Profile banner
Profile picture

James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD)

@drenethdolly.bsky.social

Helping people is all that matters.. Liberal. Civil rights is a long arc. It's never in the past. I won't give MAGA the benefit of the doubt again. Pro-democracy. I will never go back. When you feel yourself slipping, I'll carry your load.

created November 19, 2024

455 followers 14 following 1,936 posts

view profile on Bluesky

Posts

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

We all died last year from drugs... Scientists partnered with the UN found a way to hook every dead American's brain to a simulated environment based on the real world. We were not supposed to find out that 300 million Americans died last year.

15/9/2025, 3:40:45 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

Brazil supplied 35% of U.S. coffee in 2023, and there's a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports.

14/9/2025, 9:04:40 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

When I hear people talk of a war, it's not a war on gun violence or political violence. It's a war on minorities - on the LGBTQ community and people of color. But minorities have nothing to do with a Mormon from a conservative family in Utah. The problem is gun violence and political violence.

14/9/2025, 10:39:24 AM | 2 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

As much as people wanted to blame the guy's death on people of color or transgender people or faithless people, he turned out to be a similar profile to all the other shooters. This isn't a war. There is no other coming after you. This is you, hitting yourself over and & and saying that we did it.

14/9/2025, 1:51:47 AM | 77 18 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

Bolsonaro has finally been defeated ✊🏽

11/9/2025, 11:06:00 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

Bolsonaro has finally been defeated ✊🏽

11/9/2025, 11:05:14 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

So, the Supreme Court ok'd racial profiling.

9/9/2025, 12:20:42 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

Aspiring Florida Man, Eric Adams

6/9/2025, 4:24:31 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

πŸ‘€ The redesign was bland, but they're giving away what they think their current logo is about.

29/8/2025, 12:50:03 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

The real news is he said that some people want him to be a dictator.

26/8/2025, 12:49:26 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

People claim bad outcomes for teens and young adults mean the child is bad, while good outcomes mean the parents are good. Youth are granted β€œagency” only when it shifts blame away from adults, never to respect their autonomy. This isn’t raising kids into adultsβ€”it’s about control and domination.

15/8/2025, 1:34:02 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

Leaving evangelicalism is realizing conservative sexuality never protected anyone. Evangelical leaders saw teen pregnancies & refused to teach contraception. They saw abuse & refused to teach consent. My abstinence came from undiagnosed anxiety & a deep fear of attachmentβ€”not from purity culture.

15/8/2025, 6:45:49 AM | 2 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

State owned companies?

14/8/2025, 10:28:02 PM | 4 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

Integration was the only path to survival after white flight and backlash to desegregation. When they left, they took the tax base and power. The infrastructure collapsed, leaving us hollowed out. Seeing the wreck of failed integration, I still wanted to integrateβ€”though then I only assimilated.

10/8/2025, 2:20:29 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

Growing up in a town where classrooms were almost entirely one race, I longed for diversity. At times, I wanted it so badly that I tolerated racist views just to be around people from other backgrounds. But that wasn’t truly shared or integrated spaceβ€”it was a white Christian space bound in spite.

10/8/2025, 2:06:14 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

I never knew racists were so mediocre. Growing up, I accommodated them, imagining they were rational people who had a misunderstanding. But they fail to understand because failing in thought is part of what they do. That's how they became racists. It was so obvious, and I never saw it.

9/8/2025, 1:59:47 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

When American tourism is losing money, it can always lose more money.

5/8/2025, 8:43:11 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

The guy in the video reminds me of how I was. Bc he still does all the rationalizing for white christian nationists that I did when I was still a far-right evangelical. I ultimately left religion after leaving the far-right. I realized it did things to me that it's doing to the guy in the video.

4/8/2025, 1:28:40 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

In school, I didn't spend time w/ ppl. I read a Bible. I read it literally. It wasn't balanced with any reality. The people around me encouraged literal interpretation. They said I was isolated bc I was a good person instead of maladjusted. Instead of treating me, they gave me a biblical fantasy.

3/8/2025, 11:05:31 PM | 1 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

Luke 12:49-56 was radicalizing for me growing up. The verses say Jesus said that he didn't come to bring peace but to divide people. It says he said that family members would turn against each other over him. It's concepts like these that rationalized my descent into far-right religious ideology.

3/8/2025, 10:54:41 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

This is why after leaving MAGA and leaving the right, I left my religion. The religion leads people to extremism. It turns people against their own interests with the allure of a heavenly reward for the denial of humanity.

2/8/2025, 11:33:55 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

No tax on half your tips.

