iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

From our family to yours, g’mar chatima tova. ❤️

Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

“The deed is the main thing, not the study.” The attribution of Ed Milliband's Jewishness to synagogue attendance misses how much the core of Jewish tradition is within him: spirituality is not just believed or studied; it is actively lived through physical rituals and deeds.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

It is quite disturbing that The Economist and The Atlantic have scheduled recurring, almost daily, posts linking to negative articles about Jason Arday. It is not too much to ask to allow his family, wife, children and friends to grieve and mourn in peace.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

The only response about Cofnas and extramural speech, that has sat well, is how would Black students feel about someone interacting with them and their education, or present in their spaces, who believed they were inferior *because* they were Black?

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

An apology is not atonement. The first is words. The latter is deeds to repair the actual harm caused.

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JT 👻 @jazztee.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

(See also: “woke”).

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

"DEI hire." "DEI is discrimination." "Kill DEI." "Look at the DEI training." Watch how fast a term meant to describe fairness got turned into an insult. That did not happen by accident. Let us break down what is actually being done to this word, and why it matters. 🧵

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

It is disappointing to see this, yet it is maybe not a surprise from the author. Using Nazi-era racial terminology like "Mischling" to gatekeep Jewish identity and invalidate non-Orthodox Jews and Jews by choice, including their children, is abhorrent and deeply divisive.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

This framing is far from ok, including what counts as Jewish ideas.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Presenter: [The argument was put that DEI advanced people not on merit] Woolley: "There are 975 Professors at Cambridge. How many do you think are black? Paddy O'Connell: "Its a fair question you're asking me. So I am going to say 30%" Woolley: "I tell you: less than half a per cent"

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Words get weaponised when the people they describe stay silent or divided. Black and Brown people have been louder yet DEI was never about lowering the bar. It was admitting the bar was never level to begin with, for more people than any one group. That's worth saying loudly, together. #JasonArday

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Reclaiming the term starts with refusing the narrow version: • Say what DEI actually covers, every time it comes up • Push back when "DEI hire" is used as an unproven accusation • Get *every* affected group and their leaders, not just one, speaking with one voice.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

The bad-faith version looks different: it does not critique a policy, it attacks a person's competence based on their identity, using "DEI" as the accusation instead of evidence. That is not scrutiny. That is a shortcut around actually looking at someone's work.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Worth saying plainly: not everyone raising concerns about DEI is acting in bad faith. Some have genuine questions about how specific programmes are run, whether they are effective, or whether they've drifted from merit-based principles. Those are fair conversations to have.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Divide the term "DEI" from its real scope, and you divide the people it was meant to protect. It becomes a race issue vs. everyone else's issue. Isolate. Discredit. Repeat.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

• Neurodivergent people who need different management styles, not punishment • Veterans, older workers, LGBTQ+ employees *That* is the part bad-faith actors are counting on: that nobody notices the coalition of minoritised communities being dismantled.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

It also erases everyone else DEI was built to protect. When "DEI" becomes a slur, these groups lose cover too: • Disabled employees who need accommodation • Women fighting pay gaps • Jewish people and employees facing antisemitism

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

• Make the word itself radioactive so companies quietly kill the programmes and actions to avoid controversy The genius of this tactic, and it's danger, is that it does not just harm Black professionals although it does that violently, questioning their competence on sight.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

That is a smear. Once DEI gets flattened into a racial dog whistle, the strategy writes itself: • Attack the acronym, *not* the actual meaning • Call any Black or brown professional's success a "DEI hire" with no evidence needed

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Here is the bad-faith move: take a broad framework covering race, gender, disability, religion, neurodivergence, sexuality, age, and quietly narrow it in public discourse until it means, say, "unqualified Black person got a job they did not deserve." That is not a definition

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

First, the basics: DEI = Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. Diversity = who is in the room. Equity = whether the room was built for them to succeed. Inclusion = whether they are actually heard once they're in it. That is it. That is the whole concept. Nothing sinister.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Within the Jewish community, Nathan Cofnas's troubling use of the term "mischlings" to describe Jewish people considered not to be real Jews, warrants some discussion.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Several months ago, they went after Misan Harriman (Misan Harriman). Then, it was Jason Arday. Both were hunted. This has been happened in plain sight for all to see yet it has taken Jason's death for many to speak.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

It seems that I am not the only Black British Jewish person who has picked this issue up.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

It is striking that there seems to be nothing to suggest a meeting with her.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

- *neither* seem to have reached out specifically to Black British Jews about this since the *first* tweet and suspension related to Diane Abbott, full stop.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

It is incredibly disappointing that: - @bbcnewsnight.bsky.social did not have a Black person, more specifically a Black woman, on this segment to discuss this - @boardofdeputies.bsky.social has not reached out to Black Jews to have this discussion, specifically after their Commission report *And*

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ike, son of mike @i-bresnick.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

In late 2021/early 2022 I started talking to my local Democrats about a run for city council. This was still in the heady days of Run For Something and I thought, hey, why not? I'm a lawyer, local businesstype, genuinely interested in politics and local governance.

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ike, son of mike @i-bresnick.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

I don't know if I suspected where things were headed back then. I do remember thinking that it was a bad time to be a visible Jew in a very gentile corner of California. I thought about what it would mean for my immigrant wife and our mixed-race children. I decided not to put any of us through it.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

With recent decadal spikes in warmer British summers, and more frequent heatwaves, tell me why do only about 2% of buses in London have full passenger air conditioning, while the rest rely on ventilation and air-cooling systems.

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Recognising that detour is not a failure either. It is usually the exact moment we start finding our way back to ourselves. The journey is worth it. 3/3

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

We often search outward for fulfillment and connection before realising that the neshama was within us all along. Sometimes searching in the “wrong places” is the very detour that teaches us how to finally come back home to ourselves. 2/3

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Seeing Rita Ora’s headline today (“I looked for love in the wrong places”) hits a quiet, familiar chord. We’ve all spent time searching for connection or validation in places that were never meant to hold us. 1/3

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Recognising that detour is not a failure either. It is usually the exact moment we start finding our way back to ourselves. The journey is worth it. 3/3

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

New love takes courage, and Nat’s warm voice makes it feel completely effortless. It is such a joyful reminder that love is not just a concept. It is something meant to be shared, lived, and celebrated together. 2/2

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Sitting here on this warm night, listening, and thinking is there any song that captures the high of new love better than Nat King Cole’s “L-O-V-E”? Beyond being an absolute classic, it is a brilliant celebration of opening your heart to a brand new chapter with someone special. 1/2

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Does plantain go with chicken soup for Shabbat dinner? It is a silly question. Of course, they do. Shabbat shalom ❤️

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Lara 'Challah Black Girl' M @blewishand.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

You do not need to be religious to be spiritual. The English and French Black players showed what pure faith looks like: a shared reverence for love, unity, life and joy after their #WorldCup match. More than a game; it's a testament to the human spirit.

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