brian j.
@talkwordy.bsky.social
kit kat enthusiast. former journalist, always editor. founder of Fireside Fiction Company. i delete my old skeets on the regular. he/him
Reposted by brian j.
Merc is a phenomenal writer. This is the perfect time for a collection of their stories.
hi friends, i've put together a short collection of SFF stories and set it free—i hope it can give you some encouragement, a smile, or even just a pause in the doomscrolling. art is resistance. <3 🐺 📚
ko-fi.com/s/f0da603a0d <— support/PWYW (free!)
tiny.cc/2q7y001 <— direct download
ko-fi.com/s/f0da603a0d <— support/PWYW (free!)
tiny.cc/2q7y001 <— direct download
January 28, 2026 at 7:40 AM
Merc is a phenomenal writer. This is the perfect time for a collection of their stories.
Reposted by brian j.
This is such a heartbreaking picutre of where we are right now.
The video of Fátima's arrest haunted me when I saw it last Friday because her screams captured the fears of the people I'd speaking to all week. No criminal record. Pursuing the legal process for asylum from Angola. A CNA heading off to work. And now — detained.
www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/28/s...
www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/28/s...
‘We’re not safe right now’: A nurse’s dramatic ICE arrest ignites fear in Maine’s immigrant communities - The Boston Globe
When ICE arrested of Fátima Lucas Henrique, the video of her screaming as agents pulled her from her vehicle resonated across the state.
www.bostonglobe.com
January 28, 2026 at 3:16 PM
This is such a heartbreaking picutre of where we are right now.
Reposted by brian j.
People already working hard to prove how perfect Alex Pretti was. To show he didn't "deserve" to be killed. But it's a trap folks. You're only feeding into a dynamic where people who are considered lesser get no protection. You don't have to be an Alex Pretti to deserve to live.
January 24, 2026 at 8:17 PM
People already working hard to prove how perfect Alex Pretti was. To show he didn't "deserve" to be killed. But it's a trap folks. You're only feeding into a dynamic where people who are considered lesser get no protection. You don't have to be an Alex Pretti to deserve to live.
Reposted by brian j.
shouting for the journalists in the back: IT’S NOT AN IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN.
It’s a federal occupation of a city that didnt vote the right way. And the occupying force is there to enforce civil infractions, misdemeanors.
It’s a federal occupation of a city that didnt vote the right way. And the occupying force is there to enforce civil infractions, misdemeanors.
January 24, 2026 at 10:49 PM
shouting for the journalists in the back: IT’S NOT AN IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN.
It’s a federal occupation of a city that didnt vote the right way. And the occupying force is there to enforce civil infractions, misdemeanors.
It’s a federal occupation of a city that didnt vote the right way. And the occupying force is there to enforce civil infractions, misdemeanors.
Reposted by brian j.
I think a lot of us get hope wrong. Hope, I do not believe, is an emotion. In fact, hope makes space for lots of emotions to exist alongside it. You can DO hope scared, angry, sad etc...
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
January 25, 2026 at 2:05 AM
I think a lot of us get hope wrong. Hope, I do not believe, is an emotion. In fact, hope makes space for lots of emotions to exist alongside it. You can DO hope scared, angry, sad etc...
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
Reposted by brian j.
Protesters chanting "We're not cold, we're not afraid, Minne[apolis/sota] taught us to be brave" in Boston tonight outside Government Center station.
January 25, 2026 at 1:06 AM
Protesters chanting "We're not cold, we're not afraid, Minne[apolis/sota] taught us to be brave" in Boston tonight outside Government Center station.
Reposted by brian j.
BTW when I say abolish ICE, I mean abolish it entirely and replace it with exactly nothing. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. That's it.
January 25, 2026 at 2:32 AM
BTW when I say abolish ICE, I mean abolish it entirely and replace it with exactly nothing. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. That's it.
Reposted by brian j.
The newest video shows very clearly that they attacked him for coming to an aid of a woman that the agents pushed, and then executed him while he was immobilized. Everything the government has said, like with Good, has been a complete lie.
January 24, 2026 at 7:09 PM
The newest video shows very clearly that they attacked him for coming to an aid of a woman that the agents pushed, and then executed him while he was immobilized. Everything the government has said, like with Good, has been a complete lie.
Reposted by brian j.
i'm so fucking sick of being lied to i'm gonna go crazy
OMG. "DHS said the episode began after a man approached Border Patrol agents with a handgun and they tried to disarm him. But footage from the scene shows the man was holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, when federal agents took him to the ground and shot him." www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
Update from Devon Lum
www.nytimes.com
January 24, 2026 at 7:50 PM
i'm so fucking sick of being lied to i'm gonna go crazy
Reposted by brian j.
