my friend i were watching a bizarre video (i, pet goat ii— weird video) that she recommended, and ended up talking about conspiracy theories, and i said most of them tie back to “jews control the world” antisemitism (you can literally see that idea in the video), and she literally said “oh, i thought that was true.” i knew she was a kind of an alternative/hippie/edgy humor type, and she’s not political at all (she didn’t vote 🙄), but this shocked me. i told her no, that’s not true, and explained that it was an antisemitic conspiracy theory, but i’m just a bit frazzled. i don’t think she’s a hateful person and i love her, but wow. this is my best friend/future roommate/favorite person. if you had a friend who said something like that, how would you go from here?

So I found the following article truthful and passionate but it also left me scratching my head. Is Chicago inherently racist? | Meer

If the City of Chicago can racially integrate, and this will mean much more money for their yearly budget, at least $4 billion, why won't they do it?

It seems that racial integration is not only the RIGHT thing to do, but the SMART thing to do. Also, the article points out there is a roadmap to integration that exists.

Now here's something that makes me scratch my head harder - Chicago has had two Black mayors in a row, and THEY don't care about integration???????

May I please ask you good folks - why won't Chicago do what is right or smart? Thank you.

In Vietnam’s current context of increasingly strict personal data management, electronic identification, and internet control, a pivotal turning point is imminent: Starting January 1, 2025, the collection of newborn DNA and the issuance of a Citizen ID (CCCD) at birth will be implemented without any public referendum—a distant aspiration for the people. Instead, just a government decree (a sub-law document) and tighter internet control suffice to justify measures initially framed as “preventing fraud” or laying the groundwork for a comprehensive “social scoring” system.

However, behind these seemingly “reasonable” measures lies a grim scenario: If humans are treated as a biological resource, identifying individuals from birth and collecting their DNA may position Vietnam as a “biological supply” for an unethical organ transplant market—where natural rights, the right to life, and personal privacy can be systematically stripped away. From China exploiting the P2P lending crisis to legitimize its Social Credit System, to Vietnam using the rampant predatory lending apps (targeting economically vulnerable borrowers) as a reason to tighten data controls, multi-layered identification, and biometric/DNA collection from birth, the absence of transparency, independent oversight, and social debate could turn this ominous future into reality.

A Legal Blind Spot and the Illusion of Voluntariness:
Although the law states that providing DNA, voice data, etc. is “voluntary,” in practice, starting January 1, 2025, if you refuse to participate, you risk losing access to essential services like banking. This means that although “voluntary” appears in legal texts, you effectively face a “forced choice”: to maintain a normal life and use financial services, you must submit personal information and participate in social scoring and comprehensive identification. This supposed “voluntariness” becomes meaningless when withholding your data excludes you from basic services.

Invitation to Discussion:

• Does the mandatory collection of newborn DNA, biometric data, and comprehensive surveillance, enforced from January 1, 2025 without a public referendum, violate the Constitution, the Law on Children, ethical standards, and the principle of voluntary consent in medicine?
• How can we prevent a scenario where humans are viewed as a “biological supply” for organ transplants, while natural rights, the right to life, personal privacy, and even genuine voluntariness are eroded?
• Has any other legal framework worldwide instituted a similar system of DNA collection and personal identification from birth, tying access to essential services like banking to a supposedly “voluntary” mechanism that in reality is coercive? Or is this an unprecedented step?

Objective:
The goal of this discussion is to uphold the right to life, natural rights, and genuine voluntariness in organ donation—if it truly reflects the donor’s free will. As the organ transplant market may become a hot issue, ensuring that every donation decision stems from true free choice, free from coercion or exploitation, is critically important.

We urge legal experts, human rights advocates, medical and ethics professionals, and all concerned parties to share opinions, references, and legal analyses. The aim is to raise awareness, provide timely warnings, and propose policy solutions that protect human dignity, freedom, and core human values.

