WOKE/BROKE: Less Girlbosses, More Women With Guns

WOKE/BROKE is a member-only monthly newsletter curating irreverent political wins.

Newsletter

Hello WOKE / BROKE Readers!

We are sharing a free access to the first edition of Shadowbanned’s member-only email newsletter. Each month, we’ll highlight political wins, flops, and focus on stories that aren’t widely reported in mainstream media. It’s a curated, irreverent take on activism and movements — so let’s have some fun, shall we?

In today’s edition, we’re tackling:

Everything we hate and love about college.
“A new world, a new society, but without the pyramid.”
Whining about barbecue.

WOKE

Working class political wins, radical actions, clever organizing, and epic trolling we found over the last 30 days.

Meme Watch: Druski and Iran Mock L-O-S-E-Rs

Complete with her white power suit, a totally-not-Erika-Kirk impersonator (aka Druski) spread a patriotic and Christian message that really pissed off reverse-DEI fanatics. And if there was a World War battle between the White House social media intern and that of the Iranian government’s, there would be no contest. Though we generally hate generative AI, you gotta hand it to Iran’s mock Lego propaganda; don’t forget that the U.S., specifically Silicon Valley, made the heinous tool for the regime to exploit in the first place.

Make School Cool Again

Funding cuts, union busts, expensive, complicit; no matter your gripe with college, there’s something for you on the National Day of Action for Higher Education on April 16 and 17 — yes, two days! Take part in a virtual workshop, protest, walk out, sit in, or even create an event with comrades. Because despite your annoying libertarian professor, there’s still a lot worth fighting for in higher ed.

Serving Militant Realness in Rojava

Hey imperialist girlbosses and She-EOs: this is what female empowerment looks like. In the autonomous zone of Northeast Syria, also known as Rojava, the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) just celebrated its 13th anniversary. The exclusively all-women ran arm of the revolution’s military also took part in negotiations on April 5 with the Syrian government to integrate women’s collective autonomy and rights into the regime’s new constitution. There’s still work to be done — for example, Rojava militants are resisting Syria’s ruling party and the fascist government of Turkey as it attempts to displace Kurds in the city of Afrin — but nonetheless, Rojava’s women remain defiant.

The More You Know 🌈 About the Zapatistas

After studying abroad, your college roommate couldn’t stop saying Frahhhnce — but this international educational event hosted by the Zapatistas, i.e. the indigenous, anti-capitalist, anti-state zone of Chiapas Mexico, was nothing like that. Dubbed “The Storm Inside and Outside” held from April 2 to 4, comrades from 30 countries learned about the history of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), its work towards liberating all living things from capitalism’s mass extinction legacy, and the inherent coercion of electoral politics. The takeaway: embrace organizing and reject conformity and apathy.

BROKE

Performative politics, state repression, corporate co-optation, policy failures, and dumb politicans.

Israel Goes From Cease to Dumpster Fire... Again

Within 24 hours, US-Israel violated its ceasefire with Iran 100+ times and killed at least 300 people in Lebanon. As of writing, Trump and Netanyahu are denying the ceasefire includes Lebanon (the mediator said it does). But we already knew ceasefires mean nothing to Israel – that’s what happens when you negotiate with terrorists!

Ye’s Swasticket Sales

Barely a month after his performative full-page “I’m not a Nazi” ad in the Wall Street Journal, Ye (Kanye West) announced he’d be performing again — and two LA shows later, he pocketed $33 million. Still, there’s friction on his path to regain billionaire status. Ye was due to headline the Wireless Festival in the UK, but the government pulled a reverse-Bob Vylan ban and announced it would block an actual antisemite from entering the country, then sponsors pulled out, and after so many Ls, festival organizers cancelled Wireless entirely.

Thousands of White Afrikaners Become Supremacy-Refugees

MAGA loves a Heritage American, i.e. a white person proudly related by blood to the people who first brought small pox blankets to Turtle Island. But the Trump Administration has a soft spot for Heritage South Afrikaners who descend from Dutch and other European settler-colonialists are fleeing a supposed “white genocide.” Between October and March, the Department of State approved 4,499 asylum applications — 99.93% of them went to South Africans. Just think if libs had their way, President Harris would’ve said “do not come“ to them too.

Texas Republicans Squabble Over Talarico’s Meat

In 2022, James Talarico, then running for Austin’s seat in the Texas State House, said that eating less meat is good for the environment and that his campaign supported local vegan small businesses (I went to Austin a while back, and the vegan food there was good as hell even according to my non-veggie friends). Now that he’s the front runner in the race to become the next Texas Senator in U.S. Congress, the GOP is running a desperate campaign to discredit him based on a preceived lack of barbeque. To be clear, politicians that eat less meat aren’t a vanguard for Luxury Gay Space Communism (just look reactionaries like former NYC Mayor Eric Adams or U.S. Senator Cory Booker). But damn, y’all are looking pathetic.