The killings will continue until you give us the state voter rolls
Fox News: "I've gotten my hands that AG Bondi said she sent to Gov. Tim Walz. It is strongly worded. The AG calls for the governor to support the men and women of ICE, to repeal the state's sanctuary policies, and to allow the DOJ to access state voter rolls."
January 24, 2026 at 7:44 PM
The killings will continue until you give us the state voter rolls
Reposted by brian j.
The people who'll tell you today's murder victim in Minnesota shouldn't have turned up to a protest carrying a gun are the same people who said Kyle Rittenhouse was perfectly entitled to do the same thing.
January 24, 2026 at 5:58 PM
The people who'll tell you today's murder victim in Minnesota shouldn't have turned up to a protest carrying a gun are the same people who said Kyle Rittenhouse was perfectly entitled to do the same thing.
Reposted by brian j.
Minnesota shifting narrative from "rabble rousing protesters" vs "law enforcement" to "people of conscience" vs "evil regime." This is essential to defeating authoritarianism - exposing who, what & why they are by demonstrating who, what & why we are.
And MAGA knows it.
www.cnn.com/2026/01/23/p...
And MAGA knows it.
www.cnn.com/2026/01/23/p...
Trump privately frustrated that he risks losing control of immigration message amid Minnesota chaos | CNN Politics
The ongoing protests and images coming out of Minnesota have prompted concerns from some Trump administration officials over the optics of the immigration crackdown as Americans grow alarmed by the ch...
www.cnn.com
January 24, 2026 at 2:56 AM
Minnesota shifting narrative from "rabble rousing protesters" vs "law enforcement" to "people of conscience" vs "evil regime." This is essential to defeating authoritarianism - exposing who, what & why they are by demonstrating who, what & why we are.
And MAGA knows it.
www.cnn.com/2026/01/23/p...
And MAGA knows it.
www.cnn.com/2026/01/23/p...
Reposted by brian j.
Note how there's no violence or chaos when the cops aren't rioting.
Demonstrators as far as the eye can see. Current status of the march in Downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota for Ice Out of Minnesota. They are turning onto 3rd Street from 5th Avenue.
January 23, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Note how there's no violence or chaos when the cops aren't rioting.
Reposted by brian j.
CNN: DHS officials have come to FEMA staff and told them to limit the use of the word ice…they are worried that by posting something like, watch out for the ice, that it's going to become a meme….
January 24, 2026 at 12:07 AM
CNN: DHS officials have come to FEMA staff and told them to limit the use of the word ice…they are worried that by posting something like, watch out for the ice, that it's going to become a meme….
Reposted by brian j.
here's a listing of mutual aid fundraisers for massachusetts families impacted by ICE enforcement (via lucemass.org)
operationmilkweed.org
operationmilkweed.org
Operation Milkweed
operationmilkweed.org
January 23, 2026 at 12:38 PM
here's a listing of mutual aid fundraisers for massachusetts families impacted by ICE enforcement (via lucemass.org)
operationmilkweed.org
operationmilkweed.org
Reposted by brian j.
It's really important to note that ICE is absolutely in Texas right now. They have the cooperation of local cops and state troopers, as well as the cooperation of state and local governments. Texans are being terrorized by law enforcement every single day. And we are also resisting hard.
January 23, 2026 at 10:23 PM
It's really important to note that ICE is absolutely in Texas right now. They have the cooperation of local cops and state troopers, as well as the cooperation of state and local governments. Texans are being terrorized by law enforcement every single day. And we are also resisting hard.
Reposted by brian j.
Right wing billionaires now control TikTok. It's unsafe.
According to its new privacy policy, TikTok now collects more data on its users, including their precise location, after majority ownership officially switched to a group based in the US. www.wired.com/story/tiktok...
TikTok Is Now Collecting Even More Data About Its Users. Here Are the 3 Biggest Changes
According to its new privacy policy, TikTok now collects more data on its users, including their precise location, after majority ownership officially switched to a group based in the US.
www.wired.com
January 23, 2026 at 10:22 PM
Right wing billionaires now control TikTok. It's unsafe.
Reposted by brian j.
I am not being snarky. I need my colleagues who wrote on covid school lockdowns to engage with this. To be as loud as they have been about prior "learning loss." Hell, you can cite Tom & Mark's AERJ paper so you feel better that there's some econ somewhere in your argument.
