iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Power Vibe · by NoMAGA @powervibe.bsky.social · 7h

The North’s secret weapon wasn’t instant genius; it had the factories, railroads, navy, and population to keep replacing commanders until one worked.

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Charlotte Thomas, MLS @caribouwireless.bsky.social · 6h

And then one of the largest mass self-emancipation events in human history wrote military necessity into the laws of war and under that aegis became an armed self-emancipation movement that ran Lee across the Appomattox

Black soldiers victorious in the Richmond-Peterburg Campaign, Petersburg, 1865

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Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 7h

Can you imagine being a Northerner at the start of the civil war. All the fancy lad West Point military guys are Southerners. Your president is a backwoods yokel one term congressman and your generals are some guys we found at a 7-Eleven. It's over for our ass...unless all those guys are geniuses

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Miaganga @miaganga.bsky.social · 5h

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mmothnadine.bsky.social @mmothnadine.bsky.social · 6h

I appreciate you posting this story. Her life + legacy are amazing. Her children should have been compensated & her permission granted for doing research on her body, BUT don’t ignore the doctor/ scientist who took her cells in hopes to try & save her & ended up saving countless others.

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Shooti @bambooshooti.bsky.social · 7h

Postscript: In 1951, medical ethics was purely academic. There was a huge gap between the theories being debated and the everyday practices of doctors. Lacks’s case helped force medical ethics out of abstract philosophy to ensure that a patient’s humanity cannot be separated from their biology.

A park named in honor of Henrietta Lacks in Baltimore. The Lacks family no longer sits on the sidelines of science. They are actively involved in how Henrietta’s genetic material is used. In 2013, the National Institutes of Health reached a historic agreement with the family. Two members of the Lacks family sit on a specialized NIH committee that reviews and decides which scientific applications are allowed to download and use the HeLa genome data. The family coordinates closely with the Henrietta Lacks Foundation to provide financial assistance to individuals and families who have made historic contributions to scientific research without their consent. Through their advocacy work — popularly known as the HELA100 initiative — the family has shifted the global narrative. Henrietta Lacks is no longer just a footnote in a medical textbook. She is recognized as a pioneer of modern patient consent.

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Shooti @bambooshooti.bsky.social · 7h

Henrietta Lacks didn’t choose to save the world. She was a normal, beautiful woman whose life was cut short at just 31 years old. She didn’t know her cells would change medicine, but those who knew her say that giving life to others matches the generous, nurturing spirit she showed every day. /end

Henrietta Lacks statue in the heart of the University of Bristol campus. The life-size bronze statue captures Henrietta standing with her hands on her hips and a steadfast, determined expression. The statue made history as the first permanent public sculpture of a Black woman created by a Black woman in the U.K. It was sculpted by local Bristol-based artist Helen Wilson-Roe, who had begun researching Henrietta Lacks and reaching out to her descendants in 1997. The University of Bristol commissioned the statue because it relies on HeLa cells in its medical curriculum and research labs and sought to confront the problematic history of medical exploitation while honoring Henrietta’s irreplaceable gift to medicine. Because the Lacks family shares a long relationship with the artist, they traveled to the U.K. to attend the emotional livestream event. Three generations of her family were present for the unveiling. Photo credit: 14GTR.

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Shooti @bambooshooti.bsky.social · 7h

For decades, Lacks remained unrecognized. Her family didn’t learn about the existence of HeLa cells until 1975, when researchers contacted them for blood samples. While biomedical companies generated billions of dollars from patents derived from her cells, the Lacks children grew up in poverty. /9

Henrietta Lacks’s grandchildren, Jeri Lacks-Whye and David Lacks, hold a framed portrait of their grandmother. Lacks’s children have largely stepped back or passed away. Today, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren are the public face of the estate. Jeri Lacks-Whye is one of the primary spokespeople for the family. She travels across the country speaking at universities and bioethics conferences, ensuring that medical students see Henrietta as a mother and a human being, not just a laboratory tool. David Lacks Jr. helps bridge the gap between Henrietta’s family and the global scientific community. He holds a degree in computer information systems and spent years traveling across the U.S. and Canada setting up computer systems and labs for various corporate and educational institutions. Because of his comfort with technology and data, he represents the family when the conversation shifts from Henrietta’s physical cells to her digital genetic code.

