Monica Samelson
@monicocelot.bsky.social
I'm a parent, writer, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in Chicago.
A newsletter: https://monicocelot.ghost.io/
A newsletter: https://monicocelot.ghost.io/
Pinned
Monica Samelson
@monicocelot.bsky.social
· Jul 17
All Good Trouble is Trouble
By Monica Samelson On May 28 a glacier collapsed onto a village in Switzerland. With our rising global temperatures, the ice couldn’t hold onto the mountain anymore. In June heat waves ravaged a gr…
blindfieldjournal.com
Thank you to Blind Field for publishing this essay on why the left needs to embrace our deeper libidinal urges of we're going to win. And thanks to everyone who helped me write it and think it!
blindfieldjournal.com/2025/07/17/a...
blindfieldjournal.com/2025/07/17/a...
Reposted by Monica Samelson
NYC Public Advocate @jumaane.bsky.social: “There are tens of thousands of people whose names we will never know who stood up and was the light in the dark times that got us through.”
September 25, 2025 at 11:06 PM
NYC Public Advocate @jumaane.bsky.social: “There are tens of thousands of people whose names we will never know who stood up and was the light in the dark times that got us through.”
monicocelot.ghost.io/renee-nicole...
I wrote about Renee Nicole Good & how it is that the terror our enemies hope will stop us instead ties us fast to the project of living and protecting life.
I wrote about Renee Nicole Good & how it is that the terror our enemies hope will stop us instead ties us fast to the project of living and protecting life.
Renée Nicole Good and the questions that already have answers
Renée Nicole Good was murdered by ICE yesterday. Her wife was with her, their son was at school, and she was a rapid responder on the ground in Minneapolis protecting her neighbors from violence, kidn...
monicocelot.ghost.io
January 9, 2026 at 2:52 AM
monicocelot.ghost.io/renee-nicole...
I wrote about Renee Nicole Good & how it is that the terror our enemies hope will stop us instead ties us fast to the project of living and protecting life.
I wrote about Renee Nicole Good & how it is that the terror our enemies hope will stop us instead ties us fast to the project of living and protecting life.
Reposted by Monica Samelson
Rapid responders, community defenders, parents and caregivers and neighbors, thank for your courage and your determination in the face of murderous state violence, in these wrenching times. 💔
January 8, 2026 at 12:25 AM
Rapid responders, community defenders, parents and caregivers and neighbors, thank for your courage and your determination in the face of murderous state violence, in these wrenching times. 💔
Reposted by Monica Samelson
I say all of this because I think the most urgent thing we must do now is reorganize our models of care.
This has to become about how we must all care for each other
& we cannot rely on “I’ve paid good money so professionals can take care of me”
it never worked justly.
It is not sustainable.
This has to become about how we must all care for each other
& we cannot rely on “I’ve paid good money so professionals can take care of me”
it never worked justly.
It is not sustainable.
December 30, 2025 at 1:13 AM
I say all of this because I think the most urgent thing we must do now is reorganize our models of care.
This has to become about how we must all care for each other
& we cannot rely on “I’ve paid good money so professionals can take care of me”
it never worked justly.
It is not sustainable.
This has to become about how we must all care for each other
& we cannot rely on “I’ve paid good money so professionals can take care of me”
it never worked justly.
It is not sustainable.
Reposted by Monica Samelson
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
December 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
Reposted by Monica Samelson
The proposed Chicago city budget has a $5 million line item for a ShotSpotter replacement. Abandoning this failed pursuit would free up the funds needed to maintain 2025 funding levels at our city libraries, which would still leave the libraries underfunded but would avoid disastrous proposed cuts.
December 1, 2025 at 9:55 PM
The proposed Chicago city budget has a $5 million line item for a ShotSpotter replacement. Abandoning this failed pursuit would free up the funds needed to maintain 2025 funding levels at our city libraries, which would still leave the libraries underfunded but would avoid disastrous proposed cuts.
Reposted by Monica Samelson
This quote from Tony Fitzpatrick, "Chicago is a boxer: They don't have the best skills, they don't have the best snap on their jab. But you get to the twelfth round, and you look across the ring and that guy's still there."
