calends 🏴️

“Anarchists know that a long period of education must precede any great fundamental change in society, hence they do not believe in vote-begging, nor political campaigns, but rather in the development of self-thinking individuals.” — Lucy Parsons This is the first page of Glowing, a six page sequence illustrating an excerpt from “The Principles of Anarchism“, by Lucy Parsons https://www.lucyparsonsproject.com/writings/principles_of_anarchism.html Glowing is the third work in the Subterranean series. You can also view it here: https://calendsofapril.com/subterranean/glowing-page-1 #LucyParsons #subterraneanArt #calendsArt #glowingSequence #anarchism #politicalEducation #history #historyOfAnarchism #Haymarket #HaymarketAnarchists #illustration #drawing #sequentialArt #anarchistArt #art #noAI

Here's a resource for writing descriptive alt text: https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-make-posts-more-accessible-to-blind-people-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse/ There's also the tried and true method of listening to blind folks on your timeline and other folks who need alt text! They will tell you what they need and want in alt text. And here's some nuance (though by no means all the nuance): I know that there are disabled people who are not able to add alt text to their images. On some days I am one of those people. On some days I'm the one who needs the alt text, not the one who can write it. (My disability is dynamic: how severe it is differs from day to day, and some days are Very Bad.) On days when I cannot write alt text, I choose not to post images and wait for a day when I can. I know that for some people there are no days when they can. Another choice is to ask for help writing alt text, using #Alt4Me or otherwise. I also know that in desperate moments alt text can seem like too much, even for people who otherwise could write it. I implore you to reclassify alt text as not an extra, but as a central part of messaging, and ask for help: #Alt4Me (Edit: corrected #/Alt4You to #Alt4Me for asking for help with alt text (sometimes my brain switches stuff like that). Thank you so much to @ahimsa_pdx@disabled.social for the correction!) 3/4 #ALT4Me #alttext #solidarity #solidaritymeansalttext #disabilityliberation #anarchism

There is no liberation without disability liberation. This is not just a slogan. It needs to be praxis. I implore you to include disabled people in your messaging by using descriptive alt text. It is much easier to trust that solidarity will flow in both to and fro – which is the only way solidarity actually works – when disabled comrades are included in conversations and calls to action. It is much easier to believe that someone understands that liberation *must* include rejecting colonial, white supremacist, patriarchal standards when I can perceive efforts to actively include disabled people. I am a disabled person who at times relies on alt text to parse images (with my dynamic disability, my needs can vary from day to day), and I am asking you: When you post, practice solidarity with your disables comrades. Solidarity means alt text! 2/4 #altText #solidarity #solidarityMeansAltText #disabilityLiberation #anarchism

“Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth.” – Lucy Parsons, revolutionary anarchist. Lucy Parsons was a writer, orator, labor organizer, and revolutionary anarchist. She co-founded the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) after the judicial murder of the Haymarket Martyrs, including her husband, Albert Parsons. She worked for social revolution, not electoral reform. In her advocacy for workers, women, Black people, and immigrants, she did not shy away from calling for direct action and propaganda of the deed. The power of her speeches and writing caused fear in the elite and those who served them: the police in so-called Chicago called her “more dangerous than a thousand rioters”. 🔥️ https://www.lucyparsonsproject.com/about_lucyparsons.html 1/3 #LucyParsons #subterraneanArt #calendsArt #anarchism #laborHistory #history #historyOfAnarchism #Haymarket #HaymarketAnarchists #HaymarketMartyrs #iww #illustration #drawing #portrait #anarchistArt #art #noAI

If you're working on how to write alt text and an example is helpful, here's how I alt-texted this image, and why I wrote the alt text the way I did. Alt text: Solidarity means alt text. Hand-lettered message in bold uppercase framed by vines and flowers. The words "alt text" are large and prominent. The "A" in the word "means" is circled, forming a circle-A for anarchism. The circle-A is centered in the image. The frame illustration is made of simple line drawings of wavy vines with flower buds and leaves. The letters and floral frame are white on a black background. The illustration is signed in a lower corner of the frame with the handle calends of april. Explanation: There's a lot going on here! Here's a breakdown: 1) Inverted pyramid structure: start with the most important thing to convey about the image, then add some detail, then finish up with supplemental info. In this case the words are the most important part of the illustration, so the message itself goes first, followed by further description of the visual elements of the words. There is also a description of the floral frame and even the colors used if folks want to know more and choose to read on. 2) This alt text is formatted both for screenreaders and for folks who click the button to read the alt text visually (like I need to on bad visual processing days). Breaking the text into paragraphs and adding quotation marks can help those latter folks parse the info. (There are cases where I would use the words "quote" and "unquote" around a word or phrase for a screenreader, but this isn't one of them.) For screenreaders, I try to choose phrasing that will be the most parseable when read out loud with no visual cues – and I literally read alt text out load before posting. 3) I can get wordy, but I try to keep my alt texts reasonably short while still conveying the pertinent info. Even shorter than this would also work, like this: "Solidarity means alt text. Message framed by vines and flowers." This would suffice! Please do at least this! When it's me who needs the alt text, though, I prefer having more detail, so I usually add it to my own alt text. The inverted pyramid model means that folks can choose to stop reading early and still get the most important info. And solidarity means alt text. Please use it. 4/4 #altText #solidarity #solidarityMeansAltText #disabilityLiberation #anarchism

