Shakeil
LightNews LightNews
banner
shakeil.bsky.social
Shakeil
@shakeil.bsky.social
180 followers 390 following 300 posts
I use design to create a world which prioritizes liberation for all oppressed peoples. Cofounder at @aroko.bsky.social

shakeil.com + are.na/shakeil/
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
shakeil.bsky.social
Shakeil @shakeil.bsky.social · May 12
im available for creative needs of all sorts, from brand development to digital design to social strategy work – ive worked in music, health care, fashion, education and more, and am always looking for new projects. find my portfolio below~

#design #designerforhire
Shakeil.com
Shakeil Greeley —  Art Director | Designer | Artist | Strategist | Writer
shakeil.com
Reposted by Shakeil
aroko.bsky.social
Join The Folklore Story Lab: ROOTS (Africa) with @aishatuado.bsky.social — a generative writing session exploring African and diasporic folklore.
📅 Nov 15, 10 AM EST / 9 AM CST
🔗 Register (Free): us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
November 12, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Reposted by Shakeil
alyssamerc.bsky.social
Chatting with Future Class inductees for my latest at @theguardian.com. They paint a pretty clear picture of the perils of performative allyship.

Thanks to all who spoke with me, and always, to Keza for the chance to do important work!
November 11, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Reposted by Shakeil
aroko.bsky.social
Celebrating joy, creativity and cultural magic as sisters Mahie & Meron weave Ethiopian heritage into Halloween spellcraft— the creative forces behind Enday, a vibrant fashion brand. #HabeshaMagic

www.aroko.world/habesha-magic/
Pumpkin Angels & Habesha Magic: Stitching Spells and Sewing Culture
Ethiopian-American designers reclaim Halloween as a time of joy, blending culture with creative freedom!
www.aroko.world
November 8, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Reposted by Shakeil
condeunion.bsky.social
Breaking News: Late last night Conde Nast illegally fired 4 union organizers who asked company execs to explain the downsizing of Teen Vogue and continued layoffs. We’ve filed a grievance.
Statement from The NewsGuild of New York and Condé United on illegal firing of four union leaders who demanded answers about this week’s layoffs at Teen Vogue, other brands Late Wednesday night, Condé Nast’s VP of Labor Relations notified the Guild that the Company was immediately terminating four Condé United leaders for engaging in the protected concerted activity of gathering in their 1 World Trade Center office to demand answers on this week’s abrupt layoffs at multiple brands including WIRED and the consolidation at Teen Vogue. These egregious terminations are a flagrant breach of the Just Cause terms of our contract and an unprecedented violation of their federally protected rights as union members to participate in a collective action. Through these illegal terminations, Condé Nast management is attempting to intimidate and silence our members' advocacy for the courageous cultural and political journalism of Teen Vogue, as well as diverting attention away from the obvious lack of corporate leadership at the company. Condé United members illegally fired are: Alma Avalle: Writer, digital producer at Bon Appetit; NewsGuild of New York first vice president, trans activist, and union leader Jake Lahut: Wired senior reporter covering the Trump White House Jasper Lo: Senior fact checker at The New Yorker and US Army veteran: outgoing first vice chair of The New Yorker Union Ben Dewey: Videographer at Condé Nast Entertainment, former vice chair of the CNE unit “Management’s attempt at union-busting, using intimidation and grossly illegal tactics to try to suppress protected union activity, will not stand,” said Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of New York. “The NewsGuild of New York has zero tolerance for bad bosses who harass, target and disrespect our fellow Guild members. We represent nearly 6,000 media workers across the tri-state area and we stand firmly in solidarity, ready to fight for the rights of our members illegally fired from their jobs at …
November 6, 2025 at 6:23 PM
shakeil.bsky.social
to me, zohran represents the mere possibility that things could be better. he is a challenge to the certainty that things will remain static or get worse as it relates to electoral politics. it feels good to have even that small sliver of hope.
November 5, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Reposted by Shakeil
smaldo.bsky.social
Inbox— next cover of the New Yorker: “Mayor Mamdani,” by Edel Rodriguez
November 5, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Reposted by Shakeil
leximcmenamin.com
thank you for the outpouring of support!

those of us laid off from Teen Vogue yesterday are now sharing our GoFundMe to help us cover our emergency expenses now that we've lost our incomes, as we get back on our feet.
Donate to Help Laid-Off Teen Vogue Staffers Recover, organized by Lexi McMenamin
More than half the team at Teen Vogue was laid off this week by our parent co… Lexi McMenamin needs your support for Help Laid-Off Teen Vogue Staffers Recover
www.gofundme.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:17 PM
shakeil.bsky.social
getting a lot of “were so back” vibes from the TL
November 5, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Reposted by Shakeil
challahchic.bsky.social
You have to survive. There are graves to piss on that haven't been dug yet.
November 4, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Reposted by Shakeil
xoxogossipgita.bsky.social
man i am so glad that dick cheney is dead
November 4, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Shakeil
felipepepe.bsky.social
So, today I'm announcing a new book project... and doing a call for papers: crpgbook.wordpress.com/2025/10/31/t...

It's an anthology of video game history outside the usual US perspective - an accessible & exciting panorama of different realities - and I'll pay 300 USD per article.