It’s being reported that Greg Bovino and 250 of his goons will be leaving Chicago. But it’s also being reported that he’ll be back, in larger numbers. But Chicago is a boxer, tired but unbowed. I wrote about how we’ll be ready. dansinker.com/posts/202…
November 14, 2025 at 3:37 PM
This quote from Tony Fitzpatrick, "Chicago is a boxer: They don't have the best skills, they don't have the best snap on their jab. But you get to the twelfth round, and you look across the ring and that guy's still there."
Reposted by Monica Samelson
It’s being reported that Greg Bovino and 250 of his goons will be leaving Chicago. But it’s also being reported that he’ll be back, in larger numbers. But Chicago is a boxer, tired but unbowed. I wrote about how we’ll be ready. dansinker.com/posts/202…
November 14, 2025 at 2:57 PM
It’s being reported that Greg Bovino and 250 of his goons will be leaving Chicago. But it’s also being reported that he’ll be back, in larger numbers. But Chicago is a boxer, tired but unbowed. I wrote about how we’ll be ready. dansinker.com/posts/202…
I wrote a little something about being a Chicagoan right now (about solidarity and the commons and watching the imperial boomerang return).
monicocelot.ghost.io/take-it-to-t...
monicocelot.ghost.io/take-it-to-t...
take it to the streets
I was in the neighborhood of my kid’s elementary school some weeks back with my preschooler, on a day that border patrol agents had released tear gas near another school a few neighborhoods away, and ...
monicocelot.ghost.io
November 10, 2025 at 3:59 PM
I wrote a little something about being a Chicagoan right now (about solidarity and the commons and watching the imperial boomerang return).
monicocelot.ghost.io/take-it-to-t...
monicocelot.ghost.io/take-it-to-t...
Reposted by Monica Samelson
40th Ward Ald. Andre Vazquez is up next.
“I’ve never been prouder to be a Chicagoan in my life. … Come to Chicago and you’ll realize what greatness in this county looks like,” he says, riffing off MAGA. “Chicago is a welcoming city unless you’re a fascist.”
“I’ve never been prouder to be a Chicagoan in my life. … Come to Chicago and you’ll realize what greatness in this county looks like,” he says, riffing off MAGA. “Chicago is a welcoming city unless you’re a fascist.”
November 6, 2025 at 12:56 AM
40th Ward Ald. Andre Vazquez is up next.
“I’ve never been prouder to be a Chicagoan in my life. … Come to Chicago and you’ll realize what greatness in this county looks like,” he says, riffing off MAGA. “Chicago is a welcoming city unless you’re a fascist.”
“I’ve never been prouder to be a Chicagoan in my life. … Come to Chicago and you’ll realize what greatness in this county looks like,” he says, riffing off MAGA. “Chicago is a welcoming city unless you’re a fascist.”
Reposted by Monica Samelson
October 28, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Reposted by Monica Samelson
You can arrest us or pepper spray us or whatever, but we will make you look stupid and feel silly doing it because wanting to assert control is stupid. You want to assert control? Do it to an inflatable frog!
So, it’s not just a meme thing, it’s a Portland cultural thing.
So, it’s not just a meme thing, it’s a Portland cultural thing.
October 13, 2025 at 2:32 PM
You can arrest us or pepper spray us or whatever, but we will make you look stupid and feel silly doing it because wanting to assert control is stupid. You want to assert control? Do it to an inflatable frog!
So, it’s not just a meme thing, it’s a Portland cultural thing.
So, it’s not just a meme thing, it’s a Portland cultural thing.
Reposted by Monica Samelson
My latest is the story of how my community has rallied to protect and defend our neighbors in recent days, as ICE has targeted the Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago. "This is not a story about a moment of victory, but a moment of being reminded of our power."
They Came for Our Neighbors. We Showed Up.
Before long, there were dozens, and then hundreds of people in the streets, watching and responding.
organizingmythoughts.org
October 13, 2025 at 1:20 AM
My latest is the story of how my community has rallied to protect and defend our neighbors in recent days, as ICE has targeted the Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago. "This is not a story about a moment of victory, but a moment of being reminded of our power."
