Matt Carter
@gardenpedaler.bsky.social
Critical pedagogy & Liberation theology.
Middle school teacher. Parent. Episcopalian. Gardener. I write about education, the Christian tradition, and leftist politics. I also ride bikes. (he/him)
Middle school teacher. Parent. Episcopalian. Gardener. I write about education, the Christian tradition, and leftist politics. I also ride bikes. (he/him)
First advent read of the season
November 28, 2025 at 6:02 PM
First advent read of the season
All children are our children.
May we continue in the fight against injustice.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
May we continue in the fight against injustice.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
ICE Sent 600 Immigrant Kids to Detention in Federal Shelters This Year. It’s a New Record.
Under a zero tolerance policy, the first Trump administration separated immigrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. New data suggests separations are happening all over the count...
www.propublica.org
November 28, 2025 at 5:56 PM
All children are our children.
May we continue in the fight against injustice.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
May we continue in the fight against injustice.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
“…hold the bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other…”
Johnny Zokovitch writes that this weekend's gospel, ushering us into Advent, rings out as a warning to those of us who have eyes but don’t see, ears yet don’t hear. What awaits those among us who are oblivious to people in our own communities being systematically disappeared?
This Advent reminds us that “God-is-with-us.” Just not as we might expect.
By Johnny Zokovitch In St. Louis, where I live, 300 people have been picked up by ICE since August. Just this past week, two people were arrested by ICE agents and sent to a detention center in St. Genevieve, over an hour away from their homes and families. The church where I work is offering material and moral support to more than 30 immigrant families who are afraid to attend church, shop for groceries, send their children to school or sports, go to work, or venture out from their homes for nearly any reason lest they too be grabbed off the street, detained, and deported.
paxchristiusa.org
November 28, 2025 at 4:17 PM
“…hold the bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other…”
Reposted by Matt Carter
“You don’t get to just fight for Black history, you also have to fight for the sanctuary of our immigrant families. You also have to fight for protections for our trans & queer students, & our SPED students...You don’t get to pick & choose who is a protected class in Trump’s America.” S. Davis Gates
Sanctuary Lessons
Hayes shares lessons from the Chicago Teachers Union’s efforts to protect undocumented students.
rethinkingschools.org
August 26, 2025 at 6:53 PM
“You don’t get to just fight for Black history, you also have to fight for the sanctuary of our immigrant families. You also have to fight for protections for our trans & queer students, & our SPED students...You don’t get to pick & choose who is a protected class in Trump’s America.” S. Davis Gates
Reposted by Matt Carter
I describe what fascists do. You can make your own decisions. www.WhyFascistsFearTeachers.com
August 29, 2025 at 8:36 PM
I describe what fascists do. You can make your own decisions. www.WhyFascistsFearTeachers.com
Reposted by Matt Carter
One thing the US can be proud of is that despite its extreme belligerence, the antiwar movement in the past has delivered real victories and laid the groundwork for deeper struggles. Solidarity to all the folks who've been at it already and prayers and good vibes for all those who get involved now.
June 22, 2025 at 2:28 AM
One thing the US can be proud of is that despite its extreme belligerence, the antiwar movement in the past has delivered real victories and laid the groundwork for deeper struggles. Solidarity to all the folks who've been at it already and prayers and good vibes for all those who get involved now.
2025 classroom supplies. Children shouldn’t be afraid to come to school. They shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not their parents will be there to greet them when they get home. All I can do is protect them as best as I can… and it doesn’t feel like enough.
January 30, 2025 at 1:52 AM
2025 classroom supplies. Children shouldn’t be afraid to come to school. They shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not their parents will be there to greet them when they get home. All I can do is protect them as best as I can… and it doesn’t feel like enough.
The longest night of the year is a reminder that there’s more light and hope to come.
Sending peace to Gaza, my unhoused neighbors, friends dealing with loneliness and health issues, Sudan, my family, my students, and anyone else quietly suffering.
May tomorrow fill you with hope and light.
Sending peace to Gaza, my unhoused neighbors, friends dealing with loneliness and health issues, Sudan, my family, my students, and anyone else quietly suffering.
May tomorrow fill you with hope and light.
December 22, 2024 at 4:09 AM
The longest night of the year is a reminder that there’s more light and hope to come.
Sending peace to Gaza, my unhoused neighbors, friends dealing with loneliness and health issues, Sudan, my family, my students, and anyone else quietly suffering.
May tomorrow fill you with hope and light.
Sending peace to Gaza, my unhoused neighbors, friends dealing with loneliness and health issues, Sudan, my family, my students, and anyone else quietly suffering.
