Day, and story of the Sons of Italy. Let's start with Columbus Day first.
Now, all things Columbus-Columbus Day, Columbus statues-are controversial these days, and rightly so-but in the early days of the Italian colony in Massachusetts, it was just another festival day for one of the many local mutual aid societies. Boston's original
62

—La Gazzetta di Massachusetts, Oct. 9, 1915
Columbus Society (aka la Societa di Mutuo Soccorso "Cristoforo-Colombo") was the second society to form, way back in 1869, and it hosted the first Columbus Day parade in Boston a few years later. It was a small affair, and probably only held significance for members and their families.
But later in the 1800s, Columbus became a national hero for Italian-Americans. Think about it-Italians were discriminated against left and right in their new country-but meanwhile here was this Italian dude that a lot of people thought had discovered the place. What a perfect way to demonstrate to Americans that they should be nicer to Italian immigrants! So, pretty soon, there were mutual aid societies named after Columbus, with their own parades, in Fitchburg, Salem, Lawrence, and Worcester-and all around the country.
By 1903, the Boston Columbus Society had turned its parade into a large event-inviting all of the other Massachusetts Columbus societies to march around Boston with them, and capping it off with a "sumptuous banquet" (as the invitation described it. By the
MUTUO SOCCORSO!
63

1920s, the Boston Columbus Day parade had turned into the most important annual event for the Italian community. Most of the other local mutual aid societies marched in it, local politicians took part, and the whole thing got front-page coverage in La Gazzetta.
Good so far? Well, here's where it gets dark. Italy's new fascist government noticed all the hubbub, and saw an opportunity to spread Italian nationalism, and boost support for Italy
(Remember, Italian-Americans were very generous with their donations to Italy and its war efforts). And so Italian consuls and officials began marching in American Columbus Day parades-including the Boston one. And Italy started hosting its own annual Columbus Day parade in Rome.
After that, it was only a matter of time before Columbus Day became synonymous with Italian nationalism and fascism. In addition to all the Italian flags and dignitaries, Boston's Columbus Society started inviting outright fascists to give speeches, and to march in the parade-which they did, in military-style uniforms, in military formation. Not everyone was happy with this, of course-and pretty quickly, anti-fascists began protesting the events, which led to fighting between the two groups
If that wasn't bad enough, wait til you hear how Columbus Day became a national holiday. In the 1930s, the publisher of New York's influential Italian-language newspaper il Progresso Italo-Americano was a man named Generoso Pope. Pope was a member of both the fascist Lictor Federation and the Fascist League of North America, and was later given the title of Grand Officer of the Crown of Italy by Mussolini for his service to fascism in America. What a prince, right? Around this time, Pope began advocating for Columbus Day to become a national holiday-running articles in his paper, and pressuring his American political connections, including some local politician named Franklin D. Roosevelt. After FDR became President of the US, he declared Columbus Day a national

1 1 2

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 1d

We hate em back

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 3d

I love this dude @raskin.house.gov

1 2

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 4d

Looks like There's Only One (tm)

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 4d

Would be neat if you could get Shaq in a commercial. Could you even imagine that? So cool

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 6d

Also funny story, when I was campaigning (I lost!!) on a street that just had speed bumps installed I had a guy complain to me about them. I said "well I guess it's safe to say you didn't sign the petition they had for them huh" and he said "no, I signed it, she just kept coming by". Democracy!

1 1

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 6d

Imho it sucks you have to ask and it shouldn't be on private individuals to do traffic safety

1 1

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 7d

We got free coffee for any furloughed feds. C'mon by. Russ Vought sniffs farts.

2 5 17

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 8d

Made a one page zine. DM me your address for a free copy to your mailbox. It doesn't have important information that will change your life

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 8d

There's one dream every American sports fan has: making love to one of the beautiful Anheuser Busch Clydesdales.

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 8d

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 9d

AI can finally be useful by inventing the Agarthi mind prison for him to sit in

Hard Time (episode) | Memory Alpha | Fandom share.google/K3VK1sQIa9S9...

Hard Time (episode)

Convicted of espionage, Miles O'Brien is given the memories of twenty years in prison in a matter of hours. Returning to Deep Space 9, O'Brien finds he cannot shrug the memory of his awful experience ...

share.google

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 9d

youtu.be/sPCpEfgCgEw?...

You think the way you live's okay you think posing with save your day

N*E*R*D - Rock Star - Poser (UK Electronic Version)

YouTube video by SaturnBlade

youtu.be

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 9d

The Secretary of Defense is a poser

PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 @patriottakes.bsky.social · 9d

Pete Hegseth accidentally flipping a skateboard into his nuts on live TV

1 2

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 10d

Whole Giffen run rules, that suicide squad crossover is just the best stuff

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 10d

Listened to Meat Puppets Up on the Sun approximately 300 times this week and achieved what Siddartha Gautama referred to as "Nibbana" youtu.be/FlqpHGkDc-s?...

Up on the Sun

YouTube video by Meat Puppets - Topic

youtu.be

1 1

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 10d

Looking like you need to get to the state fair to get a ribbon of some kind

1 3

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 14d

To be fair, it was probably their Ed board doing some of the heckling

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 15d

youtu.be/YmtLHcx2kxs?...

Clarence Carter (Official 4K Video) Strokin'

YouTube video by MEMORY_LANE

youtu.be

Reposted by Matt B, People's Book

Maia Kobabe @redgoldsparks.bsky.social · 16d

I had such a wonderful time at @peoplesbooktakoma.com with @sarahpeitzmeier.bsky.social & Frances Reed! We left many signed copies of Gender Queer and Breathe: Journeys to Healthy Binding there, & the bookstore is now carrying a selection of my zines as well! A must visit if you are in the area.

a yellow sandwich sign on a brick street corner which reads "People's Book- Here be Books Bout Dragons, open 9 to 8 Daily"

A picture of authors Sarah Peitzmeier and Maia Kobabe, both dressed very cute and smiling, sitting in yellow armchairs in front of a yellow People's Book sign in the corner of the bookstore during an author talk

Three authors each holding a copy of their books standing in front of big windows and yellow armchairs in the bookstore People's Book in Takoma Park, Maryland. From left to right are: Frances Reed (a white nonbinary person with a swoop of gray hair, glasses, and a big smile), Sarah Peitzmeier (an Asian American woman in a chic black dress, glasses, big smile and asymmetrical haircut) and Maia Kobabe, (a white nonbinary person with short brown hair, smile, black and pink floral button up and red shorts). This was taken at a joint book event on September 12, 2025.

A large white painted brick wall leading into a parking lot under a blue evening sky. On the wall is a big painted yellow arrow with the signs People's Book, Tonal Park and Takoma Radio, 7014 Westmoreland Ave

2 5 33

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 16d

Right outside the new library on Philadelphia Ave 😄

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 16d

People's Book will never advertise on Sinclair stations. Or TV really at all. It's too expensive even without the fascism. We did buy a bus stop ad though. Kind of excited about that.

1 4

Matt B, People's Book @mattbormet.com · 16d

Going on the radio now at takomaradio.org and 94.3 fm in DC. I do it every two weeks I don't know why I gotta talk about it every time. Just like, mark your calendar or something

Takoma Radio WOWD-LP FM

Community radio low power FM station in Takoma Park, MD and DC.

takomaradio.org