iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The next time you think a kid is just "being defiant"— remind yourself that "Simon says" was LITERALLY a cognitively challenging game until like 4th grade.

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Niiiick Howling @friction.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Happiness is floor to ceiling bookshelves. Wore my The Death Penalty Kills people shirt out today. Proponents of state sanctioned killing imagine removing contagion maybe, just desserts, or righteous punishment. I cannot but see the torment of people unable to resist a system that overpowers them.

A man takes a selfie with partially assembled shelves and he’s wearing a gray shirt that reads “The death penalty kills people.”

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

For Courtney, who flaises with prooth and lutches not.

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

There's a special moment in every teacher's life when one of his former gaylings grows up to meet a young man who charms him with a bouquet of flowers & a collection of gay Appalachian poetry that just happens to have been written by their former teacher. Today's that day. Name anything sweeter 💜

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West Trade Review @westtradereview.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

“I know I ain’t smart and I don’t know nothing when it comes to poetry, but I did— I bawled my eyes out.” Excerpt from @williecarver.bsky.social's “Ars Audiendi.” It appears in the Fall 2026 collection of Online Exclusives. Listen to Willie read the full poem at the link below: buff.ly/GbeQ7Y4

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

A poem for my beloved kin at Pikeville Pride. I want to say that I cowrote this poem with two entities sharing their opinions on the meaning of God's love: the Apostle John, son of Zebedee, and folks who spent the day commenting on social media. All my love to all of y'all 💓

Image description: a poem set above an image of a man speaking on a stage in front of rainbow balloons.

Hearing the Word at Pride in Pikeville, KY.
Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr.

For God so loved
you gay ass perverts
the world,
y'all need to get beat
that he gave
the hell y'all will go to
his only begotten
pedophile AIDS shit
Son
fight back this nastiness
that whosoever
sucked enough cock and
believeth in him
fucking anti-Christ perverts
should not
bomb you all on an island to
perish, but
shit down everyone's throats and
have everlasting
revenge of a wrathful God
life

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

For a lot of Southern and Appalachian gay men, Dolly Parton's was the first voice they ever heard say "I love you" in their own accent—and mean them exactly as they are. No qualifiers. No conditions.

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Randi Weingarten 🖇️📚✊🇺🇸 @rweingarten.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

As we celebrate #Juneteenth, we recognize the contributions of Black Americans to our country & recommit to the continued fight for opportunity for all. We must pick up the torch of past activists & continue the work to ensure fair representation, equal rights, & pathways to a better life. (1/2)

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Randi Weingarten 🖇️📚✊🇺🇸 @rweingarten.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Great to be with @aft.org members, leaders and partners at @lulacorg.bsky.social's National Convention in Fort Worth this week. I got to speak side by side with 2 icons, @skyeperryman.bsky.social and @maya4rights.bsky.social

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Happy Pride, especially to those who are afraid to love themselves.

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skip intro @upfromsumdirt.blacksky.app · 31/05/2026

@williecarver.bsky.social is a state treasure. my friend, chris mccurry, lost ky's "teacher of the year" a few yrs ago & i was pissed. but when i learned it was to willie, then i was like "oh, well that was SUPPOSED to happen!" he's a great poet (as is chris!) - buy his books when you see them.

screenshot of fb post by willie edward taylor carver satirically announcing his intention to not play at the maga music event. a poster with a large red X over his face with "gay hillbilly poet" beneath it.

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Penn @pennpace.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

@williecarver.bsky.social Hey Willie! Check it out! This is at the UPike library ❤️

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Carole King @carolekingofficial.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

I’m recommending this book by my friend Cole LeFavour because it’s so beautifully written. Cole’s description of Idaho’s extraordinary natural beauty is breathtaking. (Continued in comments)

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Using single-wide trailers, poverty, cars on blocks, and poor dental health alongside working-class or Appalachian grammar to shame people in your political posts doesn't prove you hate conservativism. It shows your contempt for the poor.

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

My questions for MAGA: Was Jesus Christ a DEI savior? Was Mary a DEI Blessed Virgin? If white folks are better at everything the way y'all preach, why didn't God choose them for hosting the Divine?

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That Librarian: Amanda Jones @librarianjones.com · 30/03/2026

I FINALLY got to swing by my local indie bookstore and pick up @williecarver.bsky.social’s new book Tore All To Pieces. I’m a huge fan of his first book, Gay Poems for Red States, and can’t wait to read this one. Congrats on your 2nd book, Willie!!!

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

MAGA Republicans get mad at LGBTQ people for daring to have sex lives the way my mom used to get mad when we ate junk food while she was on a diet.

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skip intro @upfromsumdirt.blacksky.app · 15/03/2026

forced to choose between slavery & jim crow, blacks would choose jim crow. forced to choose between jim crow & the post-civil rights era, blacks would choose the post‐c.r.e. this era is "better" but none of us wanna politically go back to the 80s or 90s... we're still waiting on actual freedom.

