iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 06/10/2026

mi seh badness it name! (and while you're here check out @divine.video those the homies)

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 06/10/2026

Them Bluesky folks might ban me for this one. glah glah boom 💥 📸: @rabble.nz

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 06/10/2026

Finally saw myself out here boooooiiiiii

Rudy smiling in front of a flyer of his face

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 06/10/2026

The billionaires (and trillionaire) and their platforms Gotta Go. Don’t even care how they Go now, but they gotta Go.

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 24/09/2026

> hopeful and defiant 💪🏾 > ... a better way to build technology and the future. It's by building close to the problem, not the boardroom. I keep reminding my team to keep that corporate b.s. out of my ear -- you have to embrace and feel the intuition of building in and alongside this movement!

Kaitlyn R. © • 2nd Mozilla Foundation | Marketing and Communications 2h • G

Carli Cole had a great idea. We thought about the medium. Drafted a concept. Some copy. We brought others in, and it evolved into something bold and unexpected. We can't believe it's hitting the streets of NYC. And a Business Insider exclusive? Someone pinch me. But what's even better is what this campaign taught me: the doomsday bullsh*t hawked by the broligarchy is PR spin to make you feel powerless. You're not. We're not. We all still get to decide what the future of tech and the future for our children look like. Jeff, Mark, and Elon may have the capital and the IPOs, but they don't have the imagination. And they can't shape what comes next without our voices. If you remember one thing, it should be that there's reason to be both hopeful and defiant, alongside me and the rest of Mozilla Foundation. Rudolph Fraser, lara Passos, Rose Njeri Tunguru, and countless others are showing us a better way to build technology and the future. It's by building close to the problem, not the boardroom. It's by asking people who are impacted, not just the people funding it. And it's by keeping tech open so ideas, knowledge, and solutions can move freely, as they should. This campaign has changed me, and the work continues to push me to evolve with it. I can't wait to see what comes next, and am immensely grateful for all the collaboration, support, and trust from Carli, Emma Bates, Nabiha Syed, Ziyaad Bhorat, Kat Cadungog, and many others who helped us get this off the ground. There's more to come and I hope you join us: https://mzl.la/47158GV

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 23/09/2026

> The Mozilla Foundation isn't holding back its disdain for Big Tech leaders. > Wannabe kings don't rule the internet. We do. AT Protocol and the broader open social web is one of the ways we take back power from Big Tech. (If you see me out in these New York City streets, let me know.)

Photo of Elon musk on blue paper.
"Elon buys the blue bird. He trashes the place"

Photo of Rudy on orange paper.
"Rudy builds Blacksky. Communities call the shots."

"Wannabe kings don't rule the internet. We do."

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 17/09/2026

📍 D.C. for some Congressional Black Caucus conference festivities.

Rudy mirror selfie in a brown suit in a gold elevator

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 16/09/2026

"touched grass" for my birthday weekend.

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 10/09/2026

Y’all ain’t got this yet 👀 I got DEEP connections (aka my wife, the phenomenal editor @kukuwa.blacksky.app )

Advanced Reader Copy of “DEEP Unlearning” by Timnit Gebru

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 21/08/2026

Thanks to all our friends and family and community that popped out to the Blacksky Community mixer (even in a storm, that’s love, we appreciate you 🖤)

Rudy and Kukuwa smiling at the Blacksky mixer

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 20/08/2026

today is the Blacksky Mixer and also bring Simba to work day.

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 19/08/2026

"America teaches you this idea of rugged individualism and I believe in collectivism ... All power to the people." Me for @mozilla.org

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 18/08/2026

Zines printed 🖨️ and getting ready to ship 📦

Blacksky zine featuring an image of a hand holding a phone with the Blacksky feed displayed and an article by Kay and JD titled “Care Work in the Digital”

Title page of Blacksky’s zine “Networks of Belonging”

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 15/08/2026

As we've seen with recent news, it's important for communities to to be able to choose when visibility serves them and when it doesn't. The ability to have more control and agency in who has access to your posts, page, data, financial transactions, etc. is my focus during my @mozilla.org fellowship

Rudy Fraser

New York, United States

Rudy is adding permissioned posts to the AT Protocol. He will publish an open permissioned data specification, technical documentation, and a reference implementation so other AT Protocol communities can build community-governed spaces of their own.

Why this work matters:

At 3 million members, Blacksky is the largest Black community on the decentralized web. That scale also makes it a target. Rudy's work addresses a structural gap in the AT Protocol, giving communities the ability to choose when visibility serves them and when it doesn't.