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Shooti @bambooshooti.bsky.social · 7h

This property allowed scientists to grow and multiply them indefinitely, creating an “immortal” cell line. Nicknamed “HeLa,” Lacks’s cells became a cornerstone of biomedical research. They have been used in more than 70,000 scientific studies and have contributed to massive medical breakthroughs. /8

A HeLa cancer cell dividing. The medical breakthroughs enabled by HeLa cells are so vast that they form the backbone of modern molecular biology. Because Lacks’s cells could be mass-produced and standardized, they allowed scientists to conduct experiments that were previously impossible on living humans. Most of us alive today have benefited from her cells in some way. They were used to test Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine on a massive scale. HeLa cells were genetically modified for HIV/AIDS research, leading to the creation of life-saving antiretroviral drugs. During the 2020 pandemic, HeLa cells accelerated the development and safety testing of the mRNA vaccines. They were used in the development of the HPV vaccine, certain cancer treatments and in vitro fertilization. They also rewrote the rules of genetics, paving the way for diagnosing genetic disorders. Photo credit: Dr. Thomas Deerinck / Visuals Unlimited / Corbis.

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Shooti @bambooshooti.bsky.social · 7h

Johns Hopkins was one of the few hospitals that treated poor Black patients at the time. A doctor named George Gey took samples of her tumor without her knowledge or informed consent. While normal human cells die quickly outside the body, Lacks’s cells doubled in number every 20 to 24 hours. /7

Dividing HeLa cells in culture. Normal human cells can only divide about 40 to 60 times before they die, a biological limit known as the Hayflick Limit. This happens because every time a normal cell divides, the protective caps at the ends of its chromosomes (called telomeres) get shorter. Eventually, the telomeres wear away, and the cell stops dividing. Henrietta Lacks’ cells work differently due to a unique genetic mutation caused by her aggressive cervical cancer. Her cancer cells produce a rare, overactive version of an enzyme called telomerase. Instead of allowing the telomeres to shorten and wear away, this enzyme constantly rebuilds them. Because her telomeres never shorten, the cells bypass the Hayflick Limit. They can divide indefinitely as long as they are provided with basic nutrients. While most cells struggle to survive in a laboratory Petri dish, HeLa cells grow so robustly that they can easily take over and contaminate other cell cultures if not quarantined.

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Shooti @bambooshooti.bsky.social · 7h

When Lacks began experiencing severe pain and bleeding from cervical cancer, she kept it to herself for a long time. Even when she lay bedridden at Johns Hopkins Hospital, visitors noted that she rarely complained. She focused on making sure her children would be looked after when she was gone. /6

A historical marker commemorating Henrietta Lacks in Clover, Va. Lacks had been experiencing severe pain and bleeding for nearly a year before seeking treatment. Finally, on Jan. 29, 1951, she went to Johns Hopkins Hospital after experiencing severe abnormal bleeding and feeling a “knot” inside her abdomen. A biopsy revealed she had an aggressive, malignant epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix. Doctors treated her by inserting tubes of radium into her cervix, a standard, brutal treatment at the time that burned her skin and internal tissues. It was during these initial treatments that her cells were harvested without her knowledge. For a brief moment in the spring, the doctors thought the treatments had worked. However, by June, Henrietta returned to the hospital in severe pain. Doctors discovered that tumors had spread throughout her abdomen. Just under eight months after starting treatment, Henrietta died from widespread organ failure caused by the tumors.

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Shooti @bambooshooti.bsky.social · 7h

Lacks’s second child, Elsie, was born with severe developmental disabilities. Lacks was deeply devoted to Elsie, spending hours combing her hair and ensuring she felt loved. When Henrietta became too sick to care for her, Elsie was placed in an institution, where she died a few years later. /5

Henrietta Lacks’s headstone. A visitor has placed a small Wonder Woman doll at the base of the monument. For decades after her death, Lacks rested in an unmarked grave in Clover, Va. Because her family lived in extreme poverty, they could not afford a headstone. Her body was buried in the family cemetery next to her mother on the land that had once been the plantation of her ancestors’ enslavers. That changed in May 2010, shortly after Rebecca Skloot’s book brought Lacks’s story to global attention. A professor from Morehouse School of Medicine named Dr. Roland Pattillo, who had been a student of George Gey (the doctor who took her cells), donated a pink granite headstone to mark her resting place. The family also used part of the initial donations generated by the book to purchase a second headstone for Henrietta’s daughter Elsie. After nearly 60 years of being anonymous in death, Henrietta and the daughter she loved so deeply are recognized, remembered and resting together.