May tomorrow fill you with hope and light.
Reposted by Matt Carter
We’re in a moment when the tools of the prison-industrial complex are likely to be turned even more aggressively on larger classes of people and it’s worth remembering that the problem is and has always been the whole damn system, even when the people it catches are less sympathetic.
November 27, 2024 at 3:55 PM
We’re in a moment when the tools of the prison-industrial complex are likely to be turned even more aggressively on larger classes of people and it’s worth remembering that the problem is and has always been the whole damn system, even when the people it catches are less sympathetic.
Reposted by Matt Carter
Solidarity, to me, is rooted in the belief that life, not money, is sacred. And it requires a commitment to reflecting that faith in our relationships, movements, institutions, and social policies.
November 27, 2024 at 6:39 PM
Solidarity, to me, is rooted in the belief that life, not money, is sacred. And it requires a commitment to reflecting that faith in our relationships, movements, institutions, and social policies.
Reposted by Matt Carter
People are rightly concerned about Trump expanding private (or any) immigration detention centers, but a lot of folks seem to be conveniently forgetting that Biden has expanded them beyond Trump's previous administration.
www.reuters.com/world/us/bid...
www.reuters.com/world/us/bid...
November 25, 2024 at 7:41 PM
People are rightly concerned about Trump expanding private (or any) immigration detention centers, but a lot of folks seem to be conveniently forgetting that Biden has expanded them beyond Trump's previous administration.
www.reuters.com/world/us/bid...
www.reuters.com/world/us/bid...
Funding schools ❌
Increasing teacher pay ❌
Free school lunches ❌
Gun reform laws ❌
Arming schools with drones ✅
Can’t make this stuff up.
www.expressnews.com/politics/art...
Increasing teacher pay ❌
Free school lunches ❌
Gun reform laws ❌
Arming schools with drones ✅
Can’t make this stuff up.
www.expressnews.com/politics/art...
Drones armed with pepper spray could guard Texas schools under new bill
Defense companies have promoted drones as a possible solution for stopping or mitigating school shootings, though school safety experts question the efficacy.
www.expressnews.com
November 26, 2024 at 1:39 AM
Funding schools ❌
Increasing teacher pay ❌
Free school lunches ❌
Gun reform laws ❌
Arming schools with drones ✅
Can’t make this stuff up.
www.expressnews.com/politics/art...
Increasing teacher pay ❌
Free school lunches ❌
Gun reform laws ❌
Arming schools with drones ✅
Can’t make this stuff up.
www.expressnews.com/politics/art...
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did to me.”
ProPublica spoke with 135 people who had experienced "sweeps" of homeless encampments. We also distributed notecards so people could write about it in their own words.
In Portland, Teresa Stratton told us her husband’s ashes were taken in a removal: propub.li/4fW8YIT
In Portland, Teresa Stratton told us her husband’s ashes were taken in a removal: propub.li/4fW8YIT
November 24, 2024 at 3:32 AM
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did to me.”
Sabbath as resistance.
"So often we put off rest because we are convinced that our work — our jobs, our families, or even our service for others — requires our constant attention. Rest necessitates a change of pace and a laying down of self-importance." (2021)
Rest Is Holy, Not a Reward for the Productive
Taking breaks necessitates a change of pace — and a laying down of self importance.
buff.ly
November 24, 2024 at 3:08 AM
Sabbath as resistance.
Reposted by Matt Carter
Oh my god. I had no idea:
Medicaid: 73 million low-income people are exposed to AI-related decision-making
SNAP: 42 million low-income people are exposed to AI-related decision-making
Social Security disability benefits: About 13.8 million people are exposed to AI-related decision-making
Medicaid: 73 million low-income people are exposed to AI-related decision-making
SNAP: 42 million low-income people are exposed to AI-related decision-making
Social Security disability benefits: About 13.8 million people are exposed to AI-related decision-making
"92 million low-income people in the U.S. states—everyone whose income is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line—have some basic aspect of their lives decided by AI"
www.techtonicjustice.org/reports/ines...
this is a damning report
www.techtonicjustice.org/reports/ines...
this is a damning report
November 23, 2024 at 6:42 PM
Oh my god. I had no idea:
Medicaid: 73 million low-income people are exposed to AI-related decision-making
SNAP: 42 million low-income people are exposed to AI-related decision-making
Social Security disability benefits: About 13.8 million people are exposed to AI-related decision-making
Medicaid: 73 million low-income people are exposed to AI-related decision-making
SNAP: 42 million low-income people are exposed to AI-related decision-making
Social Security disability benefits: About 13.8 million people are exposed to AI-related decision-making