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 03/08/2026

> Rudy deserves a lot of credit for taking those early risks when it was much harder to build and being the first to prove that it can be done, but it’s getting easier and easier. We are seeing more and more BlueSky and BlackSky-style networks pop up pretty often Shoutout the Original Risk Takers™️

You've mentioned BlackSky a handful of times in this conversation. I've been lucky enough to be at a dinner with Rudy (Fraser| who runs BlackSky. He's prolific in talking about what it's like to actually build on the ATmosphere and what a lot of the challenges have been. Because it hasn't yet really, truly been decentralized. Now it's my turn to say, I won't go into the weeds of the protocol, but there are parts of the BlueSky stack and parts of the ATmosphere that have been pretty heavily centralized up until fairly recently. Is it easy to stand up a competitor, in the way that you're describing people can stand up competitors to WordPress and operate in their own universe using the same tools and same access to end customers? Or is there still work to be done there? Because it hasn't been easy up until now, at least using the example of BlackSky. Rudy deserves a lot of credit for taking those early risks when it was much harder to build and being the first to prove that it can be done, but it's getting easier and easier. We are seeing more and more BlueSky- and BlackSky-style networks pop up pretty often. We're actually seeing a whole bunch of energy in Europe. We've got EuroSky. W Social just launched. There's another one I think that's about to launch. It's getting easier, and we're investing a lot to make it as easy as possible. In addition to being an open protocol, all of BlueSky's open source. You can take the BlueSky app and just fork it and go do your own BlueSky. That's great, but we're really also interested in people building other things that are microblogging on the network and making that super easy.

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 24/07/2026

Big news coming soon. 👀 👀 👀

Group photo of 9 individuals including Rudy

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 19/07/2026

Passed my motorcycle course and am ready to terrorize the streets of Brooklyn. 🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️🏍️💨💨💨💨💨💨

Congratulations card for completing the Basic Ridercourse

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 16/07/2026

Just gonna use these moments as free promotion going forward.

Chiming in to say as the CEO of Blacksky that not only do we have an independent AT Protocol implementation in Rust ( https://github.com/blacksk..)
Not only do we run a fully independent stack ( https://docs.blacksky.com...)
Not only are we getting paid by other orgs to stand up independent app view servers.
We also received a license from Bluesky for the atproto trademark.
There are no qualms in the ecosystem from people making money, getting users, and providing new experiences about this.
It's not "AT Protocol fans" who aren't taking issue with this. It's business with employees and organizations making a positive impact.
It's easy to criticize if you're not actively shipping

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 12/07/2026

These being the only topics is creasing me. really said, "today's topic is white men's tears"

Trending
1. Lindsey Graham Death
2. Yellowstone Bison Attack
3. Conor McGregor Injury

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 04/07/2026

And we’re hosting a skill share tomorrow July 5th, if you’re anywhere near Bed Stuy.

We The People NYC
FREE COMMUNITY SKILL SHARE
Herbert Von King Park
мне
PEOPLE
LOPLE
Sunday July 5th - Neen 16 4pm
In a world where education is often behind a paywall, sharing our skills & knowledge with community for free is radical.
We The People NYC is an abolitionist mutual aid collective providing free hot meals, clothing, & more resources every Thursday at Ipm on the NW corner of Fulton st & Nostrand ave ig: @wethepeople_nyc
website: wethepeople.nyc
We The People NYC Gutreach...
Learn about us, how to support, & get information resources
12-4pm
free Glothing Swap
12-4pm
free Book Swap
12-4pm
Housing Specialist Q&A
Discuss your housing questions with a community specialist
1-4pm
Tarol Card Readings
1-2pm
Self Defense Glass
1-2pm
Dance/Pilates Cembe Glass ...
Knitting Skillshare
2-3pm
Learn the basics & take it home! Materials provided!
2-3pm
Skateboarding Lesson
Learn the basics! bring a skateboard if you can!
3-4pm

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 04/07/2026

The We The People Harlem mutual aid distro and the community we’ve been building for years is the only thing worth celebrating today in my humble opinion. ✊🏾

“We The People, For The People, By The People”
WTP NYC group photo featuring a smiling Rudy

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 28/06/2026

The first era of Blacksky was building community. The next era of Blacksky is building coalitions. Blacksky to the world and back. 🌍 @jdot.blacksky.team

Waag FutureLab, Commons Network, Blacksky group photo

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 19/06/2026

"Everyone keeps telling me Threads is the new Black Twitter ... If we cannot build our own platforms, if we continue to farm the digital plantations of Meta -- do we actually want to be free?" - @thehost.theinvite.us via @stream.place stream.place/thehost.thei...

Dr. Kay interview with The Invite on Stream

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 18/06/2026

Once you’ve built your community, Your community can build. All power to the people. ✊🏾

Rudy smiling and posing with Millie; one of the aunties and organizers of We The People NYC.