Please share :)
The Video Game History Expansion Pack – Pitch your story
Today I’m putting my money where my mouth is and launching a new project — a book focused on game history outside of the usual North American perspectives.
crpgbook.wordpress.com
October 30, 2025 at 11:11 PM
shakeil.bsky.social
from a black woman editor in chief to no black women on staff in 10 years is nasty work
leximcmenamin.com Lex McMenamin (they/them) @leximcmenamin.com · 9d
thank you for all the support; the statement from our union is now live here with some more reporting.

now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.
November 3, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Reposted by Shakeil
leximcmenamin.com
I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day.

certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
November 3, 2025 at 7:52 PM
shakeil.bsky.social
this JUST dropped like WHAT 😭
leximcmenamin.com Lex McMenamin (they/them) @leximcmenamin.com · 10d
we have been covering this for months and months now, here (again) is my interview with @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social about this subject from Thursday @teenvogue.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Reposted by Shakeil
themountaingoats.bsky.social
all the staffers at teen vogue who just got laid off I hope yall feel how appreciated your work has been by so many.
November 3, 2025 at 9:31 PM
shakeil.bsky.social
solidarity to all the teen vogue folks who were cut in the layoffs today. we lost one of the last few bastions of proper political reporting in the legacy media landscape today.
November 3, 2025 at 10:04 PM
shakeil.bsky.social
happy halloweekend from the aroko crew!
November 1, 2025 at 5:40 PM
shakeil.bsky.social
very fascinating. i wonder where we go next? does it matter if hip hop isnt on the billboard charts like that?
No Rap Songs Are in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 40 for the First Time Since 1990
No rap songs have ranked in the top 40 on the last two Billboard Hot 100 charts, following Kendrick Lamar and SZA's "Luther" dropping off the chart.
www.billboard.com
October 30, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Reposted by Shakeil
aroko.bsky.social
Love cinema that haunts and expands what Black stories can be? Read @aishatuado.bsky.social's latest piece on Eve’s Bayou.
www.aroko.world/messy-by-des...
Messy by Design: How Eve’s Bayou Made Chaos an Art Form
Someone will ask you one day if you've seen Eve's Bayou. You need to be able say yes. Because Kasi Lemmons crafted cinema history as one of the first Black women to direct a feature that centers Black...
www.aroko.world
October 28, 2025 at 1:23 AM
shakeil.bsky.social
"AI gives us too much intimacy with these men."
rcmacleod.bsky.social Riley MacLeod @rcmacleod.bsky.social · 21d
Cuomo and Trump's AI posts aren't just offensive or bad; they let us see the world exactly as they see it without anything in the way, which is how they want us to live our real lives too
aftermath.site/ai-trump-cuomo
We already know this about AI, that its boosters think we will guzzle any slop they feed us simply because they are the ones feeding it to us. But these AI posts reveal less about the general population’s tastes and insecurities than they do the people making them. With AI providing a direct route from Trump and Cuomo’s brains to our screens, we get an unrestricted tour through their heads. They can show us exactly how angry and afraid they are, without even an actor to try to put a spin on it or a local street corner we can recognize. It’s the kind of stuff you could imagine them dumping out in a therapy session with Cuomo’s fake social worker: I am scared everyone is out to get me, I would like to take a big wet crap on people who are mean to me. Fake de Blasio can’t look us in the eye because AI doesn’t understand eye contact, but it also gives Cuomo’s gross fantasy a sense of shame, like some part of him knows these are not the kinds of thoughts you should shout out in public, like he knows these are not the kinds of emotions that should rule a person’s life. There’s a sort of intimacy here that could almost be humanizing. The vulnerability in art made by humans can help us understand why people do the bad things they do, but stripped of craft or the self-reflection required to make something, the videos show them as not just vicious but also lazy, like even expressing their deepest insecurities isn’t worth their own time. AI gives us too much intimacy with these men. It gives them the uncut ability not just to externalize their crap in the limited words of Twitter and Truth Social, where a reader would then have to translate it into their own imagination, but in sound and color and the wavering facsimile of humans, the way they must experience their fantasies when they close their eyes and indulge them. They can show us, effortlessly, exactly what they see in their heads, without anything to get between us and their thoughts. We can live in their brains with all the vivid, inescapable impact that they want to bring to bear on the real world.
October 23, 2025 at 3:39 PM
shakeil.bsky.social
svn4vr - stop talking to AI talk to God (official music video)
YouTube video by svn4vr
www.youtube.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:40 PM
shakeil.bsky.social
we got a banger on our hands
zeets.bsky.social Zito @zeets.bsky.social · 24d
Guess who is back to writing? I wrote about people defacing the friend companion ads, and the cycle of tech vultures destroying our world and then feeding on the consequential loneliness and pain www.thenation.com/article/soci...
AI Will Never Be Your Friend
The Friend necklace promises constant companionship and understanding. But this isn’t friendship—it’s a soulless, cynical way to prey on our loneliness and fear.
www.thenation.com
October 21, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Reposted by Shakeil
aroko.bsky.social
We built intentional culture that has lasting impact. Read our new article on how we work and the work we’ve done.

www.aroko.world/we-build-cul...
We Build Culture
How Àrokò Cooperative designs radical solutions for individuals and organizations.
www.aroko.world
October 20, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Reposted by Shakeil
aroko.bsky.social
“We weren’t just playing; we were learning…how to laugh at failure and try again. What I didn’t know then is what researchers would confirm years later: those play sessions were not just fun. They were literally reshaping our brains” —

Read the full article here.

www.aroko.world/play-is-medi...
Play Is Medicine: Designing Care Through Super Mario 64
Forget brain-training apps. In the ‘90s we already had one: Super Mario 64. Turns out Peach’s castle was a cognitive gym all along.
www.aroko.world
October 16, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by Shakeil
zeets.bsky.social
Congrats to all the people who have postured as intelligent and morally righteous for years but decided that they couldn’t take a stand against genocide or decided to justify and cheer on the massacre of a people for whatever reason. Now they can go back to playing the intellectual in peace.
October 14, 2025 at 12:15 PM