iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Michael Franklin

The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 28/08/2026

Standing up for each other also means showing up for each other. How do we take care of our communities after the marches are over and we all go home? Michael Franklin goes deeper @mfranklin628.bsky.social

contrariannews.org

Defend the Vote. Sustain the People.

A movement asking people to fight for their future must also help them survive the present.

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Reposted by Michael Franklin

The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 09/06/2026

The NYT reported that the head of Maryland College Republicans introduced an old-guard white nationalist and 2026 Remigration Summit attendee, as someone who can “save our country, to keep it from becoming a non-English-speaking hellscape where white people are spit at, despised and persecuted.”

contrariannews.org

I Warned About the Young Republicans’ Racist Group Chat. They Got a Passport.

Extremist ideas are laughed off as jokes, then defended as debate, then repeated as campaign language, then embedded int

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Reposted by Michael Franklin

The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 12/05/2026

"Telling people to have faith in systems that are inconsistent, selectively accountable, and structurally unequal without acknowledging that sounds like denial, not inspiration."

contrariannews.org

Young People Know When Institutions Are Playing in Our Faces

Younger generations are not asking for perfection from institutions. We are asking for honesty about what people see and

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Reposted by Michael Franklin

The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 30/04/2026

Republicans in Georgia were calling for new maps within hours. Florida, already in a special session, got the green light to go further. Analysts estimate this could cost Black members of Congress up to 15 seats.

contrariannews.org

The Supreme Court’s Racist Rerun

People fight differently when something has been taken; we are in that moment now

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Reposted by Michael Franklin

The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 06/04/2026

ICYMI: A Texas Republican quietly decertified more than 15,000 minority- and women-owned businesses in December. @staceyabrams.com explains what it means and why it matters:

contrariannews.org

Texas Stripped 15,000 Businesses of Opportunity. Now It Faces a Legal Challenge.

Republicans have made disadvantaged communities a scapegoat for failed economic policies.

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Reposted by Michael Franklin

The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 06/03/2026

“And, for me, that is the part of legacy we don’t romanticize. The question is not whether older leaders will keep telling stories. They will. The question is whether younger leaders will treat those stories as nostalgia — or as instruction. @mfranklin628.bsky.social

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Reposted by Michael Franklin

The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 30/10/2025

“Young Republicans don’t need a new name. They’ve reclaimed their old one.” @mfranklin628.bsky.social explores the hateful history of descendants becoming their ancestors’ wildest dreams.

contrarian.substack.com

The Young Republicans chat echoes the Citizens Councils of the 1950s and 60s

The casual cruelty, the smirking slurs, the need to dress violence as irony—all of it belongs to an older tradition that

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Michael Franklin @mfranklin628.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

When the Young Republicans’ leaked group chat made headlines, many people were shocked. I wasn’t. My latest piece in @contrariannews.org connects the dots between those “polite” segregationists and the digital heirs who inherited their playbook. contrarian.substack.com/p/the-young-...

contrarian.substack.com

The Young Republicans chat echoes the Citizens Councils of the 1950s and 60s

The casual cruelty, the smirking slurs, the need to dress violence as irony—all of it belongs to an older tradition that has simply found new devices.

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Michael Franklin @mfranklin628.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

As a Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City alum, I wrote this piece because we have a responsibility to call out attacks on an independent institution, the targeting of a Black woman making history, and the ongoing ways our systems undermine leaders who are trying to make a difference.

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Reposted by Michael Franklin

The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 27/08/2025

A president has no legal authority to remove a Federal Reserve governor, yet Trump is moving to oust Lisa Cook. Michael Franklin reports on how the attack echoes a larger pattern of overreach.

contrarian.substack.com

Lisa Cook made history. Now she’s being punished for it.

Her removal isn’t about merit — it’s about politics and baseless attacks designed to silence her voice.

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Michael Franklin @mfranklin628.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

Check out my latest for @contrariannews.org The real divide isn’t left vs. center—it’s action vs. inaction. And too often, Democrats side with consultants who deliver nothing while communities lose everything.

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Reposted by Michael Franklin

The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 19/08/2025

Cuomo’s failed political comeback highlights a much deeper crisis inside the Democratic Party. The question is whether anyone will face it. Michael Franklin explains.

contrarian.substack.com

The credibility crisis no one names: Democrats keep elevating losers

Experience only matters if it delivers.

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Reposted by Michael Franklin

The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 09/08/2025

In a time when everything feels divided—politically, culturally, generationally—this new show builds a vision of the world we could have if we centered connection over competition. @mfranklin628.bsky.social‬ on "Building the Band": contrarian.substack.com/p/what-buil…

contrarian.substack.com

What 'Building the Band' teaches us about talent, culture, and the dream of America

The show uses music and storytelling to build a vision of the world we could have if we centered connection over competi

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Michael Franklin @mfranklin628.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

I wrote about Megan Thee Stallion—not just the trial, but the disinformation, the silence, and the dangerous strategy now unfolding around it. Misogynoir isn’t abstract. It’s political & calculated. And Black men must speak up now, otherwise we risk letting others define us and our communities.

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Reposted by Michael Franklin

The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 29/05/2025

In 2020, Megan Thee Stallion was shot. Her shooter was convicted, but years later, she’s still on trial in the court of public opinion. As @mfranklin628.bsky.social explains, protecting Black women isn’t just a cultural slogan. It’s a political responsibility.

contrarian.substack.com

Men can't be silent on misogynoir

Black men must lead the conversation.

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Reposted by Michael Franklin

The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 24/04/2025

The NFL Draft unites America, but civic leaders are MIA. As Michael Franklin writes: Culture builds politics. Meet people where they already are.

contrarian.substack.com

The NFL draft shows us where the people are.

Now we just have to show up.

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Reposted by Michael Franklin

The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 18/04/2025

“He came to the United States seeking safety, and he did everything right… Then, one day, he disappeared.” Michael Franklin on the quiet cruelty that made Andry Hernandez Romero’s dissapearance possible.

contrarian.substack.com

‘One hairdresser' is the voice of complicity in 2025

Andry Hernandez Romero and the others whose names we don't know are another victims of state-sponsored violence.

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Reposted by Michael Franklin

The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 02/04/2025

Sen. Booker didn’t just deliver a speech—he created a moment. When values speak louder than fear, change follows. Michael Franklin explains

contrarian.substack.com

Cory Booker Met the Moment

The senator’s record-breaking speech reminds us that voice is still a form of resistance

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