RE: https://todon.eu/@CrimethInc/116880292156779782 "If we withdraw from organizing, if we shrink from resistance, this will embolden the Trump administration and its supporters and they will intensify their attacks. Rather than permitting them to frighten us out of trusting each other, we must build deep personal ties and widespread community support in order to endure campaigns of repression. We can win this fight."

“Here you will tread upon a spark, but here, and there, and behind you, and in front of you, and everywhere, flames will blaze up. It is a subterranean fire. You cannot put it out.” — August Spies, Haymarket martyr, revolutionary anarchist https://libcom.org/article/address-august-spies 1/4 #AugustSpies #subterraneanArt #calendsArt #anarchism #laborHistory #history #historyOfAnarchism #Haymarket #HaymarketAnarchists #HaymarketMartyrs #illustration #drawing #anarchistArt #art #noAI

@ahimsa_pdx@disabled.social nope, you have it right and I have it wrong! (Sometimes my brain likes to switch things around.) Thanks so much for the correction, I'll edit!

@kagan@wandering.shop thanks! I'm glad it was useful!

@stefan@stefanbohacek.online @Quasit@kolektiva.social I like https://justaqrcode.com (which I found out about on Mastodon) It encodes only the text you enter, with no redirects or tracking added @mtechman@mastodon.ie @peachfront@toot.community

@CausticHarmony@mastodon.social FYI: I block accounts that post slop whenever I run across them.

@Drippy_Spudd@cyberpunk.lol wait you are a what

@mdione@en.osm.town @CliftonR@wandering.shop

Nope, not hashtag trans. Stop that.

***If you are trans and followed this hashtag here: please be very skeptical. Liberals with savior fantasies and NO CLUE about opsec can get people hurt.

DO NOT TRUST people who broadcast this kind of intent on the internet and invite others to do the same. This is... not good.

Turn back now. Do not engage.***

@artemis@dice.camp i love your idea of creating a personal reference image library btw. i think about this a lot as well, how the information we have access to is becoming increasingly unreliable. and what we can do about it, how to share info with each other – with anyone who needs it – that we can know to be real. it's a problem.

@artemis@dice.camp did you see this lovely pic? the feathers are a little hard to make out bc of the (very compelling) perspective, but i believe it to be a real photo by a real photographer, whose photos i enjoy 🦚 https://mas.to/@Jgbird/116519648942397729

@Drippy_Spudd 💕 the tags ✨

@rechelon And rest is good, glad you're taking a moment to breathe—and naming it.

@rechelon "Pre-orders are finally going out. And with that, the epub is now free and available on C4SS." Awesome. I'm excited for the physical copy to arrive (love the feel of a book in my hands as I read), but greatly appreciate that you're making it freely available online.

@rechelon Will it be available for pre-order on Bookshop . org? (Searched and did not see it) I like to order from there to support my local radical bookstore when I can, but I'll pre-order directly from C4SS if it's not going to be there

@rechelon Okay, got it. C4SS it is then! Thanks for the response. Sorry about the heartbreak. I appreciate your ethical approach to releasing this work.

From here: https://specificsuggestions.com “This is not a guide for overt displays of heroism. Surveillance is abundant in the 21st century work environment. Presented here are practical, everyday actions for reducing systemic harm while minimizing vulnerability.”

@ProcessParsnip@mastodon.ie excellent points, thanks for adding!

@emilyenco@todon.nl Thanks for linking Brin's "Shit Hardware Manifesto", had not seen it and really appreciate it: “Leverage the common good, not the hardware that is exclusive and locked behind a paywall. ... Be aware of your medium and its message.” 🖤 And good luck with your project! 💗