2/8/2025, 10:57:47 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

The dictator did dictator things: "The party of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele approved constitutional changes in the country's National Assembly on Thursday that will allow indefinite presidential reelection and extend presidential terms to six years."

1/8/2025, 12:50:45 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

You know, I don't know how someone is supposed to have "good genes". Define "good genes." What makes "good genes" and bad genes? If "good genes" exist, how do you promote "good genes" and discourage bad genes? There's no positive way to market "good genes."

29/7/2025, 4:21:10 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

Macron said in a post on X that he will formalize the decision at the United Nations General Assembly in September. β€œThe urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved,’' he wrote.

24/7/2025, 10:43:42 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

Hopefully, he faces justice. Brazil resisted a coup and resisted a far-right resurgence. The people deserve to be free from Bolsonaro.

23/7/2025, 5:09:30 PM | 7 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

When you think about the prisoner swap -- neither of the sets of prisoners were supposed to be imprisoned. Authoritarians use wrongfully imprisoned people as bargaining chips because they're not sophisticated enough for legitimate diplomacy.

20/7/2025, 3:12:38 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

The Venezuela-US prisoner swap is bad. This isn't Maduro trying to free Venezuelans from El Salvador. This is Maduro trying to get back people who fled Venezuela. These are 2 authoritarians abusing people to their own ends and making deals with each other over whether the people live or die.

18/7/2025, 8:09:45 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

The matriarch of our family has passed on. We were lucky to have such a courageous woman lead us. Our family started in the Delta farmlands and rose up into professionals in the towering cities. She taught us the value of education, hard work, and moral character. She was well-lived at 102 years

image
17/7/2025, 7:09:52 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

I really like this piece from DW on the history of immigration in the U.S. Also, I didn't know that before things like the 14th Amendment, the Naturalization Act of 1790 restricted citizenship to "free white persons of good character."

16/7/2025, 1:46:26 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Marc Elias (@marcelias.bsky.social) reposted

A newly completed investigation by Wyoming’s largest county found no evidence of noncitizen voting in the 2024 elections, undercutting claims used to justify the state’s controversial proof of citizenship law. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

10/7/2025, 11:37:28 PM | 15397 5345 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

Musk tried to undermine the Brazilian Supreme Court last year. It got X suspended in Brazil until Musk complied with the court's orders regarding the removal of extremist accounts on x. These guys are targeting Brazil.

10/7/2025, 1:14:13 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

I hate this because Brazil survived a right-wing coup attempt in 2022. Brazil moved on from its far-right authoritarian government and survived attacks from remnants. The U.S. is trying to rile up extremist movements in foreign countries. The U.S. is trying to destabilize Brazil.

10/7/2025, 1:02:14 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

Maguire, a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, posted on X over the weekend that Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary last month, "comes from a culture that lies about everything" and is out to advance "his Islamist agenda."

8/7/2025, 2:38:33 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

Almost 600 people have signed an open letter to leaders at venture firm Sequoia Capital after one of its partners, Shaun Maguire, posted what the group described as a "deliberate, inflammatory attack" against a Muslim Democratic mayoral candidate in New York City.

8/7/2025, 2:38:07 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

This is a catastrophic failure. Over 100 people died without an evacuation warning. In Mitlon, a category 5 hurricane spawning 40+ tornados, there were 45 known casualties. These floods have more than doubled that, and no one was told to evacuate.

7/7/2025, 11:06:03 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

The U.N. Human Rights Council voted on Monday to renew the mandate of an LGBTQ rights expert, a move welcomed by advocates amid the absence of the United States, a former key supporter that is now rolling back such protections.

7/7/2025, 9:38:10 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

He really came up with the dumbest name possible. It smells of grandiose delusion.

5/7/2025, 8:34:52 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

I hope the prosecutors can at least get him a while on prostitution. The prosecutors screwed up with going for Rico. His violence goes unpunished.

5/7/2025, 7:20:46 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

The mural is titled "The Statue of Liberty's Silent Protest" and was created by Dutch artist Judith de Leeuw. In an interview, Leeuw revealed to Storyful that it is meant to reflect shame for the United States over President Donald Trump's immigration policies. www.rawstory.com/statue-of-li...

image
5/7/2025, 5:21:21 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

I'm sorry, but racists don't go to heaven. You're not getting an eternal reward for this stuff. You live a POS, you die a POS. There's no higher power to welcome you. If there is a higher power, it wouldn't want you.

5/7/2025, 1:17:36 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

Now, to be honest. I didn't celebrate today. I've just really been thinking: I really hope we're really free someday.

