StSmallerie

Dancer/Choreographer/Photographer /Artist/Writer/Filmmaker #BE NICE, WORK HARD, GO PLAY! If you couldn't figure it out #Resist #MORANGE. #BlueWave.Princeton '86

[King Roy @RoyIsThaTruth]

A Black man created ranch dressing — and most people never knew.

Kenneth “Steve” Henson, born in Nebraska in 1918, was a plumber who cooked for his crew in Alaska. One day he mixed buttermilk, mayo, herbs, and spices… and ranch was born.

In 1954, he and his wife bought land near Santa Barbara and named it Hidden Valley Ranch. Guests loved the dressing so much they begged to take jars home. By 1957, stores were selling his dry mix. Orders exploded. Factories followed.

In 1972, Clorox bought the recipe and the name for eight million dollars. Ranch went nationwide. By 1992, it was America’s #1 dressing.

But the man behind it? Nearly erased.

Every salad, every wing, every fry dipped in ranch — that’s his legacy. He mattered. He was the blueprint.
. ❤️💛💚🖤

[Crazy Vibes @CrazyVibes_1]

"If you marry that woman with Down syndrome, you're out of my will."

My mother said it plain as day. No hesitation.

I was 25 when I met Hannah. It was a small café near my workshop — the kind of place where the chairs don't match and the coffee is always slightly too hot. She was sitting alone by the window, reading.

On our very first date, she looked at me and said, quietly and without any drama: "I have Down syndrome. I live with my parents. I just wanted you to know that up front — no surprises."

I didn't say much. I just thought: whoever raised this woman did something right.

When I told my family, my mother said I'd ruin my future. That people would talk. That she wouldn't help us. A few friends stopped calling — slowly at first, then all at once.

Hannah never argued with any of them. She never once asked me to defend her or fight for her. She just kept showing up — meeting me after work, ordering the same chamomile tea, making me laugh at things I hadn't noticed before.

Coffee became dinners. Dinners became Sunday mornings. One year later, I proposed in the same church where I was baptized, surrounded by the twelve people who hadn't walked away.

We married that same year.

Ten years later, we are raising our son, Caleb. Every night, Hannah falls asleep holding my hand. Every morning, Caleb climbs into our bed before either of us is ready to be awake. That's our family. The one they said wouldn't last.

Last month, I ran into an old friend who had stopped calling. He looked at a photo of the three of us on my phone and said, "You look really happy, man."

"I am," I said. And that was enough.

My mother never changed her mind. She missed the wedding. She's missed every birthday Caleb has had.

I don't tell this story for sympathy. I tell it because someone out there is standing exactly where I stood — being told that love has conditions, that the people who are supposed to be in your corner get a vote on who deserves to be in your life.

They don't.

[𐌁𐌉Ᏽ 𐌕𐌉𐌌𐌉 @OrevaZSN]

I think it's very important that we remember that it wasn’t the CEOs and billionaires who saved us during COVID-19. It was the janitors, nurses, cleaning crews, grocery and food workers with their hard, often invisible labor.

[The Lincoln Project @ProjectLincoln]

We have a new message for Democrats: attack attack attack.

Trump is corrupt, he’s butchered the economy, and his DOJ operates like mob lawyers. And every voter knows it.

So stop looking backward. Stop with the endless focus groups. This isn't complicated.

He’s weak. Finish him.

[Michael Embrich @MikeEmbrich]

Trump, Stephen Miller, and Markwayne Mullin have shut down the office responsible for investigating misconduct and abuse inside immigration detention centers.

Yes, you read that correctly. Even after 49 detained immigrants died, these facilities will continue operating—and profiting—with even less oversight.

The message is clear: reform is not enough. Congress must stop funding DHS, pass the Melt ICE Act, and dismantle this abusive system.

[internet hall of fame @InternetH0F]

Daniel Cressy has become the first person in the state of Louisiana to be cured of sickle cell disease through gene therapy

[Robert Reich @RBReich]

A worker making $50,000 a year contributes to Social Security on 100% of their income.

A CEO making $20 million a year contributes to Social Security on less than 1% of their income.

Instead of raising the retirement age, we should scrap the Social Security tax cap.

[Billie Jean King @BillieJeanKing]

54 years ago today, the 37 words of Title IX changed history for girls and women in the United States.

The tenets of Title IX were incredibly important then, and continue to be so today.

Title IX represents a vital way to build more inclusive spaces for the next generation.

The work continues.

[Turkish Archives @TurkishArc]

James Henderson, a former Royal Marine, was murdered by the IDF while carrying food to children in Gaza.

His fiancée said of him: “We want to keep his memory alive for as long as we possibly can.”

Remember his name.

[☆ @fwskiiii]

Michelle Obama once asked her mother why she was holding Barack's hand on election night. Her mother replied, "His father left when he was two. He lost his mother to cancer. He was moments away from becoming the leader of the free world with no parents, so I took his hand."