Rudy, Relly Rebel and a neighborhood organizer chopping it up during We The People NYC distro

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 11/06/2026

Prerequisite: In order to build for community, you should first have at least one. By the people, for the people. Who the people? We The People ✊🏾

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 10/06/2026

Testing a post from the Blacksky iOS app.

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 07/06/2026

…I of course shared the story of my Surinamese maternal grandmother who spoke Dutch, lived under colonial rule and likely never imagined that 1 of her grandchildren would fly to the land of her colonizers to tell the people of Amsterdam, computer hackers, business people, etc to be more optimistic…

A faded photo of Venetta Yvonne Charles, Rudy’s grandmother. She’s in a white tee and blue jeans, sitting outside having a drink

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 04/06/2026

Yes we stand on the shoulders of giants — but we also lift & hold each other up Unity is power Why would I go dollar for dollar or feature for feature with a better resourced enemy? In my head community will prevail & If my community is in community with other communities we‘ll win as a coalition

Rudy giving a speech at the New_ Public partners get together at Waag Futures Lab. He is in front of a screen with the PublicSpaces: Technology for Democracy flier displayed.

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 03/06/2026

Can’t help but notice - don’t personally think you need a suppressor to defend a train station from whatever these guys are looking for - nypd is the softest law enforcement organization based on my various comparisons. Will not explain further. They might see this since all they do is scroll feeds.

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 02/06/2026

Fell in love with cranking the throttle.

Rudy selfie with motorcycle helmet and gloves

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 30/05/2026

in this video in like 4 different ways and I hate that

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 30/05/2026

45mph unlocked but under my rebranded, non-aggressive, law-abiding citizen era I promise to follow all traffic laws.

Ariel Rider X-Class PPB Performance edition with Blacksky and Northsky stickers

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 28/05/2026

Send and receive money with your friends on Blacksky. Build payments into your next Open Social Web project. Include your payment link in your Bluesky profile. Soon.

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 13/05/2026

Heavy on the “it depends on Bluesky-the-corporation for none of its operation.” 🗣️🗣️🗣️

To see what this looks like, take Blacksky. Blacksky started in 2021 and launched publicly in
2023, founded by technologist @rude1.blacksky.team as a project to build infrastructure and curation tools for Black users of the AT Protocol, many of them refugees from Black Twitter. It runs its own Personal Data Server, where users can host their accounts and migrate their identity off Bluesky's hosting whenever they want. It runs its own global relay-called atproto.africa- which it built from scratch and which stores its own copy of all activity from every AT Protocol account on the network. It runs its own moderation relay that aggregates labels from every moderation service operating across the network. It runs its own feed generators. The whole stack is written in Rust, in an open-source project called rsky, and it depends on
Bluesky-the-corporation for none of its operation. If Bluesky-the platform and the corporation- vanished tomorrow, Blacksky would continue on unscathed. Its users would still post, still follow each other, still see their feeds, still be moderated according to Blacksky's policies rather than anyone else's. And they would still, because the protocol is open and the data is portable, be able to interact with everyone on the network who chose to remain
reachable to them.

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 09/05/2026

When my posts end up in the Discover feed:

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 08/05/2026

What do streets think about being able to read long form content / blogs from within blacksky.community (powered by standard.site) @pckt.blog @leaflet.pub @offprint.app in the below rough demo.

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 07/05/2026

What other app builders see (screenshot below) I will write a longer blog post explaining the thinking behind the AI Preferences setting, the ecosystem approach we took via @lexicon.community, etc. But wanted to get a post out and see reactions.

{
"$type": "community.lexicon.preference.ai",
"preferences": {
"embedding": {
"allow": true,
"updatedAt": "2026-05-05T19:32:11.842Z"
},
"inference": {
"allow": true,
"updatedAt": "2026-05-05T19:32:02.200Z"
},
"syntheticContent": {
"allow": false,
"updatedAt": "2026-05-05T19:32:03.587Z"
},
"training": {
"allow": false,
"updatedAt": "2026-05-05T19:31:35.066Z"
}
},
"scope": {
"$type": "community.lexicon.preference.ai#globalScope"
},
"updatedAt": "2026-05-05T19:32:11.842Z"
}

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 07/05/2026

ICYMI: We have a new "AI Preferences" setting This allows you to announce to the entire ATmosphere network what you consent to regarding AI use of your public data. Other apps can see this but ~may not~ respect the settings We built this to give you a place to set these and will 100% respect them

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Rudy Fraser @rude1.blacksky.team · 07/05/2026

Like this post if you want GIPHY on blacksky.community (and the forthcoming mobile app(s))

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