Legal references (plain links + keywords):

• 2013 Constitution: Google keyword: "Hien phap 2013 Viet Nam" Link: http://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/Bo-may-hanh-chinh/Hien-phap-nam-2013-215627.aspx
• Law on Citizen ID (26/2023/QH15): Google keyword: "Luat Can cuoc 26 2023 QH15" Link: http://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/Quyen-dan-su/Luat-Can-cuoc-26-2023-QH15-552422.aspx
• 2016 Law on Children: Google keyword: "Toan bo quyen cua tre em theo Luat Tre em 2016" Link: http://thuvienphapluat.vn/chinh-sach-phap-luat-moi/vn/ho-tro-phap-luat/tu-van-phap-luat/34629/toan-bo-quyen-cua-tre-em-theo-luat-tre-em-2016
• Decree 147/2024/ND-CP : Google keyword: "Nghi dinh 147 2024 ND CP quan ly cung cap dich vu Internet thong tin tren mang" Link: http://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/Cong-nghe-thong-tin/Nghi-dinh-147-2024-ND-CP-quan-ly-cung-cap-su-dung-dich-vu-Internet-thong-tin-tren-mang-480755.aspx

I came across this Bluesky post from political philosopher Olufemi O. Taiwo that specified that when looking to organize, it would be better to find an organization that encouraged you to "DO a thing" vs trying to "BE a thing." https://bsky.app/profile/olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social/post/3latilqzsiw2e

I really want to join a political organization focused on protecting Trans Rights in red states, ending the genocide in Palestine, protecting abortive rights, or just in general fight against everything Trump, the GOP and Project 2025 are advocating.

My problem is, I have no idea how to make the distinction between joining an organization that encourages you to "do things" vs "being things." I figured this subreddit would be as good a place as any to start; does anyone know of any it's that fit these descriptions? I'm in NorCal btw.

Pretty much title. I wanted to dig into any literature or writings that looks into how being able to trace one's ethnic/cultural roots (e.g. Irish, German, Chinese, etc.) sometimes with great precision is in and of itself a privilege, while others like Black Americans do not have that luxury.

Hi y'all, decided to ask this question here cause y'all probably have better perspective on this than I do.

I recently joined a climate justice/women's rights/social justice (primarily a focus on environmental justice) group on my college campus. I have attended and helped out at multiple rallies and have filled in taking photos and doing media stuff for the club. At the last meeting we decided we were going to do elections to decide our next leadership group (there will be 4 co-leaders and a secretary).

I was thinking about running for a leadership position because I have several years of student group leadership experience specifically in political areas. I feel as though I have legitimate and real leadership skills that I could bring to the table and I like leading. The group is pretty young and does not have a super organized structure.

My question for you all is should I run? If I were to run or lead it could potentially upset some of the women who feel at home in that group. I may damage the movement because I do not have the same perspectives as any of the other women in the group. At the same time I feel I would best be able to contribute to the group as a leader. Not really sure what the best choice is here or if I am getting something wrong in the way I am thinking through this.

I'm someone who believes there is more to a person than their political stances/actions and place a lot of value on interpersonal kindness. At the same time, I get frustrated by liberals/leftists who have strong opinions about our political system - but don't do much about it? And I try to invite them to events but its often unsuccessful. How do we get more people politically organized - especially in this moment? How do you handle friendships with good friends who just can't seem to care about important social justice issues - such as Palestine, attacks on our civil liberties, the climate, economic justice etc - beyond verbal support?

In many states a person can be forced into psychiatric treatment or placed on an involuntary hold if they are deemed to be a danger to themselves or others. Does social justice view this as a violation of human rights or civil liberties? Are mainstream present-day social justice movements continuing the work of activists like Judi Chamberlin?

Hello! I have a friend who hates filling out the 'ethnicity' box on forms and doesn't like 'labelling her ethnicity'. I want to understand why people feel this way so I can have a better conversation with her about it. She is someone who doesn't understand why people see colour and that it causes divide. She hates talking about politics and I can sense her stress whenever a topic about race/elections/genocide/ etc come up...

For context she is a WOC, very kind and intelligent, I think she is just extremely conflict averse and finds it hard to think about the atrocities in the world lol.

Hello! I work for a nonprofit heavily involved with local food access. We do lots of work with the food bank, food pantries, local social justice centers, community gardens, nutrition education organizations, etc.