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Shooti @bambooshooti.bsky.social · 7h

Lacks’s kitchen in Turner Station, Md., was always open. She was known for cooking massive meals for her family and neighbors, particularly her famous hot rolls, which family members still talk about decades later. She was always willing to take in a cousin or a friend who needed a place to stay. /4

Henrietta Lacks statue by Lawrence Bechtel in Roanoke, Va. The bronze statue portrays Henrietta standing tall and proud. Her arms are crossed, her chin is high, and she wears a warm, inviting smile. Her pose radiates human dignity, inviting strangers to walk up and look into her eyes. The statue was unveiled on Oct. 4, 2023, the 72nd anniversary of her death. It stands in downtown Roanoke at Henrietta Lacks Plaza. The monument in the plaza was so impactful that it sparked a wider initiative to weave Henrietta’s legacy into the local medical landscape. On the morning the main statue was unveiled, miniature bronze versions (maquettes) were dedicated inside local medical institutions. These statues are placed so that medical students and future doctors must look upon her face every day. It serves as a permanent reminder of the ethical duty physicians owe to their patients and a stark acknowledgment of historical healthcare inequities.

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Shooti @bambooshooti.bsky.social · 7h

Born in rural Roanoke, Va., Lacks grew up working on a tobacco farm with her grandfather. She and her husband, David “Day” Lacks, had five children. During the WWII industrial boom, they moved to Maryland so he could work at the Bethlehem Steel shipyard, while she managed their busy household. /3

Henrietta Lacks (left) and her husband, David “Day” Lacks, in an undated, heavily damaged photo. When Henrietta was only four years old, her mother died. Unable to care for his 10 children alone, her father took them to Clover, Va., and divided them among various relatives. Henrietta was sent to live with her maternal grandfather, Tommy Lacks, who lived in what the family called the “Home-House.” It was a four-room log cabin that had been the slave quarters on a sprawling tobacco plantation. The plantation had originally belonged to Henrietta’s white great-grandfather, Albert Lacks. Henrietta, her grandfather and her cousins woke up at 4:00 a.m. every day to toil in the same tobacco fields where their ancestors had been enslaved. Day and Henrietta were cousins who grew up together in Clover, sharing a long history before they became husband and wife. He was a complex, quiet man whose life was upended by the loss of his wife and the medical exploitation that followed.

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Shooti @bambooshooti.bsky.social · 7h

Before she was a medical miracle, Lacks was a vibrant, loving woman who took care of everyone around her. She didn’t lead protests or write books, but her short life was defined by a quiet, steady strength in a world that was incredibly difficult for African American women in the 1930s and 40s. /2

Portrait of Henrietta Lacks in the National Portrait Gallery. The portrait depicts Lacks standing in a red dress and holding a bible. She is wearing a straw hat that’s tilted back on her head, creating a halo or nimbus effect. Behind her is a stylized honeycomb pattern representing her cells. The portrait is a fitting tribute to a woman who was a devout Catholic and who loved the color red. She took great pride in her appearance, often wearing bright red lipstick and always kept her fingernails neatly manicured and painted a matching, brilliant red. In the portrait, Henrietta has a radiant smile, illustrating a woman who loved to dance and laugh.

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Shooti @bambooshooti.bsky.social · 7h

#ResistanceRoots Henrietta Lacks died on this day in 1951 in Baltimore, Md. She only became well-known for what she contributed after her death. However, she deserves to be remembered as a beautiful young mother who was much more than her immortalized human cell line used in medical research. /1

Henrietta Lacks, ca. late 1940s. Lacks is the unwitting mother of modern medical research whose exploitation forced the world to reinvent medical ethics. As the source of the HeLa cell line, she unknowingly gave humanity its first “immortal” human cells, enabling medical advances that have touched millions of lives worldwide. The dark side of these medical breakthroughs is the stark reality of paternalistic, Jim Crow-era medicine, where a poor Black woman’s body could be harvested without her knowledge or informed consent. For decades, Henrietta was reduced to an anonymous laboratory code. Today, her descendants, artists and global communities have fought to ensure she is remembered as a person. Her final resting place is marked with a granite headstone honoring her not just as a medical miracle, but as a mother who loved to cook, wear bright red lipstick, and take care of her family.