Reposted by Monica Samelson
🧵 regarding the shutdown:
The Democrats aren’t being clear enough about this but we can be: this shutdown is about saving lives.
If we don’t reverse the Medicaid cuts (and the ACA subsidies on insurance bought through the exchanges) that Republicans made this year, people will die.
The Democrats aren’t being clear enough about this but we can be: this shutdown is about saving lives.
If we don’t reverse the Medicaid cuts (and the ACA subsidies on insurance bought through the exchanges) that Republicans made this year, people will die.
October 11, 2025 at 9:15 PM
🧵 regarding the shutdown:
The Democrats aren’t being clear enough about this but we can be: this shutdown is about saving lives.
If we don’t reverse the Medicaid cuts (and the ACA subsidies on insurance bought through the exchanges) that Republicans made this year, people will die.
The Democrats aren’t being clear enough about this but we can be: this shutdown is about saving lives.
If we don’t reverse the Medicaid cuts (and the ACA subsidies on insurance bought through the exchanges) that Republicans made this year, people will die.
Reposted by Monica Samelson
after millions of views and shares of my Portland Frog art. (thank you all🙏🏾) I got requests to highlight priests, and chickens, and Chicagoans, and T-Rexes, and more… all of us who refuse to bend the knee. so this is for US.
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕.
𝚆𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗.
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕.
𝚆𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗.
October 10, 2025 at 9:11 PM
after millions of views and shares of my Portland Frog art. (thank you all🙏🏾) I got requests to highlight priests, and chickens, and Chicagoans, and T-Rexes, and more… all of us who refuse to bend the knee. so this is for US.
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕.
𝚆𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗.
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕.
𝚆𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗.
Reposted by Monica Samelson
@govpritzker.illinois.gov owns every arrest and act of violence against protesters this morning. He is aiding and abetting Operation Midway Blitz by allowing state cops to do this. He tells us to film ICE. His cops have shoved me around for filming this morning.
October 3, 2025 at 1:59 PM
@govpritzker.illinois.gov owns every arrest and act of violence against protesters this morning. He is aiding and abetting Operation Midway Blitz by allowing state cops to do this. He tells us to film ICE. His cops have shoved me around for filming this morning.
Reposted by Monica Samelson
@emanabdelhadi.bsky.social tells these cops about themselves.
October 3, 2025 at 2:06 PM
@emanabdelhadi.bsky.social tells these cops about themselves.
Reposted by Monica Samelson
Alright, so I've been afraid to say this out loud, but I think after today, I can say it: In the first Battle of Los Angeles, the good people of LA County have prevailed. We beat ICE back. 1/
September 7, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Alright, so I've been afraid to say this out loud, but I think after today, I can say it: In the first Battle of Los Angeles, the good people of LA County have prevailed. We beat ICE back. 1/
Reposted by Monica Samelson
So, Chicago, thwart. Thwart like lives depend on it because they do.
This was long and nobody'll read the whole thing, but man it felt good to write because, for the time being, LA fucking won.
11/end
This was long and nobody'll read the whole thing, but man it felt good to write because, for the time being, LA fucking won.
11/end
September 7, 2025 at 2:41 AM
So, Chicago, thwart. Thwart like lives depend on it because they do.
This was long and nobody'll read the whole thing, but man it felt good to write because, for the time being, LA fucking won.
11/end
This was long and nobody'll read the whole thing, but man it felt good to write because, for the time being, LA fucking won.
11/end
Reposted by Monica Samelson
That’s what time it is on the clock of the world, and it’s what time it is in Chicago. I’m not made of steel. I can feel the anxiety of this moment. But I can honestly say there’s no place I would rather lock arms and hold the line than here, in the city I love—in this place where I belong.
September 3, 2025 at 12:57 AM
That’s what time it is on the clock of the world, and it’s what time it is in Chicago. I’m not made of steel. I can feel the anxiety of this moment. But I can honestly say there’s no place I would rather lock arms and hold the line than here, in the city I love—in this place where I belong.
