Wow wtf HIV/AIDS was discovered by Flossie Wong-Staal, an Chinese-American woman, and she’s the reason the HIV test even exists. AND THEN she invented the molecular knife that lead to treatments for HIV/AIDS. And she’s STILL ALIVE. We don’t hear about the contributions of Women of Color enough, my word. Madness.

you can always tell a major breakthrough is made by a woman, a woc or any poc because it’s either completely ignored or never credited like it just happened by itself

The true face of Iran is the potato salesman giving away potatoes for free on the streets of Tehran; the thousands who’ve rushed to donate blood across the country; the families who look after their elderly neighbours. Not the bloodthirsty monarchists begging for more bombs.

just ate an orange… no scurvy for me thank you… #NoScurvy

people who tell you to stop reading the news to "regulate your nervous system" do not have your best interests at heart. if following current events makes you spiral you probably need a better analytical frame, not less information

and the analytical frame you need is probably dialectical materialism

i'm totally crazy, i freak out all the time, but you know what helps me most? learning. reading. studying. discussing. sometimes you do need a nap, but sometimes you need a conversation with someone more knowledgeable/experienced, or a day at the (physical or digital) library. and really i think everyone has a different baseline emotional register that's best for them and their circumstances, but i recommend aiming to feel solid and anchored, not necessarily "calm." of course we won't feel "calm" after reading about genocide. but if we approach what we're reading correctly, it can strengthen our resolve; feed our fighting spirit; show us paths to liberation. a lot of people in my life have diagnosed me with "revolutionary optimism" and wonder how i maintain that mindset but i'm not an optimist by nature, it all comes from studying

how are westerners so thoroughly programmed that even when you see the violence of your empire, you parrot the same lies used to sell that violence. "bombing a school is wrong but the iranian people should be freed from the regime—" "abducting a president is wrong but the venezuelan people should be freed from the regime—" "starving people with sanctions is wrong but the cuban people should be freed from the regime —" the western people need to be freed from the regimes that brainwashed you, and I mean that

#not brainwashed #they see the violence and celebrate it because they want it to happen yes many are like that, probably more of them, but I'm talking about the people who will protest these attacks but turn around and say "the regime should still fall." I chose my words carefully; I really think that programming and brainwashing are accurate descriptors. there seem to be certain thoughts and even feelings that are inaccessible to people who are fully habituated to dominant western culture. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the popularity of behaviorism in western institutions. on top of the obscene fortunes poured into propagandizing media, every school, hospital, etc conditions them towards compliance and away from resistance. I don't believe even the most evil westerners are born celebrating violence, they're made that way

so many people in the notes are doing exactly what I described but believe they're agreeing with me. this is not the work of liberated free-thinking minds