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ru1g.bsky.social @ru1g.bsky.social · 17h

"Voting prevents unwanted presidencies" Photo: Concord, CA-October 3, 2026- Immigration court demonstration. @indivisible.org @indivisresistcoco.bsky.social @visibilitybrigade.bsky.social bring-maureen-home.vercel.app

Photo: Concord, CA-October 3, 2026- Immigration court demonstration.

Community members gathered at the Federal Immigration Court location to raise awareness and support of those that have been wrongfully detained by ICE. The community also raised voices in opposition to unwarranted military actions as well as other unjust and violent acts by ICE and other federal government agencies. This event was organized by Indivisible Resisters Contra Costa, a grassroots, nonpartisan group advocating for policies to support immigration reform, campaign finance reform, universal healthcare, racial justice, and to protect our environment.

Come join us next week and make your voice heard!
Check @indivisresistcoco.bsky.social‬ or https://indivisibleresisters.org for additional information.

VisibilityBrigade.com
indivisible.org

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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 5h

I have faith that he will figure out what he is allowed to chew. Someday.

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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 5h

He is a sweet little angel dog and also loves chewing anything made of wood.

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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 5h

Me, trying not to lose my temper: Virga for the love of God Montresor can you chew any one of the 97 chew toys surrounding you? Virga: I can tell that you're unhappy with me in some way, and I have no idea what it's about Virga: I'm gonna nervously chew the coffee table while I ponder this question

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Dave Brown @daveartmv.bsky.social · 7h

My granddog adapted well to his new Hot Wheels. #dogsky #dog

Old dog with training wheels on the patio.

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Donna Stern @dvsmemphis.bsky.social · 6h

"Thank God that we have a government that's ready to show up," says Todd Blanche with zero self-awareness. Voters do not need government handlers standing over voting booths under the laughable guise of "election integrity" #momsky#sheshed

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Christopher Cartwright @chriscartwright.bsky.social · 20h

Mass killing on an industrial scale Destruction of our oceans . Overfishing , pollution, warming #WarOnNature #Metacrisis #biosphere

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Christopher Cartwright @chriscartwright.bsky.social · 17h

This is our extraordinary 🌎 Why are we destroying it? Why are we killing whales in 2026? Polluting and warming oceans? #ClimateCrisis #Metacrisis #WarOnNature

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Christopher Cartwright @chriscartwright.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

On this account, you will be able to find the major #Climate data regarding temperatures and forecasts, for air but also oceans Co2 levels #cryosphere data Solving the #ClimateCrisis is now impossible. Because citizens don't want to. And the wall of money will support that decision #Metacrisis

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𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕖 𝔾𝕦𝕣𝕝 @sundaedivine.lol · 15h

Trump inherited an economy The Economist called “The Envy of the World" and ran it into the ground, just like everything else he inherited.

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Miaganga @miaganga.bsky.social · 13h

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Sam Bellamy @sambdesk.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

From the story: "A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to fast-track requests for Jeffrey Epstein investigative records that mention President Donald Trump or Mar-a-Lago, along with communications showing how senior DOJ and FBI officials handled the files."

lawcommentary.com

Judge Orders DOJ to Fast-Track Epstein Files Mentioning Trump and Mar-a-Lago | Law Commentary

A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to fast-track requests for Jeffrey Epstein investigative records that mention President Donald Trump or Mar-a-Lago, along with communications showing...

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❌👑 Bernadette🫘🟧💙🐈‍⬛ @vintageknits.bsky.social · 8h

Jared, having several children jumping up and down begging you to get some is the EXPERT LEVEL challenge. Ask any parent!! 🤣🤣🤣

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Jared Yates Sexton @jysexton.bsky.social · 9h

Getting an invaluable opportunity to practice radical acceptance and strengthen my personal serenity with this ice cream truck that’s been making laps around my house and has parked out front for an extended amount of time with its music going on motherfucking October 4th

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CorrinaLeeB 🇨🇦 @corrina.sheshed.rocks · 23/09/2026

🗳️ Minnesota, voting is underway! You don’t have to wait until Election Day. Make your voting plan, know your options & cast your ballot when it works for you. Election Day is Nov. 3. Make your voice count! 💙 #Minnesota #Vote2026 #VivaHerAlliance #SheShed

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Sam Bellamy @sambdesk.bsky.social · 15h

Springsteen's Streets of Minneapolis at the Power to the People Festival. We haven't forgotten, Trump. www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUtS...

