you would be forgiven for thinking I'm boosting this because I am laying out my new research on data center opposition but let's be clear: this podcast addresses THE perennial question: "do you 💩 in the van?" (min 51) @jdickerson.bsky.social @slate.com shows.acast.com/political-ga...

Data Center Backlash | Political Gabfest

Democrats confront the meaning of Abdul El-Sayed's narrow primary victory in Michigan; Todd Blanche moves closer to becoming Attorney General; Opposition to AI data centers has swiftly become a nation...

shows.acast.com

I mean, he’s not all wrong about how and why the DSA is slaying? Platforms are important, but on-the-ground organizing is the special sauce.

Nathan Kalman-Lamb@nkalamb.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I’m crying

Spot on from @saigrundy.bsky.social and @gauthamrao.bsky.social. From an organizing vantage point, I still believe we need to make something of the delta between whites who choose to vote and those who sit it out. I offer some examples of how this might look in sup.org/books/sociology/white-flank

Gautham Rao (pronounced: Knicks in 5)@gauthamrao.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Thank you @saigrundy.bsky.social for this thoughtful engagement with my book, White Power: Policing American Slavery "a universal right to anti-Black violence and a state-backed justification...obligations as citizens to protect the white man’s property" www.theguardian.com/inequality/n...

“…this fight is remarkably different from other extractive fights. And it's something widespread that no one wants, except for the developers.” -Indigenous organizer Ash Nicole Lamont

‘Ask your auntie, not AI’: How Seminole Nation permanently banned data centers

Podcast Episode · The Hum · June 16 · 1h

podcasts.apple.com

“It appears that a tiny, virtually invisible, and unelected state unit, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority, can ladle out hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars, in state tax breaks to mammoth data-center companies– Amazon, Google, Meta, and the like– for building gigantic data centers in Ohio.”

Common Cause Ohio@commoncauseohio.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Plain Dealer Editorial Data center tax breaks adopted secretively and without specific legislation cannot stand www.cleveland.com/opinion/2026...

“Simply regulating use to be less painful or less dangerous is not sufficient…Folks, for the first time in my life, we have a truly bipartisan issue that we can work on together to keep these things the hell out of our community.” - Noah Cornett

Kentucky Public Radio@kentuckypublicradio.org · 2mo ago

Lexington residents speak out against proposed data center. From @weku.bsky.social

This to me is the most exciting part: the sheer proliferation of organized resistance. “the number of active opposition groups more than doubled to 833 across 49 states”

NBC News@nbcnews.com · 2mo ago

Data center opponents have blocked or delayed projects worth nearly $130 billion in 2026, a new study finds.

Yes, absolutely. AND the fact of “localism” makes this the ideal experiment. What if more national orgs funneled resources to local efforts (a la sunrisemvmt.bsky.social). The Left needs to build organizing infrastructure. Locally. The Right understood this long game fifty years ago.

Opinion | This Could Be the Winning Issue for Democrats

nytimes.com

They are a very nearly autonomous force that is not actually under civilian control. It is a frankly terrifying situation. The fact this isn’t acknowledged is symptom of the fundamental problem.

public health guy@publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 2mo ago

the fact is mamdani, like so many other democratic mayors and governors, does not have control of his own police force, the law be damned. that our politicians are unable to even talk about this openly is a serious problem

"the data center opposition is [in fact] grounded in working class politics" @bcmerchant.bsky.social

Working class neighborhoods are resisting data centers at 5 times the rate of wealthy ones

And other key insights about the data center protest movement. Plus, Bernie Sanders' AI sovereign wealth fund proposal, Ted Chiang's argument against AI consciousness, and much more.

open.substack.com

“It’s less left versus right, and more whether you see yourself as an establishment person or a populist,” Beauchamp said.

The Movement to Stop Data Centers

nytimes.com

Worker resistance + resident resistance = chef’s kiss 💋

The Verge@theverge.com · 2mo ago

Amazon employees ask Seattle to put the brakes on new data centers

💯 and digitally mediated discourse does not build these muscles. But going to the places where people live and work and study and gather does.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌@chanda.blacksky.app · 2mo ago

Making change involves organizing people and organizing people involves dealing with people who need to be organized and dealing with people who need to be organized means dealing with people who are maybe not all the way where you want them to be. That’s organizing. Shifting and mobilizing people.

This is an outrageous story. A farmer donated 87 acres to a small Texas city on the condition it be used as a public park. Years later, the farmer has passed away, the city sold the land to a developer, and now it will be the site of a 135,000 square foot data center www.404media.co/a-farmer-don...

A Farmer Donated Land to Turn into a Park. The City Is Building a Massive Data Center Instead

In 1999, a farmer gave away 87 acres of land to a small Texas town to use as a park. The town sold to a data center developer for $10 million.

404media.co

“It has brought together urban and rural communities, farmers and environmentalists, linking arms against this.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Majority of US’s new AI datacenters to be built on drought-hit land

Guardian analysis finds facilities to be built in some of the driest areas as outcry grows over water needed to power AI

theguardian.com

Organizing the solidarity infrastructure to take on extractive infrastructure. So good. “I want to build trust and bravery across a broad group of people so that we are ready for the next thing we need to fight.” @truthout.org

Everybody Hates Data Centers

Anarchists, union activists, Indigenous organizers, and disgruntled Trumpists find themselves side by side in the fight.

truthout.org

Even *IF* data center resistance is an incomplete solution to democratizing tech, this is still an unparalleled organizing opportunity for the Left. Let’s go!

