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Jacob Lesniewski

@jplesniewski.bsky.social
722 followers 434 following 208 posts

Area Director, Mennonite Central Committee, South America, Mexico and Cuba

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Reposted by Jacob Lesniewski
Dennis Hogan @dennismhogan.bsky.social · 17h
Attention on Deck: New England Review of Boats Issue 1 is now available for preorder! Shipping out on October 25. Get it here: newenglandreviewofboats.square.site/product/-pre...
newenglandreviewofboats.square.site
**Pre-order sale** New England Review of Boats, Issue 1 | New England Review of Boats
Pre-order Issue 1 of the New England Review of Boats!The beautifully-illustrated, 80-page magazine features stories such as…-A spirited defense of Long John Silver’s by Abdullah Shihipar-An oral histo...
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Reposted by Jacob Lesniewski
Yael Schacher @yaelschacher.bsky.social · 20h
I am in Cap Haitien interviewing people deported from the United States. I have been doing this kind of work for almost a decade and it literally does not get more dire than this. People have lost everything they built in the U.S. and are terrified and have no place to go or way to live.
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Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Chicago started burning on October 8, 1871. Here is a Chicago magazine story I wrote five years ago, for the 150th anniversary:
web.archive.org
The Great Chicago Fire, As Told By Those Who Lived Through It
As the city marks the 150th anniversary of the defining event, ROBERT LOERZEL mines the archival record to offer a compelling portrait of what it was like to live through those disastrous days.
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Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Witnesses captured the moment NYPD officers rushed to the scene of a shooting involving federal goons in the Bronx this afternoon. Officers ran to the scene and carried a man into the back of a car to transport him to the hospital.
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I think people should listen to what the administration trying to bring back spectacle lynchings, race riots, and middle passage-esque deportation voyages are trying to tell you about themselves. bsky.app/profile/bren...
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 08/10/2026
a livestreamed execution is just a lynching
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Jacob Lesniewski @jplesniewski.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This time of monsters keeps getting more monstruous. A chambear pues
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Reposted by Jacob Lesniewski
Terri Gerstein @terrigerstein.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Today: Lyft pays $272M for underpaying CA drivers 2016-2020. Last week: DoorDash pays $131M for underpayments in NYC. The scale of the grift is huge: this is just 2 companies in 1 state/1 city over a few yrs. My big Q: what’s happening everywhere else?? (1/3) talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/whats-m...
talkingpointsmemo.com
What’s Missing From Coverage of the Massive DoorDash Worker Settlement
This op-ed is part of Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. Last...
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Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
ICE activity has been picking up again in Chicago A LOT. If you were previously involved with ICE watch efforts, now is a good time to reengage. I’m going to start wearing a whistle again.
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Liberation Library is about $7,500 away from their goal of raising $15,000 for their work. "Each month, Liberation Library hosts public packing days where volunteers fill book order requests directly from young people incarcerated throughout Illinois." mailchi.mp/4e86103d2b91...
mailchi.mp
We’re falling behind
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Every time a young person emails me about what they should do at this moment, I say "organize a fundraiser for someone or a group doing the kind of work you value." I don't usually hear back after that, lol.
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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 15/09/2026
As previously reported, GOP has repeatedly attacked the faith of the 8 Dem pastors/former pastors/seminarians running for Congress this year. But curious how Vance’s attack on Hamilton’s faith will play: Hamilton is a *megachurch* pastor, averaging ~20,000 attendees a Sunday. x.com/acyn/status/...
x.com
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 14/09/2026
Cis people do not understand how much trans people's rights have regressed in just 5 years. 5 years ago, there were none of these restrictions. 19 states banned legal recognition 21 states have bathroom bans 8 states ban gender marker changes on DLs 25 ban gender affirming care for trans youth