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Randi Weingarten 🖇️📚✊🇺🇸 @rweingarten.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

@jamestalarico.bsky.social is the real thing - we had a great conversation last week about public schools, educators, students, the role of religion and labor and hope. And for the Texans we had a good cry about one of my role models, Linda Bridges who led Texas AFT & our Corpus Christi local

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Y’all, the world is so heavy. But we exist because we stand on the shoulders of our younger selves. At 35. At 25. At 15. At 10. We dreamed. Told stories. Became. Thank you, Campaign for Southern Equality, for publishing this piece 💙 You can read it in its entirety at the link in the comments.

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Ready for March? To see this ICE melt? Between today, 2/9, and 3/1, I am donating 100% of my personal earnings from TORE ALL TO PIECES ordered at CoffeeTree Books to the ACLU of Kentucky. Link in comments. Let's help our neighbors. Let's love them.

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George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

After being held in two of them as a boy, I fought for decades urging America to never again build concentration camps and put human beings in them. It breaks my heart to watch this happen twice now in my own lifetime.

Screenshot of an X.com post by The Associated Press (@AP) stating that dozens of immigrant families protested for better treatment behind fences at a Texas detention facility, where a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy and his father were sent after being detained in Minnesota. Below is a video thumbnail showing a crowd gathered outdoors along a fenced walkway; many people wear bright blue or red outerwear, and some hold signs.

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

My heart is so full. In less than 24 hours, y’all made the audiobook of Gay Poems for Red States a #1 Amazon Bestseller in Poetry About Places. We made that poetry and place Appalachia 💚 Thank you. Happiest of holidays 💛✨️

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

It’s here—a Christmas Eve Eve Eve miracle 🎄 Gay Poems for Red States is now live on Audible. I recorded it in studio and narrated it myself, which means Appalachian poems get an Appalachian voice 💙 iTunes, Amazon, and other platforms coming in the next few days! Thanks, Dynamix and MAS Comm! 💙

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

Saying the GOP can't be racist because they've embraced Nicki Minaj is like saying your church can't be homophobic because the preacher is on Grindr.

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

I can't believe not only that I have a blurb from Peter Parnell — who I have idolized for so many years — but that it would be so tender and beautiful. You can pre-order Tore All to Pieces now anywhere books are sold. Thank you, University Press of Kentucky 💙

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

Your ancestors were queer.¹ 1. Yours. Specifically.

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Trans youth exist. Denying this doesn't stop that fact. It just tortures them

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

The Trix Rabbit is capitalism’s queered Christ—forever yearning, always denied the sweetness he was created to sell.

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

We're coming upon the one-year anniversary, and I can still smell the artificial berry on the hot and prescient breath of his holy rabbitself.

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NM Dept. of Memes @nmdeptofmemes.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

image by the brilliant and hilarious @williecarver.bsky.social (but not posted on bluesky yet, so far as i can tell)

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

They cannot touch love. They cannot touch my marriage. They cannot undo what God has ordained. In righteousness, morality, and love, my marriage is beyond the reach of their cruel and dirty mouths and hands. All that they do simply shows us who they are. Because they aren't worthy of defining us.

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Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr @williecarver.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

Gay Hillbilly Jesus. Still barefoot, defending town whores, and telling dramatic stories to get people to act decent, but now with more mud and Dolly Parton.

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The Red Branch Review @redbranchreview.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

@williecarver.bsky.social is in Issue 4. He’s super great, you guys. Mothman wants you to read his poetry and prose. — #litmag #appalachia #redbranchreview

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Randi Weingarten 🖇️📚✊🇺🇸 @rweingarten.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Every day, something extraordinary happens in our public schools. That’s why we’re relaunching #PublicSchoolProud—to lift up stories like Elk Valley Elementary, where a rebuilt library brought joy & hugs back to students. www.aft.org/news/hugs-an...

aft.org

Hugs and new books: Rebuilding after a fire

After residual fire damage wiped out about half of Elk Valley Elementary School’s library collection, the AFT’s Reading Opens the World initiative, which has provided more than 2 million brand-new fre...

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Randi Weingarten 🖇️📚✊🇺🇸 @rweingarten.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

When others are banning books, we’re giving them away for free. Through @aft.org’s #ReadingOpensTheWorld campaign, we’ve put more than 10 million books into the hands of kids and families, because every child deserves the joy of reading. www.aft.org/read

aft.org

Reading Opens The World

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Randi Weingarten 🖇️📚✊🇺🇸 @rweingarten.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

As kids head back to school, some districts are removing books & inserting religious content into classrooms. We must defend inclusive, fact-based education. Public schools must be places of truth and inclusion, where every child can learn freely. www.usatoday.com/story/news/e...

usatoday.com

New school year brings book removals, religion and revisions to these states

As students begin a new school year, classrooms in some states are becoming battlegrounds over what should be taught and also, what's being left out.

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