I need financial support for my continued journalism in Ukraine to cover what is happening here and for continued coverage for the next two months. I need 15K.
If you can sent it to CashApp at $TerrellJStarr, I'd greatly appreciate it. Here's how I plan on using the $.
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I didn't plan on being here this long and I am not supported by anyone. I am here 100 percent on my own dime. Now, I need to funds to pay for housing (rent in Kyiv and wherever I go to cover what is happening, new gear to go into the field.
I need to pay myself as I host weekly episodes of Black Diplomats here in the field. That level of time and energy costs money and time. I have to pay a producer as well. I also need cash for upfront costs to pay freelance photographers who'll join me on assignments.
I also need to pay for insurance and incidentals in case I have to move quickly--including out of the country. I also will pay for translators who will have support me in communicating on complex convos I cannot do on my own.
I honestly need $20,000 to be comfortable. I usually do not ask for cash, but because I am just starting off on my own and need time to grow my businesses I am asking for support to continue the journalism I am providing you all off my own dime.
I'm not asking for donations so much as I'm asking you to support the work. Anything you can contribute to support my work will be much appreciated. Your money will also cover my Ukraine coverage when I leave the country. Please go to my CashApp at $TerrellJStarr. Thank you!
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If you wanna bring up Azov battalion and the Ukrainian Nazi boogie man, note a. those folks are on the fringes of society here and b. Trump was elected president in 2016, 70+ million voted for him in 2020; U.S. law enforcement is a white nationalist paradise.
Back off Ukraine!
For those who will read my tweet in bad faith, know I recognize there is a white nationalist presence here and they have caused problems, but Azov is brought up to paint Ukraine as a white nationalist haven.
As a Black man who lives here, I can tell you that is 100% FALSE.
I have devoted my life to promoting this place. I have been in the deepest of mountains in Ukraine and 99.9 percent of my time here has been met with incredible kindness. Anyone who is claiming Ukraine is full of Azov and Nazis sympathizers don't live here.
This is me and my Black Ukrainian friends hanging out at my house years ago, you racist, Kremlin-loving fucktard. Black Ukrainians date back at least to 1800s and maybe earlier. I know you’re a troll, but some people will actually believe this shit.
First off, this notion that a Black kid can’t, conceivably, be Ukrainians is PR is inconsistent with the fact that Black people have been coming through the Russian Empire since at least Catherine the Great’s reign.
Source: Allison Blakely’s “Russia and the Negro.”
It’s important to bring up the Russian Empire because Blacks were introduced into the region via the Ottoman Empire; Russia didn’t participate in the Black slave trade. It’s not clear when Black folks started populating Ukraine. @ksvarnon may know.
I am sad to admit, but I am now working on an evacuation plan to leave Kyiv and packing my things just in case I have to go. I don't care how you view this situation, just know I am really worried about my friends and family because the threat of a Russian attack is very real.
This isn't a game for me.
There are thousands of Black people who live here and aren't able to leave as easily as I am because they don't have paperwork to go to nearby E.U. countries. I am writing a story about this now, but just know this is very personal to me.
I'm gonna explain why the progressive call for diplomacy on Ukraine is hollow, lacking in facts, and devoid of context by introducing you to a piece of diplomacy that was supposed to prevent this Russian-made crisis from happening.
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My thesis is simple: Diplomacy often doesn't work because a. one or all sides is a bad actor (Putin) b. the promises (treaties, memorandums, etc) are broken (i.e Minsk I, II)c. the diplomatic effort was flawed from the jump and this takes me to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.
After the fall of the USSR, Ukraine had the 3rd-biggest nuclear stockpile in the world, as they we left over from the USSR. Ukrainian leadership at the time believed that Moscow still wanted to invade them and they were right. Duma officials were discussing such a possibility.