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Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 10/09/2026
The powerful El Niño that’s already disrupting global weather patterns has a 75% chance of becoming “a historic event,” surpassing all records dating back to 1950, the US Climate Prediction Center said.
bloom.bg
Powerful El Niño Nears Record Strength, US Forecasters Say
The powerful El Niño that’s already disrupting global weather patterns has a 75% chance of becoming “a historic event,” surpassing all records dating back to 1950, the US Climate Prediction Center said.
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Lynda Lopez @lyndab08.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
"In August, Hijas del Pueblo was able to get a permanent memorial approved at the site." "Balvaneda said a bench and a plaque will be installed next to the vigil later this month." “It’s a space that makes it known that we will not tolerate federal violence in our town,” Balvaneda said."
blockclubchicago.org
A Year After ICE Killed A Father Outside Chicago, FBI Won't Release Any Info About Investigation
Silverio Villegas González was killed during a traffic stop in Franklin Park. His family is working with lawyers and the Mexican Consulate to file a wrongful death claim against the federal government...
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Jeff Abbott @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Guatemalans sent home $2.327 billion in August 2026, another massive amount of money that out paces prior years. This money has meant communities have been able to maintain amidst rising costs, deportations, and uncertainty. Remittances mean life for so many communities.
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Reposted by Jacob Lesniewski
WTTW - Chicago PBS @wttw.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
A new report from the University of Illinois Chicago estimates $1.26 billion of retail and restaurant activity was lost in the Chicago area as a result of increased immigration enforcement under the second Trump administration. to.wttw.com/4qXxnVb
to.wttw.com
UIC Report Estimates $1.2B of Retail, Restaurant Activity Lost During Heightened Immigration Enforcement in Chicago Area
The report, “Hunkering Down: The Hidden Economic Cost of Federal Immigration Enforcement in Cook County, IL,” was released by UIC’s Great Cities Institute. The report also found an estimated $107 mill...
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Reposted by Jacob Lesniewski
Sarah Lazare @sarahlazare.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
"How Minnesota Unions and Community Groups Stood Up to an ICE Occupation" - by Greg Nammacher, president of SEIU Local 26. Really glad to see @labornotes.bsky.social reprint this excerpt from This Is How We Win.
labornotes.org
How Minnesota Unions and Community Groups Stood Up to an ICE Occupation
In this excerpt from the new book This Is How We Win: A Guide to Building Working-Class Uprisings, SEIU Local 26 President Greg Nammacher describes how his union, its members battered and exhausted fr...
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
We woke up thinking about the long shadow of all the workers’ wins and even their losses. We made it free to watch the short documentary that dominated my life this year. Happy Labor Day. vimeo.com/1224659811/7...
vimeo.com
Power to the People, Y'all [Happy Labor Day]
Power to the People, Y’all is a character-driven documentary that explores aging, legacy, and resistance through interviews with five founding members of the Winston-Salem Chapter of the Black Panther...
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 07/09/2026
Registration is open, free, limited, & required. Great set of research presentations lined up on education, health, economy, mutual aid & more. Learn about the frontier evidence and connect with those working to generate it. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
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Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
"But in Springfield, the heightened level of fear is so widespread, & the state-imposed terror vs a vulnerable minority so constant, that it is impossible to see this as anything but [Trump's] proof of concept for the president’s militarized vision of what America should be" - @swin24.bsky.social
zeteo.com
Inside Trump’s Nightmare for Haitians in Springfield: ‘We’re Following Our Orders’
The most urgent moral test in all of Trump’s America today is happening in a small Ohio city – and we as a country are failing it miserably.
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Jeff Abbott @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Texas is holding a quarter of all immigrants detained by the Trump administration. The state has been at the center of the Trump administration's detention and deportation policies. Here is my story looking at this scary reality.
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Andromeda @ulveheksa.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Questionnaire by Wendell Berry
Questionnaire by Wendell Berry