My question is- what sites are y'all using to find info about cool stuff that's happening around Food Access in the world? Does something like this exist? I'm talking anything- subreddits, blogs, media sites, whatever. I already follow a handful of food-politics blogs, which tend to focus on food-related injustices, but I'm looking more for a place that aggregates the good work being done in the food access realm.

Any thoughts? Hit me with them recommendations.

i’ve noticed when i check BI&PoC in at work i’m more familiar with them. like i’m less “professional,” i joke around more (usually self-deprecating humor, which is my go to), and i don’t do a “customer service voice.” i don’t know if it’s because i assume they’re less uptight than the white people i deal with (stereotypically suburban couples or old businessmen), or what. it’s the same way i behave when a single woman, someone my age, or someone i clock as queer is at my counter. is this racist? i’m a bit concerned i come off as less professional or less respectful.

I'm a white, upper middle class, cis, able bodied woman, so I know I have heaps and heaps of privilege. I also struggle immensely with my mental state. But, I also know that a poor person, a black person, a disabled person, a trans person, or any combo of the above is going to be struggling FAR more than me and thus, it's my responsibility to use my privilege for good and help them.

How do you push further when you're already burned out? And this isn't something that taking a break worked for, I did take a break for a few months and don't feel any better. I can hardly keep up with my own responsibilities, I'm failing classes and sleeping in nearly every day because I can hardly pry myself out of bed.

How can I still take responsibility? I feel like I'm failing to utilize my privilege and thus failing my responsibility to be a good activist. I try to donate to causes but it feels like I'm not doing enough.

Hi, I made a TikTok asking white women like myself to have the uncomfortable conversations with the white women in their lives. One thing I mentioned were all the black woman creators who have helped me to grow.

A white mother of a biracial daughter is in my comments. I’ve tried to respond, but this is out of my area of experience. On top of that I’m very new to this work. I’ve only been working on myself for about 3 years. Before that I just thought I wasn’t racist without understanding all that goes into racism.

Can anyone help with how to respond? I want to learn what I can do differently because I’m sure I will come across more white women in the same mindset.

My username is mctriplets and it is my last post.

@MommaJen: are you will to listen to a biracial family that has a message for you… please stop dividing us by colors… we are one family we all love, breathe, work hard… we matter too

@Kara | Homeschool Mama: Of course we all want the same things. But that doesn’t change the fact that as a ww I have opportunities to exist in places that black women aren’t welcomed. It is up to me to work to change that.

@Kara | Homeschool Mama: Listening to the perspective of black women has enriched my life. I have learned a lot about unconscious and internalized racism and how to really sit with an uncomfortable truth and work on myself.

@MommaJen: Bah haha like where?? Do you really think my daughter can’t go somewhere I can? That’s delusional!! Never once has this happened in the 20 years I brought her into this world.

@MommaJen: What are you seeing in real life? Do you actually see someone who can’t walk into any place you’ve ever been in your life?

@Kara | Homeschool Mama: Yes. I work in an industry where the leadership is very white washed even though the workforce is very diverse. I have a seat at that table and can push for more diversity in leadership.

@Kara | Homeschool Mama: I’m glad your daughter hasn’t experienced it. That’s fantastic. But it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen in other parts of the country.

@MommaJen: It does, but it happens to EVERYONE! No one is immune to stupidity. Believe me there is stupidity everywhere, but it’s not only one race or gender.

@MommaJen: I didn’t say that… she’s just aware it happens to everyone and it’s not specifically about her. It tells more about the other person than it ever would her. She’s seen people do it to me..

I really feel called to get involved in organizing/advocacy in light of recent events, but I don't know how.

There are no groups that fit my values in in my small city. While there are ones in near by cities, I don't have a car, the public transportation here sucks, and I work so I don't have time to take a 2 hour bus ride for what would be a 30 minute drive by car.

I know the typical advice would be to start something in my city, but I know absolutely nothing about what would go into creating or running an organization. I'm also autistic, so I have no social skills, no friends I could convince to join me, and no idea how to connect with people to recruit them. Even on social media I've never known how to connect with people.

