There are existing principles, including the Principles of Environmental Justice and Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing, that have been important in guiding our work. These Just Transition principles are an attempt to consolidate and synthesize various Just Transition principles from among Climate Justice Alliance members and allies, built off the deep work and discussions amongst ourselves. Understanding that Just Transition will look different in different places, we believe a core set of shared principles can strengthen our collective work.
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After centuries of global plunder, the profit-driven industrial economy rooted in patriarchy and white supremacy is severely undermining the life support systems of the planet. Transition is inevitable. Justice is not.
We must build visionary economy that is very different than the one we now are in. This requires stopping the bad while at the same time as building the new. We must change the rules to redistribute resources and power to local communities. Just transition initiatives are shifting from dirty energy to energy democracy, from funding highways to expanding public transit, from incinerators and landfills to zero waste, from industrial food systems to food sovereignty, from gentrification to community land rights, from military violence to peaceful resolution, and from rampant destructive development to ecosystem restoration. Core to a just transition is deep democracy in which workers and communities have control over the decisions that affect their daily lives.
To liberate the soil and to liberate our souls we must decolonize our imaginations, remember our way forward and divorce ourselves from the comforts of empire. We must trust that deep in our cultures and ancestries is the diverse wisdom we need to navigate our way towards a world where we live in just relationships with each other and with the earth.
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Soundtrack by @mad.lines
"You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive."
📚James Baldwin
#wordsofwisdom #sundayfunday☀️ #mentalhealthmatters
Working in arts, comms and with a background in education can be hella exhausting. It’s not just about sharing info, it’s about helping people recognize what they don’t know, or questioning what they’ve been taught to view as “normal.”
Because a lot of what we accept as normal is actually deeply harmful. Our systems often default to extraction, disconnection, and a lack of empathy for both people and for the planet.
That’s why I lean into irony, skits, and comedy. Humor creates just enough distance for us to see the absurdity in what we’ve normalized. It opens the door to questioning the talking points we repeat without thinking. If we slowed down and really examined those narratives, I think a lot of us would be unsettled by their origins. (By the way, all of these comments are real "arguments" I've heard from people online and IRL).
This is especially important right now, as media becomes increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few billionaires. We’re constantly being told “this is just how things are.” But that framing is learned, reinforced, and often intentional.
What's something you're unlearning?
Comment below! #politics #inspiration #artistssupportingartists
Thank you to propagation fund @movementgeneration@_artcoop@neweconomycoalition@cjaourpower
“How are YOU paying back
your student debt?” 😂😂😂
I’ve been experimenting more with my creative work lately, and it’s been really freeing to not box myself in. I used to think I had to choose — just an actress, just a poet, just a rapper.
Then I tried doing everything at once…which, as many artists know, can quickly turn into burnout, especially when art isn’t always treated like “real” labor and we’re expected to constantly produce without support.
What I keep coming back to is this: I love comedy. Writing jokes, performing, making people laugh —it feels natural and necessary.
And the Bay Area? Full of talent.
Go support your local comedians!!!
Also, thank you to the Creative Wildfire Propagation Fund @movementgeneration@_artcoop for supporting my work. Because most of the time, artists are balancing multiple jobs just to get by, which makes it hard to even have time to create.
So here’s the reminder: Art is real work.
And if you really want to support artists...
go beyond engagement. Pay them.
💸 #politics #studentdebt
Did you go to the Art Institutes between 2004 –2017 and still have student debt? Do you live in California, specifically? What degree did you get — and has that debt stopped you from pursuing a career in the arts? 👀 Let me know below.
Here’s why I’m asking:
On May 1, 2024, the Biden administration announced that $6.1 BILLION in student loans for 317,000 Art Institute students would be canceled— and that previous payments would be refunded.
Why? Because the U.S. Department of Education found that the Art Institutes and their parent company, Education Management Corporation, made widespread misrepresentations that harmed students. Basically, they preyed on first generation students, veterans, single moms and anyone who dreamed of working in creative industries. Then, they defrauded students and stole money from the government.
If you were enrolled at any Art Institutes campus between January 1, 2004 and October 16, 2017, your federal loans should be automatically discharged — even if you never applied for borrower defense to repayment.
And if you’re wondering what borrower defense to repayment is: it’s one of the only tools available for students who were defrauded by predatory for-profit schools to actually get relief.
So again—are you still waiting on your cancellation? Let’s talk. 👇 #studentdebt #politics #news
Owing student debt can be a deeply isolating experience.
When I first started my activist journey, it wasn’t just about building a stronger class analysis or deepening my commitment to economic justice — it was also about being honest about how I've struggled. About saying out loud that I carry over $120,000 in student debt, and naming the real ways it has shaped my life. It's not right! Not in a country that wastes trillions on war and commits scholasticide abroad.
It’s not necessarily always top of mind. But lately, in the things I read and the conversations I’m part of, I feel student debt's weight more clearly. And it keeps bringing me back to a bigger question: why tf are we forced into unjust, predatory debt (student debt, medical debt, even rent debt) just to access what should be public goods?
This burden isn’t distributed equally. Artists, especially those from working-class backgrounds, artists of color, and women artists, are disproportionately impacted by every economic disparity. That reality deserves more attention, more honesty, and more collective conversation. We need to fight for broad based relief and for an economy that works for the many instead of merely the few.
I wrote this poem as part of that effort — to make visible what so many of us are carrying.
And I want to thank Creative Wildfire Propagation Fund ( @movementgeneration@cjaourpower@neweconomycoalition and @_artcoop ) for supporting me in this creative movement work, and for making it possible to connect my organizing with my art in a meaningful way!!
#studentdebt #economy #poetrytiktok
After our incredible events in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, Hammer & Hope is heading to the Bay on April 25 for another launch party to celebrate the release of Issue No. 10.
The event is free, but you must be a member to RSVP.
Your membership is the reason we’re able to do all of this — every article, every illustration and photograph, every event — and it means the world. Click the link in our bio to become a member or visit us at hammerandhope.org/membership.
Thank you so much, and we’ll see you soon. ✊🏿
🥺 Nobody wants a state, country or world that's bland, boring and dull. But the arts can't advocate for itself. It's up to us to advocate for the art we love and the culture we cherish. ❤️
Join me and California for the Arts @caforthearts in celebrating Arts, Culture & Creativity month this April!!!
Here's how to get involved:
1.) VISIT ➡️ Bit.ly/cfta-summit26
get all the details for the 4th Annual Arts & Culture Summit happening in Sacramento from April 19th - 20th!
2.) REGISTER ➡️ To attend the Arts & Culture Summit on your own or as part of a group. Tickets are going fast! Don't wait.
3.) HELP ➡️ Spread the word by liking, commenting and sharing this post
and others like it.
4.) SHARE ➡️ Your favorite thing about California arts. Use the hashtags:
#JoyActionPower #ACCM2026 #inspiration