1. How much poison are you willing to eat for the success of the free market and global trade?
Please name your preferred poisons.

2. For the sake of goodness, how much evil are you willing to do?
Fill in the following blanks with the names of your favorite evils and acts of hatred.

3. What sacrifices are you prepared to make for culture and civilization? Please list the monuments, shrines, and works of art you would most willingly destroy.

4. In the name of patriotism and the flag, how much of our beloved land are you willing to desecrate? List in the following spaces the mountains, rivers, towns, farms you could most readily do without.

5. State briefly the ideas, ideals, or hopes, the energy sources, the kinds of security, for which you would kill a child. Name, please, the children whom you would be willing to kill.
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NPR @npr.org · 01/09/2026
In this moving performance, Mon Rovîa's soft, clear voice tackles difficult, yet poignant stories from his own life and the world. n.pr/4xyV0Gh
n.pr
Mon Rovîa: Tiny Desk Concert
In this moving performance, Mon Rovîa's soft, clear voice tackles difficult, yet poignant stories from his own life and the world.
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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
US historians! Tax, revenue, and public sector scholars! Please help me out. My students ask good questions. This week, they asked where the federal government got revenue before the 16th Amendment okayed income taxes. Can anyone answer, or refer me to good sources on this?
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Jacob Lesniewski @jplesniewski.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
I think we don't talk about this because we want to avoid giving fuel to the fire of (at least in LATAM) the accusations that there are no progressives movements here w/o shadowy USAID funding, but it's a real impact that we can't just "imperialism/colonialism" analyze away.
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Jacob Lesniewski @jplesniewski.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Or maybe better said AND the quantity of human suffering unleashed by Elon/DOGE boys/Russel Vought, etc. plus the ways in which USAID funding collapse ended up starving out human rights, LBGTQIA funding/advocacy, progressive youth work, support for indigenous communities is also awful.
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Jacob Lesniewski @jplesniewski.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
This whole thread (this is the in the middle) is super important, this post is particularly important. I literally drafted/wrote the position paper in my organization about how we would never channel/accept USAID funding b/c of the US soft power/counter-insurgency. BUT....
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Reposted by Jacob Lesniewski
Adam Sawyer @adamjst.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I've updated the ICE detention charts on my website with book ins data through Aug. 6. adamjsawyer.com/detentioncha...
adamjsawyer.com
ICE Detention Charts – Adam J. Sawyer
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Adam Isacson @adamisacson.com · 22/08/2026
So if you're the judge who issues an order like this to a *baby*, or the government-funded USCRI attorney who doesn't speak up, what do you do next? Go home, have dinner with your spouse, go to bed, and get up for another perfectly normal workday? What kind of life is this?
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Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I had some feelings to express about the "Woke 1" discourse.
organizingmythoughts.org
Woke What? Let's Be Fucking Serious
Our politics are not the politics that have detached this country from reality, or normalized increasingly inhuman policies.
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Adam Isacson @adamisacson.com · 22/08/2026
In the latest WOLA Border Update: - Border Patrol's migrant apprehensions declined slightly in July. - Barrier-building controversies erupt in Big Bend and other sensitive areas. - A major increase in third-country deportations places many in jeopardy. - Soldiers have more border arrest powers.
wola.org
U.S.-Mexico Border Update: July migration, outcry over barrier construction, third-country deportations, military role - WOLA
Border Patrol's migrant apprehensions declined slightly in July. Wall-building controversies erupt in several sensitive areas. A major increase in third-country deportations places many in jeopardy. S...
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Adam Isacson @adamisacson.com · 19/08/2026
Starting in 40 minutes. Still time to register:
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Yael Schacher @yaelschacher.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
As we have documented on Third Country Deportation Watch — where we also have some numbers— this has been happening for months. Essentially since Mullin became Secretary and relations cooled between Sheinbaum and Trump admin. www.cbsnews.com/news/us-depo...
cbsnews.com
U.S. quietly deporting Mexican migrants to Guatemala and Honduras, angering Mexico
The Trump administration has been quietly deporting migrants from Mexico to Central America, despite the Mexican government's willingness to accept the return of all its citizens.
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Reposted by Jacob Lesniewski
Anat Shenker-Osorio @anatosaurus.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
The incredible Sarah Mehta of the ACLU breaks down what is happening with unaccompanied immigrant kids.
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Anat Shenker-Osorio @anatosaurus.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Do not look away: thehill.com/opinion/immi...
thehill.com
Stephen Miller’s dystopian dream: Government-sanctioned child abuse
The harm is not just physical.
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Jacob Lesniewski @jplesniewski.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Wrote a paper about it too...
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Jacob Lesniewski @jplesniewski.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
The key moment that opened up space for leftist/progressives in Chicago was the CTU strike in 2012, Bernie was nowhere to be found and the notion of teachers being the catalyst for multi-racial, working class organizing in a city like chicago doesn't fit comfortably with some dem soc analysis..
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Jacob Lesniewski @jplesniewski.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
It may be just jealousy or "back in my day this was way harder" but I've felt continuously uneasy about the ways in which Bernie and then DSA have become lionized in progressive circles and beyond as "the" reason any leftist successes since 2016
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brutalism apologist 🇵🇸 @brutapologist.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
COMO SE DICE “BALL DONT LIE”
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Jacob Lesniewski @jplesniewski.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Literally left watch party 90 seconds before running back to see what screams were about!
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Jacob Lesniewski @jplesniewski.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
That was egregious. I would be rasheed wallace-ing out there.
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Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
This Day in Labor History: June 25, 1938. FDR signed the Fair Labor Standards Act. This groundbreaking piece of legislation set the standards of labor that defined post-war America, including minimum wages, overtime pay, and the banning of most child labor. Like everything, it was also incremental.
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Jalen Brunson: “You’re allowed to think about the worst possible scenario. But you gotta go out there and do something about it.” A good mantra for fighting fascism too.
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Jacob Lesniewski @jplesniewski.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
I love this, but it also kind of looks like Jeff, the electric car the Top Gear guys made.
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Jacob Lesniewski @jplesniewski.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
I did it! 82-0! www.82-0.com/share?id=yI1...
82-0.com
82-0
Build the ultimate NBA all-time team and see if you can go 82-0
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Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
I’m excited to share that @ksavin.bsky.social, @calliefreitag.bsky.social, and I have a new piece out summarizing our research on how the Trump admin’s attack on the public sector have made it harder to get and maintain disability benefits—which were already quite difficult to navigate.
theconversation.com
Getting disability benefits got harder after the Social Security Administration’s staff was slashed and program rules were changed by Trump
Researchers learned from dozens of interviews that the usual ways of resolving complex cases, escalating issues and holding the authorities accountable no longer work.
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Jacob Lesniewski @jplesniewski.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Pumas are the UNAM (big public uni) team. Almost won the championship this season...
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Jacob Lesniewski @jplesniewski.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Generally fans, but in the case of los Pumas there are organized "porras" or fan clubs as well!
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