Dare Obasanjo@carnage4life.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Hatred of data centers is the only bipartisan political issue in America. Incredible work by tech CEOs in uniting the country.

Democratic practice under rising forms of technofascism and the climate crisis requires ever more sophisticated forms of imagination and collaboration. How important, then, to find weak points in the operating system and press on them with all the might of ordinary people.

Astra Taylor@astra.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The anti-data center movement isn’t just about limiting local development—it represents a new front in the fight against tech-enabled authoritarianism. Where else can people push back on job-eating algorithms, distorting deep fakes, and autonomous drone strikes? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Such a delight to give a book talk at the University of Iowa, hosted by @victorerikray.bsky.social and @louiseseamster.bsky.social. Left some signed copies at @prairielights.com. @stanfordpress.bsky.social

ASA member Chandra Russo @chandrarusso.bsky.social @colgate.edu describes a new generation of white antiracist efforts and argues that these groups reorient our understanding of antiracism away from individual morality and toward collective action. @stanfordpress.bsky.social

White Flank | Stanford University Press

White people's participation in racial justice movements has always been fraught, with competing ideas about what meaningful involvement entails. Yet the question of what it will take to get more white people to fight for multiracial democracy is as urgent as ever. Chandra Russo takes up this question in White Flank.

bit.ly

A powerful new piece from Nikole Hannah- Jones www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/m... I write about this legacy a bit as well in my book www.sup.org/books/sociol... All royalties go to: kyblack.org

The Transformative Power of the White ‘Race Traitor’

nytimes.com

Even if you know this history, the writing and analysis is brilliant. Recommend. America’s contract to protect white woman has always been tenuous | Saida Grundy www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i... @saigrundy.bsky.social

America’s contract to protect white woman has always been tenuous | Saida Grundy

ICE’s killing of Renee Good has revealed how the state will only defend those who uphold a white racial order. A 1915 film points to the origins of this social pact

theguardian.com

This week is the official release date of White Flank: Organizing White People for Racial Justice. The timing is painful but perhaps important. (more in comments) TO ORDER: www.sup.org/books/sociol... All royalties go to Black Leadership Action Coalition of Kentucky: kyblack.org

White Flank | Stanford University Press

White people's participation in racial justice movements has always been fraught, with competing ideas about what meaningful involvement entails. Yet the question of what it will take to get more whit...

sup.org

So much courage. Everywhere.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌@chanda.blacksky.app · 7mo ago

Concentration camp victims protest! The incredible bravery and fortitude and care involved in doing this ✊🏽 ‘some of them holding signs that included “Libertad para los niños,” or “Liberty for the kids.”‘

Done. Super simple; I dialed the number and after they tried to tell me all the other ways I could contact Hochul, I pressed 1 to leave a message.

Chandra Russo@chandrarusso.bsky.social · 7mo ago

NY friends. We have something concrete and urgent to do: “please call Governor Hochul right now and tell her to support and sign New York 4 All, which would prevent state and local agencies from collaborating with ICE” 518-474-8390 www.nyic.org/our-work/cam...

NY friends. We have something concrete and urgent to do: “please call Governor Hochul right now and tell her to support and sign New York 4 All, which would prevent state and local agencies from collaborating with ICE” 518-474-8390 www.nyic.org/our-work/cam...

New York for All - NYC, Long Island, New York State | New York Immigration Coalition - Revision

All New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status or how long they’ve been in our state, want to lead open lives, participate in their communities, provide for their family, and access health care wit...

nyic.org

Bright D Limm 임대중@bdlimm.myatproto.social · 7mo ago

Done. Here was my script: "This is Bright Limm, constituent in Jamaica, Queens. I urge the governor to publicly support—and commit to signing—the New York for All Act. If she does not, please know: I will most certainly be supporting her challenger in the primary instead."

Indeed.

Victor Ray@victorerikray.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Showing cross-racial solidarity is a potential death sentence. There are few things white supremacists hate more.

"Blessed are the whistleblowers, for they play the music of salvation." Powerful episode, 🙏 @maryharris.bsky.social

Would You Die To Stop ICE? | What Next | Daily News and Analysis

This bishop says it's time to prepare.

shows.acast.com

This book was built on the wisdom and experiences of organizers who have dedicated their lives to fighting for multiracial democracy. They give me hope in these dark times. Advanced copies arrived today.

You two, @sarahljaffe.bsky.social and @vivaharehills.bsky.social: This podcast, which I discovered like last week, has been such a companion to me. And I keep recommending it. Thank you for this gift of vulnerability and wisdom. Tis the perfect season to have you in my ears.💕🙏🏻

Sarah Jaffe@sarahljaffe.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Heart Reacts is up, and is a long set of reflections on the new left party formation-in-progress, whether and how to hope, and much more. Find it wherever you get podcasts. www.patreon.com/posts/episod...