Ashley C. Ford
@smashfizzle.bsky.social
Author of bestselling memoir, SOMEBODY’S DAUGHTER. I deserve it all. https://linktr.ee/SmashFizzle
El-Sayed: "My commitment to Jewish safety is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters. Because if there is one question of political philosophy that ought to animate us all, it's what would we do if we treated all our kids like they were all of our kids?"
NEW: Meta has run dozens of paid ads that include explicit, AI-generated child sexual abuse material in recent months. Some as recently as this week. "These are ads that were reviewed, approved, and allowed to run by Meta, never encountering interference while the company collected the ad dollars."
Meta Ran Ads That Contained AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Imagery
More than 50 offending image and video ads were published across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or Threads, according to Meta’s ad library data. Some ran as recently as this week.
wired.com
SCOOP: 404 Media has obtained a coaching guide that Flock surveillance gives to police about “how to speak to city councils about public safety technology.” It encourages police to “own the narrative before someone else does” by championing the technology before citizens can oppose it.
‘Own the Narrative’: Leaked Flock Guide Shows How It Teaches Cops to Promote Its Tech
"This document shows a coordinated effort from Flock Safety to compel law enforcement agencies to convince our elected leaders to represent their interests as a company rather than the interests of co...
404media.co
O’Neal helped purge me & all the other Black full-time staff columnists at the Post Opinion Section. I challenged his move to fire me in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk killing. And he testified against me in June. We are expecting an arbitration ruling soon. Convenient time for him to quit.
Natalie Korach@nataliekorach.bsky.social · 5d agoNew: Washington Post Opinion editor Adam O’Neal is leaving, he announced in an internal memo Friday
Parents are fed up with friends and relatives giving their kids “personalized” AI-generated storybooks with characters resembling their kids. Apart from data privacy concerns, literacy experts say these garbled and convoluted narratives could be an impediment to learning how to read.
Boomers Can’t Stop Gifting Their Grandkids AI-Generated Slop Books
Parents are getting fed up with garbled bedtime stories that feature characters based on actual photos of their children.
wired.com
Spotify doesn’t label AI music on its platform, so websites like SoullessMusic.com and SlopTracker.org do it instead.
Spotify's AI Problem Is So Bad Random People Are Stepping In to Track the Slop
Spotify doesn’t label AI music on its platform, so websites like SoullessMusic.com and SlopTracker.org do it instead.
404media.co
Charlotte Hawkins Brown's Palmer Memorial Institute is the only designated Black women’s history site in North Carolina. Thanks to an ambitious preservation and adaptive reuse plan, the campus will soon welcome learners again. Loved covering this project!
Historic Black School at Heart of Development Plans in North Carolina Town
The Palmer Memorial Institute campus, once home to Charlotte Hawkins Brown, will continue to anchor Sedalia as the town grows.
newsletter.mariannedhenin.com
HAPPENING NOW Hundreds are in the streets right now in Madison, WI, after police earlier today shot and killed a Black man. The demonstrations have taken over the city’s downtown.
The world may have moved on from Minneapolis but its immigrant community continues to struggle. We spoke to single mothers who hid from ICE for months, ran through their savings, and now can’t pay to renew their DACA applications. At least dozens are in this situation. 19thnews.org/2026/07/ice-...
Single mothers lost months of income hiding from ICE — and now can’t afford to renew immigration papers
They survived ICE's takeover in Minneapolis. But now their DACA protections are set to expire, leaving dozens scrambling to afford hundreds of dollars in fees to maintain their legal status.
19thnews.org
I’m so tired I resent the energy it takes to breathe.
it’s always a good day when rapists are arrested for rape
Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 3w agoLONDON (AP) — British prosecutors announce they are seeking extradition of Tate brothers from US on rape, sex trafficking charges.
Finished it yesterday. Truly spectacular! I watched this discussion with the author @tananarivedue.bsky.social and @smashfizzle.bsky.social immediately afterward and was even more impressed with the research and care involved. @epereza22.blacksky.app www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPAL...
Lessons from the Reformatory: Then and Now
YouTube video by Tananarive Due
youtube.com
Marian@dingleteach.blacksky.app · 3w agoSee The Reformatory! @tananarivedue.bsky.social @epereza22.blacksky.app
If you call Beira's Place, the rape shelter JK Rowling set up specifically so she could deny help to rape victims she suspects of being trans, your call is not confidential and may be listened to by JK Rowling, who may tweet to her audience of millions to ridicule you and express contempt for you.
The Newromancer@tehsamantha.bsky.social · 3w agoThis is the context of JK Rowling putting a survivor of rape or sexual assault on blast for having the gall to seek help
ICE has killed another person, this time by depriving him of life-sustaining medication for a known medical condition. Jesus Manuel Arenas-Silva was detained on Thursday. He was dead by Monday. Per @detentionwatchnetwork.org:
NEW: A 28-year-old man died Tuesday morning following an encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations agents in St. Augustine, marking the third death involving ICE in a week.
Man dies during immigration encounter in Florida, the third ICE-involved death in a week
Third ICE-involved death in a week confirmed after fatal St. Augustine crash during joint agency operation. National outrage grows over enforcement and deaths
miamiherald.com
Elon Musk's xAI has installed more than double the number of gas turbines than it has publicly acknowledged to power its Colossus 2 data center project, without federal permits, and the pollution is hitting predominantly Black neighborhoods the hardest reut.rs/4bIghEm
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my book! I never take it for granted 💜
👑 8.1 🦁 wilhelmina slater ✨@kayjayteeem.blacksky.app · 4w agoi started somebody’s daughter by @smashfizzle.bsky.social on monday as an immersive read. oldest Black daughters apparently had a similar upbringing 🥲 to all the oldest Black daughters, you are seen. you are loved. thank you for sharing our story, ashley 🫶🏽 #BlackBookSky #BookSky
"They just want to turn it off." A fascinating story of the librarians who have started teaching classes showing people how to remove AI "features" from their phones and apps. www.bangordailynews.com/2026/07/02/m...
These Maine librarians are helping patrons resist AI and Big Tech
Despite breathless reporting on how AI is going to change the world, Hannah Cyrus, a Bangor librarian, said that, in her experience, most library patrons aren’t finding it helpful.
bangordailynews.com
Helen of Troy, Lupita Nyongo sparkles in Christian Cowan for the London premiere of #theodysseymovie.
@storystudiochicago.bsky.social's StoryBoard Festival 2026 is quickly coming up (August 14th and 15th in Chicago!) and now’s a great time to get your tickets. Here’s what you can look forward to… 🧵 www.storystudiochicago.org/writers-fest...
We need to recognize what happened to Scott Wiener at the San Francisco Trans Pride March as antisemitism, and finally purge this poison from left wing movements. A new opinion piece by Evan Urquhart, @evanurquhart.bsky.social, only on Assigned Media. assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...
Scott Wiener’s Viral Harassment is What Left Antisemitism Looks Like - Assigned Media
An opportunist at the Trans Pride March in Sanfrancisco harnassed suspicion and hatred of Jews for his own purposes.
assignedmedia.org
lawandcrime.com/crime/dad-be... Black girls deserve protection and care... When we are called fast. When we are called aggressive. When we are called angry...this is a result. Black girls are children. Black girls are human... 😢😢
Dad beat 9-year-old daughter to death because she smirked at him: Police
Police said Anderson admitted that he spanked Joanna, then allegedly admitted to beating her with a belt that had a metal buckle.
lawandcrime.com
My husband is trying to get me to baby-proof the house before my nephew comes over. My nephew will be two months old next week.
