Woke is an example of Democrats letting Republicans define the zeitgeist. The right hijacked a term that simply meant 'aware of systemic oppression' and turned it into a universal derogative for anything progressive. They redefined and weaponized that one word with devastating effect.

Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance. Each year, the trans community loses too many lives, especially trans women of color, to hate and violence.

More than ever, we must stand by our trans family and support them, hold space for them, and insist the scapegoating and targeting stop.

Now.

If you loved 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, try our rediscovered collection of her letters, introduced by a cousin, the best-selling author @jeanhanff.bsky.social and originally read out on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour in the 1970s 💙📚 #booksky manderleypress.com/shop/p/letterfromnewyork

Annual morbidity in the 20th century, before and after vaccines:

Measles:
Before: 530,000, After: 47

Mumps:
Before: 160,000, After: 429

Rubella:
Before: 50,000, After: 3

Diphtheria:
Before: 20,000, After: 2

Smallpox:
Before: 30,000, After: 0

Polio:
Before: 16,000, After: 0

The idea that you *must* coexist with and listen to people who are cruel, unjust, and just plain unpleasant to be around is the logic of abusers, by the way

"we shouldn't do the right thing for minorities because it's unpopular"

Some of y'all would've thrown the civil rights movement under the bus.

Unpopular opinion in mainstream circles but countering the rise of the far right will necessitate doing things differently

I could be wrong but if trying to outflank the far right on its pet issues hasn't worked the countless times it's been tried, then maybe it's not the way forward

Just saying

The earliest surviving quality photographic portrait of an identifiable person was taken this month in 1839. A self portrait by Robert Cornelius.

It's the world’s first successful selfie.

Blocking Nazis, trolls, and fascists doesn’t make it an “echo chamber.” People need to stop gaslighting us into thinking we have to listen to Nazis and debate trolls in order to be informed.