I just don't know what to do. On the one hand I don't want to use all the above obstacles as excuses, but on the other hand I just really don't know how to start. I really feel like it's my responsibility to do something, but I don't know ANYTHING about advocacy, organization, or activism.

Ok for context I’m (27NB) a queer Black femme, I grew up liberal-ish and expanded my social circles and experiences and got into being a full blown leftist on my own. I’ve had some super awful and punishing experiences trying to explain social justice to people before.

So for years I just gave up on teaching people what they don’t want to know, and more and more of my social circles became leftist (and it’s pretty nice I won’t lie). But lately I hit a new challenge. This person I know is amazingly empathetic towards me, but I have never gotten to know anyone this politically right of me this well before.

Now they’re asking me to help the understand “identity politics” and I don’t know how to talk to someone uninformed about them, especially without using so many in-house terms I’m just used to using (“hegemonic masculinity”, “intersectionality”, “generational trauma”, “institutionalized racism”, “landback”, etc). Also I’m getting super triggered by my bad past experiences when they shoot back with questions (sometimes pointed, sometimes not but the tones all blur together because I’m neurodivergent anyway).

So do you all have any good recommendations on where you started when you started learning about the colonialist white supremacy of it all? (Also I’ll appreciate any material recommendations because this feels terrifying to try to help someone learn again as a Black femme, and hoping that they are receptive to it while trying to push through my stress with it.)

Throwaway account just in case the person in question ever finds this.

So I [25M] am not Asian, but I am POC and born in America. My friend [21M] is Chinese and also born in America.

I've known him for about half a year. I've met him through mutual friends. I enjoy his company. But for a while I and others have noticed him exhibiting problematic and toxic behaviors, and it's getting to a boiling point. Excessive complaining, ambiguous communication, violates boundaries, redirects blame onto others, constant drama, and so on. I've had a conversation about it not too long ago, with some of the same tendencies showing up and this time I've been calling him out on it.

Even before then, he would always talk about how his Chinese upbringing has caused him to internalize a lot of bad behavior and to be conditioned like that. And he likes to talk about saving face and conflict avoidance in East Asian cultures, and I totally get it. But man, every time we point out stuff that's what he resorts to. And during our conversation, he asserted I'm coming into this conversation with Western individualistic assumptions and ideals about East Asian social interactions and that I can't just expect him to change because, while bad, his cultural baggage makes it difficult. It is biased on my part to call him out on cultural elements that are integral to his identity, and my notion of healthy social expectations and communication are loaded with Eurocentric assumptions.

He once did the same thing to me about projecting heteronormative assumptions onto him because he's gay, but the rest of the friend group has sufficiently called him out on it so he dropped it (most in the group are queer). But now he's resorting to this to avoid accountability. Idk what to say without coming off as an anti-Asian racist.

To those of you who are Asian, what has been your experience? I know how to deal with this in my community but idk I feel at a lost here. What can I say or point to (esp from a progressive standpoint) to argue that his Asian cultural upbringing doesn't justify toxic behavior? Tysm in advance.

Please join and add whatever ya got! And as always, stay safe kids!

https://www.reddit.com/r/PeacefulProtest

What can I do to help and learn from the minorities that will be most affected by Trump's presidency? What are volunteer opportunities? I live in upstate ny where it's super white and conservative. It pains my heart to see such intolerance and hatred disguised as religious morals. What books can I read? How can I become more educated? What are organizations that I can donate to and support? I want to be more active in social justice but I'm not sure where to start. What are documentaries I can watch? How can I start to channel these feelings into my actions to be a part of positive forces in this country?

I have to work more than I can already handle to be able to survive. I live in a constant state of burnout. I WANT to lead, be active in causes, attend meetings, organize, volunteer etc, but it seems all I have the energy and time for is speaking out on social media and sharing others ideas, causes, resources etc. I want to do so much more, but it’s already so hard for me to even survive day to day doing the bare minimum. I know the system is designed this way intentionally, to keep us quiet and obedient and repressed but damn if I don’t dream of being a leading voice in the fight for good. I want to do so much more than I’m physically and mentally able to do. What are some other ways I can help support, advocate, and educate others with limited time, money, and energy?

