iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 05/02/2026

happy to be included in @hkappklote.bsky.social’s 312 newsletter, giving a little insight into why @thetriibe.com doesn’t post on that one site anymore.

Tiffany Walden (co-founder and editor-in-chief, The TRiiBE): "The TRiiBE stopped posting on X shortly after the 2024 presidential election. Engagement has always ebbed and flowed on the platform, based on whatever the algorithm was told to do at the time. But during and following the 2023 Chicago municipal election cycle, our team noticed an increase in derogatory and sometimes threatening comments from people (or bots?) under our posts on X. The posts were harmful to the mental health of our team members who manage our social channels. Some of our contributors were even doxxed on X. We also heard from readers that they were no longer seeing our posts on X. The platform no longer felt like a safe place for constructive dialogue with our readers. We also didn't want to support Elon Musk. So we took a gamble and stopped posting on X."

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Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 21/11/2025

We’ve got a lot more Chicago budget-related stories over at @thetriibe.com We hope you’ll read em and pass them along to others who should be in the know. www.thetriibe.com

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Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 15/10/2025

i’m really sad about D’Angelo. i’m really sad about this world we live in. i wrote my feelings in today’s free newsletter for @thetriibe.com. are you subscribed? Read a snippet below & then click the link in this thread to subscribe.

D’Angelo died yesterday. He was an R&B giant. A Neo-Soul pioneer. All of the things are being said about his earlier albums, 1995’s Brown Sugar and 2000’s Voodoo. Both deserve monumental praise in their own rights. But let’s talk about his surprise 2014 record, Black Messiah; the one that succinctly captured a revolutionary moment.

The Black community was in the thick of despair. Our people were being taken from us left and right. Trayvon Martin was brutally killed at 17 years old, and justice was not served in court. Michael Brown killed in Ferguson, Missouri. Eric Garner violently choked to death in Staten Island. We couldn’t breathe. The violence against Black people was suffocating and inescapable.

Then, D’Angelo dropped Black Messiah in the midnight hours of one December night in 2014. He demanded our attention. The album cover, Black fists and open palms raised in protest and favor, placed us in the middle of the liberation movement. Funk has historically been the genre of Black resistance and freedom. D’Angelo, mostly known throughout his career as an innovative and sexy R&B crooner, returned from his hiatus because he had pain, love and revolution in his heart — just as we all did.

We could barely grieve D’Angelo’s death Tuesday before we learned that our reporter Tonia Hill had been tear gassed. She went out to cover the unrest taking place on the Southeast Side, where militarized federal agents had detained young Black people, been involved in a car crash and deployed tear gas in a residential neighborhood.

President Donald Trump’s federal agents use tear gas as if it’s magic dust. Toss it out and then poof! They disappear into the thick of smoke, off to transport detainees and wreak havoc on another unsuspecting community.

Tonia is OK and resting today. She interviewed people at the scene, and freelance contributor Dave Byrnes jumped in to help her get the story out. (Dave’s been going hard with his reporting for us this past month. Please send a few dollars his way, if you’re able).

We’ve been covering Trump’s militarized occupation of Chicago for more than a month now. I’m now calling it an occupation because we shouldn’t have to wait for the National Guard troops, or any other military force, to arrive on our streets before we call a spade a spade. Masked federal agents, dressed in military camouflage and deploying toxic weapons on residents, is an occupation. They are capturing people — U.S. citizens and all — without any hesitation or pause.

I’ve never stopped listening to D’Angelo’s Black Messiah, because police violence in America has never stopped. Now, communities who were otherwise unaffected by police violence are witnessing and experiencing what Black Americans have for centuries. This time around, under an escalating authoritarian regime, I hope people will forever be moved to end the unchecked powers of the police state.

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Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 29/09/2025

Still thinking about the way Chicago indie media came together yesterday to demand Steve’s release. That level of solidarity in such a crucial moment gives me hope. What’s happening in Chicago is reaching people. Amanda Seales shared it on IG. Tired, but encouraged to keep pushing.

Amanda Seales shared The TRiiBE story on her Instagram page

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Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 27/09/2025

pls support @unraveledpress.com in any way that you can. i wrote about agents shooting our friend in my RESHAPE newsletter today.

Unraveled Press journalist got shot in the face

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Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 19/05/2025

Our homepage @thetriibe.com is all about teen “trends” and the lack of teen 3rd spaces in Chicago as the city approaches a possible vote on a revised curfew policy this week. Visit thetriibe.com to read our coverage, done in partnership with South Side Weekly.

a picture of the current homepage of thetriibe.com with its dedicated coverage to the issue of teen “trends” in Chicago.

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Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 21/02/2025

I’m back in your inbox today. Are you signed up for the members-only RESHAPE newsletter by @thetriibe.com ? Sign up today: thetriibe.com/product/resh...

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Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 18/02/2025

I see y’all signing up for our RESHAPE newsletter at @thetriibe.com. It’s our members-only newsletter where we give a behind-the-scenes look into our reporting and editorial philosophy. Your membership will help keep our Black journalism alive ✊🏾 Sign up today pls ✨ thetriibe.com/product/resh...

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Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 17/02/2025

We’re celebrating our 8th anniversary at @thetriibe.com this month. Will you celebrate with us? We’re asking you to join our members-only newsletter, RESHAPE. Your membership will support and fuel the continued growth of our Black-owned newsroom. Link to join: thetriibe.com/product/resh...

Eight years ago, we set out on a journey to build a newsroom that reflected our values, a newsroom that would be a safe space for Black journalists in ways that we had never experienced. We set out to build a newsroom where Black stories would be at the center rather than on the margins; a newsroom where we would be the majority, the main characters, the dominant voice of our worlds.

We never knew all of the challenges we would face while on this journey, but one thing that has remained constant is our trust in ourselves, our intuition and our dedication to the tradition of the Black press. For us that has always meant owning our publication and having a unique and defined voice, a voice rooted in the Black community and our collective struggle.

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Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 07/02/2025

i’m in your inbox today. have you subscribed to @thetriibe.com’s RESHAPE newsletter? Sign up: thetriibe.com/product/resh...

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Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 03/02/2025

OK y’all, i went back and recorded that part of the Grammys. does it sound like they’re booing Snoop? i can’t really tell, but it’s a different sound than the cheers for artists before his name is called.

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Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 17/01/2025

hi. in case you’re just finding me, i’m editor-in-chief of @thetriibe.com. if you’re looking for a solid newsroom to follow during these times, i’m gonna encourage you to join our RESHAPE newsletter. here’s a sneak peek below, written by our publisher. Join 👇🏾 thetriibe.com/newsletters/

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Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 11/12/2024

i don’t be wanting to bring things from the 🐦 app to this space but… this photo of Chicago reporters going back up to the City Council meeting after a fire is lowkey iconic s/o @tonia.thetriibe.com 🤩

“Fired up City Hall reporters in Chicago fill an elevator to head back to City Council meeting” tweet posted by Shia Kapos.

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Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 23/11/2024

went from blasting GNX on repeat yesterday… to Luther Vandross This Is Christmas today.

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Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 17/11/2024

Let’s see if i can bring them some luck 🤞🏾🐻⬇️🟠

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Tiffany W @tiffany.thetriibe.com · 15/11/2024

lol saw this comment (and others like it) from one of our readers on IG. now if the mayor had’ve said let’s reduce the police budget himself, there would’ve been a riot

the image is a comment to The TRiiBE story about Chicago City Council vote down of property tax hike. “wow what a novel fucking idea that BJ couldn’t come up with all on his own.”

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