youtube.com

Streets Of Minneapolis, Power To The People festival, 3 octubre 2026 | 🎥 Joan Colet

YouTube video by The Stone Pony | Bruce Springsteen Club

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Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 12h

Memorable Presidential Quotes In History From FDR: "The only thing we have to fear... is fear itself." From JFK: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." From our Vulgarian-In-Chief:

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Sam Bellamy @sambdesk.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

At the 32-minute mark, professional opportunist Tucker Carlson questions why Great Britain fought in WWII. "I'm not defending Hitler," he says. But he is. By glibly dismissing Hitler's threat, Carlson most certainly is defending him. www.youtube.com/live/WDwKfFV...

youtube.com

“Prepare for War” - Tucker Confronts Britain’s Most Pro-War Advocate

YouTube video by Tucker Carlson

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CorrinaLeeB 🇨🇦 @corrina.sheshed.rocks · 24/09/2026

🗳️ North Dakota, absentee voting begins today, September 24th! Your vote is your voice. Make it heard. 💙 Know your options. Make your plan. Make your voice count. Every vote matters. Every voice counts. #NorthDakota #Vote2026 #VivaHerAlliance #SheShed

🗳️ North Dakota, absentee voting begins today, September 24th!

Your vote is your voice. Make it heard. 💙

Know your options. Make your plan. Be ready for Nov. 3.

Every vote matters. Every voice counts.

#NorthDakota #Vote2026 #VivaHerAlliance #SheShed

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Blue Tsunami #NoKings @bluefuture.bsky.social · 10h

The right wing candidate in Brazil, Flavio Bolsonaro, son of the former president Jair Bolsonaro (sound familiar?), is on track to lose based on early vote tabulations, though it will likely go to a runoff. Mexico and Brazil will likely be the countries resisting right wing shifts in LatAm most.

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Dee Lomas @deelomas.bsky.social · 12h

As a child, I used to watch the Wizard Of Oz and wonder how someone could talk if they didn’t have a brain. Now that I’m older and I have social media… I wonder no longer…

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Alyssa Harad @alyssaharad.bsky.social · 8h

We have just now been rescued and I am feeling very grateful.

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Alyssa Harad @alyssaharad.bsky.social · 8h

It does involve money, but not as much money as a physical therapy.

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Alyssa Harad @alyssaharad.bsky.social · 8h

We found ours through Task Rabbit and then went rogue and I have no idea how I lived before I could call him. (Well yes I do and it involved a lot of back injuries and favors from friends. This is better.)

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Alyssa Harad @alyssaharad.bsky.social · 8h

If you are not yourself a Strong Person With A Truck, and have some money to spare, I cannot recommend enough having such a person on speed dial for lifting and moving emergencies.

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Paul Eric @pauleric70.bsky.social · 9h

Fifteen billion miles from home, the farthest machine humans have ever built is still doing science on less memory than a blank Word document and a data recorder that is, quite literally, an 8-track tape. Voyager 1, launched in 1977, is roughly 15.9 billion miles out—closing in on one light-day

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Sam Bellamy @sambdesk.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

From the story: Freeman performed "a biomechanical analysis" of the ligature pattern and reviewed what he described to CBS News as "images that show injuries unaccounted for by the medical examiner."

cbsnews.com

Professor to present Epstein findings that raise questions about whether he killed himself

Michael Freeman plans to publish his research and the New York City Medical Examiner's Epstein autopsy files.

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Chef Toneman @tonemanb.bsky.social · 14h

I have driven tractors for about 15000 hours, some without cabs. This tractor has A/C. He lucked out that day. Nonetheless there is still work to be done outside the cab when doing tractor work. I drank a gallon of water a day. Sometimes it would be 100° f at 10 am. ¡Saludos a Carlos!

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AmeriPat70 @ameripat70.bsky.social · 11h

To reinforce Your post…ICE is a fascist group operating above the law, from lack of training, the lie about their operations, objectives, lack of cameras, no warrants, no badges, no markings on vehicles…this is the immoral disaster that the republicans funded…and should get a lot of the blame for.

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RESIST | FIGHT™ @resistfight.com · 12h

MASKED ICE AGENTS KIDNAPPED A WOMAN AT LAX AIRPORT. NO IDENTIFICATION. NO WARRANT. PLEASE REPOST/SHARE TO HELP IDENTIFY HER. URGENT 🚨 bsky.app/profile/resi...

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