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 - "𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲" (👄 Warning @ 0:35)

https://youtu.be/eSY-WFdZ9WQ

I am a little heartbroken by what happened yesterday. I personally will be okay, but I know many others will not. I want to know how I can help make a difference and counteract this harm as much as possible. However, I am not quite sure where to start. I live in the NYC area. So if anyone is doing anything on the ground to help or know of anything I can do to start helping. Please let me know.

After today, I am a little bit heartbroken. While I will personally be okay, I know many others will not. I want to know what I can do to make a difference and help minimize some of the harm we will see in any way that I can. The thing is, I’m not sure where to start, but I do really want to. I live in the NYC area. So if anyone has anything they are doing to help others during this time or has any ideas for things I can start doing. Please let me know.

i think i see people who can’t speak english/speak english well as less intelligent, and i think in trying to make communication easier i speak to them like they’re children. trying to communicate with them in a customer facing position can be frustrating, and i think because of that i can come off patronizing or condescending. how do i change the way i think and make sure i don’t come off prejudiced?

Hello, let me preface this by saying my mom is 100% white, and I am hispanic white. I really would like to know from black people only if her beliefs align with you and people fighting for racial equality in general. She's very vocal about being inherently racist, how America was built on racism, and paying reparations (which I agree are all important issues to acknowledge) but I believe she takes it too far. She has always been an advocate for equal rights for the majority of her life, but recently she's been expressing beliefs such as she needs to degrade herself and give up all self worth in order to uplift the black community and is willing to be treated any which way by black people for simply existing as a white person. I'm well aware of the fact that your community suffered a tremendous amount of mistreatment and bigotry and still does but I can't help but to think that your desire for equality is to be respected by and receive the same opportunities as white people, not to make them suffer eternally, and that your intention is to come from a place of love and not recycled hate. I posed the question, "If an organization was telling you to physically harm yourself to show your solidarity with the black community, would you?" and her response was "I just might. You're not wrong." As far as I know she gets all of her knowledge from TikTokers (She uses this app to an unhealthy degree imo), and has told me that these are people in their 20's. But rarely, if ever, does she listen to a public speaker for any well known organizations. She doesn't really have anyone to talk to so she always brings these topics up to me, and every time she talks about it she gets very heated and I feel a lot of negative energy which is unintentionally being directed toward me and it's been getting more and more difficult to absorb. It's only recently that I put my two cents in because I personally don't enjoy her perpetuating the idea that I, myself, need to fear/hate white people and that every white person on the planet is evil and a MAGA supporter, and she denounces my belief to live a life openly allowing every human being to show me who they are before I cast uneducated judgements. For instance, I went to a lake to take a walk, and I told her that it was near a very southern white neighborhood, and she told me that as a hispanic gay man I need to stay away from any white person there because they're MAGA, and I told her that that's not a fact and I'm not going to fear someone I don't know (Yes, I realize that me being able to say that is a privilege), but she insisted that factually every white person within the vicinity of where I was had to be a Trump supporter. Her beliefs that she should be worthless in the eyes of a black person concerns me because right now she is living states away from me and her ex boyfriend, who is a black man that has physically and mentally abused her, is her only resource for things like transportation and groceries, and by her newfound logic if he were to ever put his hands on her again she would deserve it. Am I wrong for not being okay with this?

Edit: Grammar corrections, added example, and sentence restructuring

Sorry, should say mixed race identities

What are people‘s thoughts regarding racial identities in a mixed race individual? The presidential race is raising this issue since Kamala Harris is half Black half Asian (Indian). So would she be the first Asian president or the second black president?

Or are people of mixed race creating a new category? Like black and white person typically called mulatto, but sometimes they get to choose I guess? Any thoughts on this?

The right are now so insane that this is actually going mainstream within conservatism.

What do you think is the correct response to it?

Hello everyone, I've had a difficult situation lately and I'm not sure if I've done something wrong. The issue is between me (an undergrad) and my Professor at a pretty respected university.

