Chicago is holding in-person classes tomorrow because our mayor is awful. I would not send my child to school right now, fam. It's all going to fall apart quickly enough. No reason to be part of the crash.
The city of Chicago is strongly advising that students test before returning to school, but they know PCR tests are impossible to come by, and that even if folks can find rapids, those often miss Omicron in its early stages. This is so reckless & dishonest, it's fucking depraved.
Remember those at-home tests that *some* Chicago students were sent to help clear them for a return to school? A bunch of those families are getting messages that their samples were delayed and therefore not tested within the necessary 48 hour time frame, so no results.
Folks who are telling me remote schooling is not good for mental health: 1) Neither is long COVID 2) Neither is getting sick or watching a relative get sick or die 3) Neither is going back, letting things fall apart because everyone gets sick, and then having to go remote anyway.
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Staying in tonight? Can you spare the cost of a cocktail? Last yr, some of you joined me in supporting @uplcchicago's efforts to help imprisoned people in IL get vaccine access. That effort succeeded. Now, they're fighting for boosters. Let's win this too. uplc.networkforgood.com/projects/15028…
The second most contagious virus on the planet is racing through the prison system. Many of us have gotten booster shots to help protect us from serious illness, but imprisoned people do not have access to boosters. We can help change that. uplc.networkforgood.com/projects/15028…
If you contributed last year, you helped UPLC fight to ensure imprisoned people received vaccine access early on. Thank you for that. It was a life-saving intervention that sadly did not occur in many states. Now, we have to help prisoners survive Omicron. uplc.networkforgood.com/projects/15028…
They want you to think free, widespread testing, free N95s and paying people to stay home are unrealistic. The 2022 Pentagon budget is $770 billion. That's about $25 billion more than Biden requested. There's plenty of money to save lives. We just spend it all on killing people.
The state re-legitimizes itself through violence. That's why they want you focused on crime rather than the hell this system is putting us through, and all that could be done differently.
Above all, I try to write and create things that I believe are useful. One of the most useful things I think I co-created this year is this conversation I had with @sarahljaffe about her book Work Won't Love You Back, surveillance, capitalism and more. truthout.org/audio/work-isn…
I also loved my conversation with @sarahljaffe that marked the tenth anniversary of Occupy and explored what we can learn from that movement today. truthout.org/audio/ten-year…
I also got to have this incredible conversation with @avitale about the nature and history of policing, which I hope will continue to serve as a resource to others. truthout.org/audio/you-cann…
Stop asking people how they got covid. It's rude and accusatory.
I mean, if you know them personally, whatever, but I see y'all asking strangers on here like they need to account for how they got infected with the second most contagious virus in the world. It's absurd. Vaccines are protecting people from severe disease, not infection.
And like a lot of personal questions you prob shouldn't ask strangers, the answer could be tied to a tragedy the person has no desire to discuss with you. Boundaries, folks. Boundaries.
I've seen people say that false positives on rapid COVID tests aren't a thing, and that only false negatives happen, and I just want to dispel that because I know two people who have tested positive with rapid tests and then negative via an immediate follow up PCR. It happens.
It doesn't mean you should take any positive result lightly, but the wisdom that was previously being passed around -- that false negatives happen, but positives do not -- is not accurate and I'm surprised it's still being said.
I am sorry to say it, but the home tests are hit or miss. They get touted as a great thing because we are being offered so little in the way of functional testing.
To overcome capitalism and individualism, I believe we must cultivate belonging and a refusal to abandon one another. In that spirit, this Christmas, I'll be supporting groups that work with and in defense of incarcerated people. If you can and would like to, please join me. 🧵
I'll also be supporting some formerly incarcerated survivors and their families, as these folks have to fight harder than anyone to catch a break and survive compounding violence. With their permission I am sharing their info in case anyone else wants to brighten their holidays.
The @survivepunishNY Mutual Aid Working Group supports incarcerated survivors of gender-based violence through sustained commissary support, care packages, visitation and communication. These organizers are MVPs. survivedandpunishedny.org/mutual-aid/