Reposted by Monica Samelson
Some of the bottles of rice and formula and flour Egyptians threw into the sea have actually made it to Gaza - now people in Cyprus and Lebanon are joining the effort, with scientists from all over the world virtually assisting them in figuring the time and location to do so based on the currents. 💚
July 27, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Some of the bottles of rice and formula and flour Egyptians threw into the sea have actually made it to Gaza - now people in Cyprus and Lebanon are joining the effort, with scientists from all over the world virtually assisting them in figuring the time and location to do so based on the currents. 💚
Reposted by Monica Samelson
NEW: Bob Geldof lets rip over Gaza genocide.
PRESENTER: "Isn’t it a bit unfair to say this is the Israelis as a whole?"
GELDOF: "Stop it Trevor. If Israelis want to protest, get in your cars. Stuff your cars full of food & drive through that border. Let your own army stop you. Shame on you.”
PRESENTER: "Isn’t it a bit unfair to say this is the Israelis as a whole?"
GELDOF: "Stop it Trevor. If Israelis want to protest, get in your cars. Stuff your cars full of food & drive through that border. Let your own army stop you. Shame on you.”
July 27, 2025 at 12:29 PM
NEW: Bob Geldof lets rip over Gaza genocide.
PRESENTER: "Isn’t it a bit unfair to say this is the Israelis as a whole?"
GELDOF: "Stop it Trevor. If Israelis want to protest, get in your cars. Stuff your cars full of food & drive through that border. Let your own army stop you. Shame on you.”
PRESENTER: "Isn’t it a bit unfair to say this is the Israelis as a whole?"
GELDOF: "Stop it Trevor. If Israelis want to protest, get in your cars. Stuff your cars full of food & drive through that border. Let your own army stop you. Shame on you.”
Reposted by Monica Samelson
A horrifying statement published today by the Editorial Committee of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.
"Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die"
Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:
"Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die"
Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:
July 21, 2025 at 11:21 PM
A horrifying statement published today by the Editorial Committee of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.
"Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die"
Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:
"Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die"
Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:
Reposted by Monica Samelson
We have three urgent requests today:
1. Contribute to a trusted org or individual fundraiser. Don't keep scrolling..
We know that the many requests can get overwhelming - like your contribution won't make a dent. But we have strength in numbers.
Here is one: chuffed.org/project/1132...
1. Contribute to a trusted org or individual fundraiser. Don't keep scrolling..
We know that the many requests can get overwhelming - like your contribution won't make a dent. But we have strength in numbers.
Here is one: chuffed.org/project/1132...
South Gaza: Tents, Food & Water
**With Famine on the rise, we will significantly lower tent purchases and focus on food (rice and bread) and water over the next couple of weeks**
chuffed.org
July 19, 2025 at 11:45 PM
We have three urgent requests today:
1. Contribute to a trusted org or individual fundraiser. Don't keep scrolling..
We know that the many requests can get overwhelming - like your contribution won't make a dent. But we have strength in numbers.
Here is one: chuffed.org/project/1132...
1. Contribute to a trusted org or individual fundraiser. Don't keep scrolling..
We know that the many requests can get overwhelming - like your contribution won't make a dent. But we have strength in numbers.
Here is one: chuffed.org/project/1132...
Reposted by Monica Samelson
Thank you to Blind Field for publishing this essay on why the left needs to embrace our deeper libidinal urges of we're going to win. And thanks to everyone who helped me write it and think it!
blindfieldjournal.com/2025/07/17/a...
blindfieldjournal.com/2025/07/17/a...
All Good Trouble is Trouble
By Monica Samelson On May 28 a glacier collapsed onto a village in Switzerland. With our rising global temperatures, the ice couldn’t hold onto the mountain anymore. In June heat waves ravaged a gr…
blindfieldjournal.com
July 17, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Thank you to Blind Field for publishing this essay on why the left needs to embrace our deeper libidinal urges of we're going to win. And thanks to everyone who helped me write it and think it!
blindfieldjournal.com/2025/07/17/a...
blindfieldjournal.com/2025/07/17/a...