Basically, like a lot of people the US election is a nightmare for me. I'm Ukrainian-descended, I have relatives in Ukraine. I know if trump wins then Ukrainian support will dry up and Putin will most likely conquer it. And I deal with incredible anxiety because of this. I spent basically a month after the invasion began not leaving my house and drinking all day because I was so scared.

Anyway, I'm taking a Shakespeare course, and my Professor loves to make flippant comments about current political issues. Things like "Oh man, if trump wins there's probably going to be WWIII and we'll all die lamo!"

But like, for me this kind of thing is not funny. I hear comments like this at work, on the bus, at school, everywhere. And it almost always results in me having an anxiety attack that I have to violently stamp down. My therapist recommended that I advocate for my well being, and that I should politely explain to the people around me what I'm dealing with, and if they could please try to not trigger me.

I sent my Prof an email, explaining that I deal with anxieties about this, and I asked if he could keep the references to the election at a minimum. I also said:

"Unless if you feel that this is relevant to the lecture you are delivering or the text we are analyzing"

And

"I understand that this is something you do not need to do at all, it would just make my time in class a little easier."

I believed that this was a respectful way to ask. The response I got was that my Professor will always stand up for his hard fought right to exercise his freedom of speech, how as a decedent of an enslaved people he will not allow himself to be silenced, how much he dislikes having been asked in the past to use 'trigger warnings."

So I sent him a follow up revoking my request and apologizing for asking him this (I sure as hell don't want to fight with someone who controls my marks). But I've been in a state of 'wtf' all day.

Like, I get that if this were a journalism, or political science course, how my asking this favor would be ridiculous. Hell, maybe even in a Shakespeare course this was a stupid request on my part, maybe the election is extremely relevant to Shakespeare's themes.

But like, is my asking this really an example of me trying to 'silence' a descendant of enslaved people? I would have made the exact same request if the Professor was a white man.

One argument I've frequently heard on the Stolen Land movement is that Stolen Land, as it relates to colonized lands like the US, is not simply land that was purchased or even conquered in war, but that was taken after the land had already been guaranteed to natives pursuant to treaties (with the treaty then being violated) or where the treaty transferring land was procured fraudulently. For example, see this essay: https://www.indigenousgeotags.com/frequentquestions . In addition, allowing land acquired through military conquest to be considered stolen land would render essentially all of Europe stolen land and make Europe a problematic part of the world for most people to live in today. For example, many areas in Europe have been successively conquered by the Celts, Romans, and Vikings, and we don't have a very good idea of who had the land before the Celts or whom they conquered it from.

Considering the definition of stolen land as limited to broken, fraudulent, and coercive treaties, and not including land transferred by true military conquest and/or through fair treaties, are there any specific areas of the modern-day US that would not be considered stolen land? For example, I'm looking for something like, "The portions of modern-day Lakewood, New Jersey south of 11th Street and as more precisely designated on this map here [shows map] were never part of any native land treaty, broken or otherwise, but were directly conquered by the British Army in the springtime of 1735 in a land battle against the regular military forces of the local native tribe which then controlled the land and thus white people living on 9th or 10th Street in Lakewood are not on stolen land as sovereignty passed legitimately to the English crown and then the US." If non-stolen land cannot, at the present time, be described with such exactness, do we have any ideas on generally where in the US non-stolen land is likely to be found or where in the US it is most likely that there are significant swaths of non-stolen land?

Addendum:

If, as I suspect, there are areas of non-stolen land today in the US but we are not yet at the point where we can print a map or generate a digital map overlay showing the exact borders between stolen and non-stolen land, I'm interested if there are places I can go to read the latest research in this area. For example, something like, "While no definitive maps have yet been produced, it has become the general consensus of academics working in the area of Native Land Sovereignty and Stolen Land Studies (e.g. see Smith (2007), Jones et al. (2013), and Rogers and Brown (2022)) that significant portions of the southern shore of Lake Erie and probably including at least the northern neighborhoods of Cleveland were obtained legitimately by white settlers and are not stolen land, but Clarke (2019) dissents, claiming, on evidence widely regarded as dubious, the existence of a forgotten 1755 treaty that was violated by British settlers in 1773, thus making the entire Erie shore region stolen land." would do nicely.