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Nisi Shawl

@nisishawl.bsky.social

8.2K followers 1.3K following 1.9K posts

Writer editor singer songer. I'm just another part of you.

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Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · Apr 6

HT make Bluesky better than Xwitter--PERMANENTLY. Choose your account's "Settings" (gear icon) from menu; pick "Accessibility" from next choices; check "Require alt text before posting" from next choices. Presto! Instant DEI! Your photo posts can now be read by lowsight/blind people like me FOREVER!

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Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 17h

Who is an alien? What kind of minds are we meeting? What makes us Other? What makes us the same? @danielhwilsonpdx.bsky.social and I discuss these matters and his new Cherokee rez-set first contact novel Hole in the Sky on 10/16: www.clarionwest.org/event/hole-i... Streaming or face to face and FREE

Hole in the Sky: A Deep Dives Conversation with Daniel H. Wilson and Nisi Shawl

Join us at this launch event for science-fiction author and roboticist Daniel H. Wilson’s new novel Hole in the Sky, pitched as an alien first contact story set on a Cherokee reservation.

www.clarionwest.org

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Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 22h

I have had flowers and leaves added to salads. Nasturtium leaves are crisp and have a slightly peppery taste.

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Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 22h

I have never tried eating nasturtium seeds. How do they taste? How do you prep them, or buy them?

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Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 22h

I asked my niece to name her favorite flower (tiger lily) and then realized I wouldn't be able to name mine if she asked me. Thought about it for hours and decided it is nasturtiums. They are both beautiful and tasty, and a companion plants for squash, beans, tomatoes--ornamental AND useful.

Golden and crimson nasturtium blooms rising from a mound of variegated green-and-white nasturtium leaves.

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Tom Marcinko @tommarcinko.bsky.social · 4d

Also from this response by @nisishawl.bsky.social

Focus on the resistance, not the offenders.

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Timmi Duchamp @timmi.bsky.social · 5d

I've just posted a reflection on how misleading it is when an important form of political speech is called "protest" by the mainstream media. aqueductpress.blogspot.com/2025/10/publ...

Public Discourse and Resistance

The liberal news media in the US continually reports on this or that European country going autocratic or being threatened by blocs of vot...

aqueductpress.blogspot.com

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Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 4d

Focus on the resistance, not the offenders.

Reposted by Nisi Shawl

Karen Lord @drkarenlord.bsky.social · 7d

Did you think I was kidding when I said this book is amazing and you should preorder it now? Kudos to coeditors @annaleen.bsky.social and @older.bsky.social, and our incredible roster of writers and activists, for creating such a marvellous work!

Library Journal Starred Review

We Will Rise Again:
Speculative Stories and
Essays on Protest,
Resistance, and Hope
Saga. Dec. 2025. 384p. ed. by Karen Lord and others. ISBN
9781668095959. pbk. $20. SCIENCE FICTION
Inspired by the groundbreaking anthology Octavia’s Brood, editors Lord, Annalee Newitz, and Malka Older present a new collection of essays from current agents for social change, along with visionary and speculative fiction set in alternate worlds where people are fighting the good fight against injustice and oppression. Standouts include Laia Asieo Odo’s “Where Memory Meets the Sea,” a heartbreaker about the manipulation of history and the crush of grief; Jaymee Goh’s “A Brief Letter on the Origins of the Harpy Aviary in the Kirani Citadel,” a wryly satirical story about sanctioned rebellions carried out with the application of a flock of harpies; and Charlie Jane Anders’s “Realer Than Real,” which examines the enforcement of gender norms. Other stories explore social activism, collective action, the fear of change, the possibility of hope along multiple axes from community justice to anarchism, human rights across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum and for people with disabilities, the difficulty of combatting crisis fatigue, and the desperation to make others see what they’d prefer to avoid.
VERDICT: This thought-provoking and inspiring collection is highly recommended for readers looking for visions that represent hope and change, as well as anyone who loves the work of Octavia Butler.
— Reviewed by Marlene Harris , Oct 01, 2025

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Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 7d

Some may have been able to use military transport, but sadly others will have flown commercial--First Class if nothing else was available.

Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 7d

Dunno, but they have caps as to how much they can spend on this stuff. It's the last-minute nature of this trip that works against frugality. (You realize, of course, that each travels with a staff of 4-5 aides.)

Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 7d

Estimate of cost to fly in 800 generals/admirals (plus aides) to hear how fat and lazy they are: $17 million. Conservatively. Number comes from my my sister @honeyjewel.bsky.social who schedules naval travel. You wanted this info to share @oregonkate13.bsky.social and @myfavbluehoodie.bsky.social?

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Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 7d

Will provide one here when I get it from my sister.

Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 7d

I will try to get an estimate out of her. May take a day or two.

Reposted by Nisi Shawl

Sterling @sterlingca.bsky.social · 7d

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Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 7d

I didn't! Got a pic or link?

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Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 7d

My sister has spent years arranging travel for naval personnel and she is appalled at the wasted money spent bringing LITERALLY HUNDREDS of admirals and generals here. Like she knows firsthand how extraordinarily expensive this flexshow is.

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Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 7d

Could have been an email. Okay, could have been a really loooooooooong email.

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Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 7d

"Nazi influencers" is right on the bitcoin!

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Boo!-per Lund @cooperlund.online · 8d

It's becoming clear that this is not an administration that is popular or skilled enough to do the consolidation needed to implement actual fascism, so they've decided that constantly creating fascism-flavored content is good enough

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memeorandum @memeorandum.com · 9d

Oregon Officials Tell Trump to 'Stay the Hell Out' of Portland (NOTUS)

Main Link | memeorandum Permalink

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paul goyette @pgoyette.bsky.social · 9d

@yourstorymatters.bsky.social has been an absolute hero these past couple of weeks in Chicago, making incredible images and video in some of the most difficult and dangerous spaces. Please send some support his way, this kind of gear isn’t cheap but it’s essential in the hands of someone like him.

unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 10d

@yourstorymatters.bsky.social has been doing phenomenal work OTG in Chicago (mostly over on Instagram), documenting assaults on the press and protesters. Last night a needed lens disappeared in the chaos.

If you picked up this Sigma, get in touch!

account.venmo.com/u/jon_stegenga

Unfortunately, within the craziness of everything that was yesterday at the Broadview ICE facility my telephoto lens was taken. I don't know when or how

Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG

DN OS Sports Lens for Sony E

If somehow someone found it yesterday let me know. I don't have the funds to replace it.

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Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 9d

Horror’s new motto is "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it any longer."

Alma Katsu (FIEND is out now) @almakatsu.bsky.social · 10d

Thank you @peoplemag.bsky.social for allowing me & @raforall.bsky.social to talk about our favorite topic: horror people.com/why-is-horro...

Why Is Horror Having a Moment? Authors Alma Katsu and Becky Spratford Break It Down (Exclusive)

The horror genre is having a major moment in the world of books and publishing, and authors Alma Katsu and Becky Spratford are getting together to discuss why. The authors of 'Fiend' and 'Why I Love H...

people.com

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Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 10d

Here's my list of desirable qualities in a resistance movement. Think of it as sort of like an activist's Cosmo checklist:

Black type on a white background. It reads as follows:

Strategies and Qualities of Unstrained Resistance
Transparency - We will be surveilled and infiltrated. Let them know we know and that there’s nothing to hide. I realized this fifty years ago, when I found out the government had a file on me.
Withdrawal - Rather than confrontation--maybe a general strike or evacuation or self-imposed lockdown is in order.
Fullness - Or maybe the opposite is called for: peaceful occupation. Thousands of visitors and tourists.
Art - This has consistently been favored via divination. Any forays into shared or public space or time should be framed as art.
Kindness - We need to pay attention to one another’s needs, and do our best to meet them: food, medicines, labor, supplies, knowledge.
Entanglement - We want to recognize our kinship with those deployed against us. We greet their highest selves with our highest selves.

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Nisi Shawl @nisishawl.bsky.social · 10d

The proposal for Portland is to bring in the U.S. Army. Not the National Guard. Not ICE. The Army. As in "You and whose".

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Kathy @oregonweaver.bsky.social · 11d

Time to reup the “What if they gave a war and nobody came?" slogan of the 1960’s.

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