[Brigham's Burner @FiredUpCoug]

This evening, my 16yo son walked over to feed the pets of a neighbor who is out of town.

He was gone longer than expected, but I didn’t think much of it.

A little while later, we got a text from another neighbor who lives between our house and the house where he was feeding the pets.

She told us that as he was walking by, he saw her outside weeding.

So he stopped and helped her finish.

What he didn’t know is that her husband has stage 4 cancer.

She told us how much his help meant to her and what a nice boy she thinks he is.

I’m a proud dad tonight.

[AFRICAN & BLACK HISTORY @AfricanArchives]

On this day in 1997, Betty Shabazz, educator, civil rights advocate and the wife of Malcolm X. passed away today 🕊️

Born Betty Dean Sanders, Dr. Shabazz grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where her foster parents largely sheltered her from racism. She attended the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where she had her first encounters with racism. Unhappy with the situation in Alabama, she moved to New York City, where she became a nurse.

It was in New York that she met Malcolm X. The couple married in 1958.

Along with her husband, Dr. Shabazz left the Nation of Islam in 1964. She witnessed his assassination the following year.

MEMORIALS:
•In late 1997, the Community Healthcare Network renamed one of its Brooklyn, New York, clinics the Dr. Betty Shabazz Health Center, in honor of Shabazz.

•The Betty Shabazz International Charter School was founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1998 and named in her honor.

•In 2005, Columbia University announced the opening of the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center. The memorial is located in the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X was assassinated.

•In March 2012, New York City co-named Broadway at the corner of West 165th Street, the corner in front of the Audubon Ballroom, Betty Shabazz Way.

PORTRAYALS IN FILM:
🎬Yolanda King, the daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Coretta Scott King, played Dr. Shabazz in the 1981 television movie Death of a Prophet.

🎬She was portrayed by Angela Bassett in the 1992 film Malcolm X.

🎬Bassett also played the part of Dr. Shabazz in the 1995 film Panther.

🎬Dr. Shabazz was portrayed by Victoria Dillard in the 2001 film Ali.

🎬Dr. Shabazz was the subject of the 2013 television movie Betty and Coretta, in which she was played by Mary J. Blige.

[James Tate @JamesTate121]

A child went to school carrying something no kid should have to carry.
In North Macedonia, an eleven-year-old girl with Down syndrome was facing bullying and exclusion at her school after complaints were raised by other parents about her presence in the classroom.
According to multiple reports at the time, the situation escalated to the point where she was separated from regular school activities, prompting concern from her family and disability advocates.
As the story gained public attention, the country’s president, Stevo Pendarovski, visited the girl and her family. He then walked her to school in the town of Gostivar, holding her hand as they entered together. The visit was documented by his office and later shared by international media.
The incident exposed how bullying operates beyond name-calling or physical harm. It includes exclusion, institutional decisions, silence from adults, and policies that isolate children instead of protecting them. These actions create fear, erode confidence, and damage mental health over time.
Preventing bullying requires early intervention from schools, accountability from adults, and clear boundaries around exclusion. It requires listening to children when they feel unsafe and responding before harm becomes routine.
When adults fail to act, bullying grows quietly. When they step in, it stops being invisible.

[Protect Kamala Harris ✊ @DisavowTrump20]

Retired 4-Star Navy Admiral and former Navy SEAL William McRaven on Donald Trump: "Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation."

RETWEET if you stand with Admiral McRaven!

[Democratic Coalition @TheDemCoalition]

Explain it to us like we are in Kindergarten.

#UnionsForAll

[Annie @AnnieForTruth]

✋✋✋💯💯

[RAZOR BLADE @razorblade300]

😢🎙️Jeremy Doku: "I remember when our rented apartment was sold and the new owner didn't like blacks so we were asked to move out. My parents begged the landlord but he didn't listen. So after I signed my professional contract and was earning big I bought that same house and rented it for homeless people for free. It's my little way of giving back to the community.”

Wow! This is great, you have my respect Doku👏🥰

#football #JEREMYDOKU

[Nick Knudsen 🇺🇸 @NickKnudsenUS]

770,000 children. Stripped of food assistance. By name. By policy. By choice.

Republicans own every hungry child this summer. ProPublica ran the numbers. Now we run them out of office.

#RepublicansStarveChildren

[NoelCaslerComedy @caslernoel]

You will see Trump’s tax returns, his healthcare plan, his medical records including his ‘bullet wound’, the unredacted Epstein files & the pilot who got shot down over Iran BEFORE you see pictures of someone attacking the Reflecting Pool with a knife. He lies for a living.

[Lakota Man @LakotaMan1]

Exactly.

When you realize that Trump’s been working for Russia since the 80’s it all makes sense.