Erika Sumner

285 Followers
232 Following
507 Posts
Policy maven, nerd, #humanist, #antiracist, #feminist, #LGBTQ+ ally & child of refugees. Love #government for/by the people, hate #politics. I use my power to empower those w/less. Born & raised in #NYC; we're not mean, just busy & we help strangers all the time:)

#leadership #justice #policy #govt #democracy #science #tech #innovation #news #socialjustice #BLM #POC #immigration #women #Reproductiverights #LGBTQIA #CJR #climatechange #votingrights

I love this #TV show so much it’s STUPID. For all the #women who’ve ever been underestimated, subjugated, or used but still have fight left in them, #RiotWomen is for you. It’s hilarious & unflinching, the lead singer’s voice is electric & whoever wrote the #punk band’s songs is a friggin’ genius. I guarantee you this is the 1st time people all over the world are belting out a song about #menopause.

Trust me…watch it, & you will, too🎸
#music #England
https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2025/riot-women-series-two

Riot Women by Sally Wainwright gets a second series

The hit BBC drama, set and filmed in West Yorkshire, will be returning for a riotous encore

In a twist on #bookbanning, a liberal #NJ school dist. struggling w/ a #mentalhealth crisis pulls a book w/an attempted #suicide. They should’ve listened to author Junot Díaz: “I resist the idea that there's something supremely deterministic, or supremely dangerous, about #art. Art in fact holds people in conversations, acts to limit or to reduce the sense of isolation & loneliness, it raises difficult topics in order to deepen our understanding & build up our resilience https://www.npr.org/2026/02/20/nx-s1-5708741/junot-diaz-oscar-wao-mental-health-book-bans
@mattburgess I had no idea, thank you for sharing.

NEW: The number of phones being searched at the US border just hit another high

- 16,000 devices were searched in the last three months—a record high for a quarter
- 55,000 in the fiscal year 2025 (Oct-Sept)—a yearly record high

https://www.wired.com/story/cbp-searched-a-record-number-of-phones-at-the-us-border-over-the-past-year/

CBP Searched a Record Number of Phones at the US Border Over the Past Year

The total number of US Customs and Border Protection device searches jumped by 17 percent over the 2024 fiscal year, but more invasive forensic searches remain relatively rare.

WIRED
@c_merriweather well said, that is an incredibly apt metaphor.
What’s unsettling about calling the #ICE killing of #RenéeGood “another #GeorgeFloyd moment” is how quickly #Black pain gets repackaged into a generic template for “state violence,” especially when the victim is #White. George Floyd’s murder was a specifically anti‑Black terror event in a long history of #racist policing; treating it as a floating metaphor for any shocking killing in Minneapolis feels like Black erasure even when the intent is solidarity.
#BLM #BlackMastodon
@spdrnl humanities a mixed bag, no doubt. I’ve no idea how it’s going to turn out.

#NEWS: Yesterday was a BIG day for #women in #Italy which just recognized #femicide as a #crime & are punishing it with life in prison.

This is THE SECOND TIME in 5 DAYS an ENTIRE COUNTRY’S #GOVERNMENT has puts serious resources behind ENDING THE MURDER OF WOMEN BECAUSE THEY ARE WOMEN.

Please pardon all of the yelling/caps y’all, this is exciting as hell❤️

#Italy #SouthAfrica #HumanRights

https://www.npr.org/2025/11/26/g-s1-99444/italy-femicide-life-in-prison

#BREAKING #NEWS: It’s over folks. The #Georgia #election interference case against Trump has just been dropped. And #democracy takes another body blow.

#electioninterference #justice

https://www.npr.org/2025/11/26/nx-s1-5611431/georgia-trump-election-case-dismissed