"In St. Paul, at least one-fourth of students from Spanish-speaking homes have missed every day of school since Dec. 12."
8 weeks under siege in Minnesota • Minnesota Reformer
Frank has a hard time explaining to his 8-year-old daughter why they rarely leave their home in the Twin Cities. Why she can’t go to school, and why he can’t work. “The only thing we tell her is that ...
minnesotareformer.com
January 23, 2026 at 10:05 PM
I am not being snarky. I need my colleagues who wrote on covid school lockdowns to engage with this. To be as loud as they have been about prior "learning loss." Hell, you can cite Tom & Mark's AERJ paper so you feel better that there's some econ somewhere in your argument.
Reposted by brian j.
I’m so proud of Minnesota. I understand why some people belittle protests as not enough, but I really think this shit matters.
I saw a clip on Fox News and they had to admit thousands of people showed up. It’s not going to stop Trump, but it’s a signal to your neighbors that they’re not alone.
I saw a clip on Fox News and they had to admit thousands of people showed up. It’s not going to stop Trump, but it’s a signal to your neighbors that they’re not alone.
January 23, 2026 at 10:51 PM
I’m so proud of Minnesota. I understand why some people belittle protests as not enough, but I really think this shit matters.
I saw a clip on Fox News and they had to admit thousands of people showed up. It’s not going to stop Trump, but it’s a signal to your neighbors that they’re not alone.
I saw a clip on Fox News and they had to admit thousands of people showed up. It’s not going to stop Trump, but it’s a signal to your neighbors that they’re not alone.
Reposted by brian j.
1 of 2 Black single moms in IMMEDIATE NEED. This mom and her child need $1300 for February's rent. She hasn't worked since December. It's damn near February, y'all. You know the drill. Give what you got, boost if you're without funds. Start a giving chain for $5, get a match or double.
Hey Bluesky. My last temp assignment ended 12/19/25 so as of now I am unemployed. I am starting early to try and raise money for February rent. Literally ANY amount will help us.
CA: cash.me/kweenkashtag
V: venmo.com/u/thekutekween
Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/lostfoundbla...
CA: cash.me/kweenkashtag
V: venmo.com/u/thekutekween
Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/lostfoundbla...
January 23, 2026 at 10:48 PM
1 of 2 Black single moms in IMMEDIATE NEED. This mom and her child need $1300 for February's rent. She hasn't worked since December. It's damn near February, y'all. You know the drill. Give what you got, boost if you're without funds. Start a giving chain for $5, get a match or double.
Reposted by brian j.
the Lord is my shepherd, He shaves my entire body to make sweaters
June 11, 2023 at 4:58 PM
the Lord is my shepherd, He shaves my entire body to make sweaters
Reposted by brian j.
I will just keep repeating. I have never never never seen anything like this. 30 years of reporting.
Have a larger story on this coming, but I’ve been embedded with this group, and this story from yesterday is part of what they’ve been doing in the city: religionnews.com/2026/01/22/h...
January 23, 2026 at 2:28 PM
I will just keep repeating. I have never never never seen anything like this. 30 years of reporting.
Reposted by brian j.
Lots of good signs here, but I have to confess my favorite is a rebel alliance where they replaced the red insignia with blue and the Minnesota loon.
January 23, 2026 at 8:27 PM
Lots of good signs here, but I have to confess my favorite is a rebel alliance where they replaced the red insignia with blue and the Minnesota loon.
Reposted by brian j.
It’s -9 degrees. Downtown Minneapolis is packed for the anti-ICE rally and the crowd keeps growing
January 23, 2026 at 8:16 PM
It’s -9 degrees. Downtown Minneapolis is packed for the anti-ICE rally and the crowd keeps growing
Reposted by brian j.
really good video piece from the guardian about the occupation in minnesota. this is the kid of journalism… without bullshit “objectivity” restraints… that i wish US outlets would do, that i wish i had been able to do
www.theguardian.com/us-news/vide...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/vide...
The occupation of Minneapolis: how residents are resisting Trump’s ICE 'invasion' – video
Following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agents in Minneapolis, the Guardian’s Oliver Laughland and Tom Silverstone travel to the heart of affected neighbourhoods to speak with residen...
www.theguardian.com
January 23, 2026 at 1:42 PM
really good video piece from the guardian about the occupation in minnesota. this is the kid of journalism… without bullshit “objectivity” restraints… that i wish US outlets would do, that i wish i had been able to do
www.theguardian.com/us-news/vide...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/vide...