I'm going to be losing my Blue Check sometime in the near future based on the ever-evolving pronouncements from the Chief Twit. So let's pour one out for the latest exhausting change and slow dissolution of this platform. 🫗 (1/8)
I got the badge in an old fashioned way, while eating lunch at Twitter's old San Francisco office during my time at @TheOnion. I was having a meeting with my then-boss @michaelgreer. And an employee just said, "Hey we can verify you if you want. Clearly you're you." So I did. 2/8
Getting verified as an employee of a satirical news outlet felt VERY Twitter at the time. But eventually the company came up with a non-lunch-at-HQ system of proving authenticity, declaring "notability," and conferring credibility through the blue checks. (3/8)
On May 15, I wrote these reflections on the leaked overturning of Roe v Wade in @PuckNews. I'm gonna blow up my timeline with a thread largely sharing the piece. Quote it. Meme it. Print it out and burn it to start a revolution. Full piece is here puck.news/the-real-trage…
The promise of the United States has been our commitment to liberty and justice for all. The practice of the United States, of course, has been our commitment to liberty and justice for SOME.
Yet that gap between practice & promise has been historically framed as our opportunity to expand liberty & justice. The narrative we’ve inherited about America, or told ourselves, is largely one where the chasm continually closes & we become more inclusive, accepting, welcoming.
Thread. Here's 3 minutes of me on @11thhour with @Bwilliams last night talking about Black people consistently showing up for America and demanding Republicans do the same. Now is the time. Keep reading thread if you prefer text version of the words
The transcript of my remarks in this video:
Black people have been in this country since the start of this county and you don't get to be more American than being owned by America. So we have some special rights of memory, of belonging to this place.
My @TEDTalks is live! In it I transform the tragedy of #LivingWhileBlack headlines into something beautiful. Please watch, share, and consider supporting. I'm so proud of this.
"How to deconstruct racism one headline at a time"
@TEDTalks Some additional resources to share. First, I make a LOT of assertions in the talk about police behavior and specific incidents. I tried hard to support everything with footnotes, so here you go! ted.com/talks/baratund…
As an early, loud ambassador I too thought there‘d be a physical US base & was confused & disappointed to discover otherwise. This message is a good acknowledgment of error. I’ll stay a member to see how the founding principles are applied cause I still want/believe in the model
But if anyone joined b/c of me AND a belief this org would operate a physical US office and feels duped or disappointed by that absence, i understand and offer my own apology. Request a refund from The Correspondent which they promise to process “right away” and lmk if they don’t
I myself joined as member, ambassador, and part-time paid “campaign strategist” largely because a) I believe we need new organizing models for media and b) the stellar person that is @zainabshah. Working with her on the crowdfunding campaign was a joy
This could take hours, days, or maybe I won't ever make it to the end, but this begins my final PDF breakdown of Robert Mueller's work on behalf of our U.S. democracy. 448 pages. starting with the cover. Volume 1 of 2?? They already promising sequels? How George RR Martin-esque!
page 2 is blank. reminding me of my childhood book reports I wanted to make so nice and beautifully formatted. I remember trying to get those plastic bindings to loop through and mostly i just went with a binder clip. I wonder if Mueller used the plastic loopies.
the table of contents is five pages. for those who've seen me do this before i continue to be impressed with the organizational structure of these legal documents! Roman numerals. Indenting. Clarity matters when outlining foreign attacks. Wish I could change to a sans font tho