5/7/2025, 2:26:32 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social) reposted

America is beautiful, contradictory, unfinished. I am proud of our country even as we constantly strive to make it better, to protect and deepen our democracy, to fulfill its promise for each and every person who calls it home. Happy Independence Day. No Kings in America.

4/7/2025, 4:14:13 PM | 59110 10022 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

America started with a declaration. We're still in the implementation of that declaration. I'm grateful we can push forward together toward that perfect union - a future where we can all truly be free.

4/7/2025, 5:09:51 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

Are you saying that it wasn't liberals and progressives but Republicans and right-leaning Independents that elected Zohran?

3/7/2025, 6:01:17 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

He characterizes his chosen religions as "traditional religion" even though he only considers denominations of Christianity and Judaism

image
3/7/2025, 1:35:23 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

These are the weird parts that I'm referencing: One's under "alternatives that Americans have been picking" The other is under "why these particular religious formations enjoy Smith's attentions instead of others." Smith prioritizes Christian denominations & plays them against the easiest targets

image image
3/7/2025, 1:31:58 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

There are people who slip into right-wing extremist movements and people who are raised into them. The people who slip into them can slip back out if their reality changes. The ppl raised into them cling to them more and would more likely limit their reality in order to stay in the movement.

2/7/2025, 4:34:09 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

I spoke to a white acquaintance still in MAGA on Facebook. He was giddy abt Alligator Alcatraz & the BBB for "taking illegal immigrants off Medicaid." He asked why I care abt immigrants since I don't know them. Even when I was in MAGA up until 2020, I was oblivious to the cruelty. He's drawn to it

2/7/2025, 4:21:59 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

This guy ignored every other religion to focus only on denominations and called denominations religions. Then, when he discussed alternatives, he ignored atheism, secular humanism, and others for New Age religion and crystals. He could only make his point by cutting the complexity of reality.

2/7/2025, 12:08:36 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

Healthcare cuts in Washington and a new hope in New York.

1/7/2025, 9:58:28 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

More than 14 million people could die over the next five years because of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to an analysis published Monday in the medical journal The Lancet.

1/7/2025, 8:12:03 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Republicans Against Trumpism (@rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social) reposted

Sen. Lisa Murkowski on the Big Ugly Bill she just voted for: β€œDo I like this bill? No. But I tried to take care of Alaska’s interests, but I know that in many parts of the country, there are Americans that are not going to be advantaged by this bill"

1/7/2025, 6:21:05 PM | 515 137 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

That bill is so ugly. The ugliest thing for me, as someone in risk management, isn't just the suffering it'll cause, but that there's no upside to the suffering. If you're going to take on excess risk, you need a proportionate reward. But here, there's no upside. So it comes off as self-harm.

1/7/2025, 7:26:36 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

Legal grift

1/7/2025, 5:24:00 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

Wow!! So healthcare cuts in Washington, and a new hope in New York.

1/7/2025, 4:27:28 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

Is this the same charm she was saying her mother had when she faced challenges? 'Cuz I don't find it charming. And I don't see how her mother did anything but endure if this was what Murkowski learned from her.

1/7/2025, 4:23:47 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

It really is a death bill

1/7/2025, 3:56:25 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

Healthcare cuts are the blue-chip, gold standard method for killing people. AI moratoriums were where they were really innovating. We were going to die in ways we couldn't imagine.

1/7/2025, 3:55:53 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

I think this rationalization was a way to get the kids and people who hadn't yet lost their ability to empathize to start or continue down a path of increasingly unempathetic actions towards LGBTQ individuals.

30/6/2025, 5:18:40 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

When I was still religious, there was this idea authorities would teach us that LGBTQ people weren't really happy & that we had to help them find real happiness. As evidence of LGBTQ people's "faux happiness" were the social and psychological challenges they faced [that religious people caused].

30/6/2025, 5:01:29 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

Israeli settlers are in a perpetual rampage. Now, they rampage against the military that enforces their ill-gotten possessions. The IDF cheers when Palestinian natives are subjected to violence but perks up when it's subjected to settler violence. The base instinct of settlers is aggression.

30/6/2025, 3:39:54 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

This was back before I was diagnosed. Not only did this approach demonstrate love in a way that didn't feel like unconditional love, but it also made me question if I loved other people because I couldn't do things that would make the "I love you" condition-less.

30/6/2025, 3:18:40 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

The whole "I love you, but not what you do" approach doesn't work with disability. For me, it made me think that the person saying that did everything they could for me and that now I needed to demonstrate my love in return by changing behaviors that I could never figure out how to change.

30/6/2025, 3:01:37 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

They showed out! Even with the new ban on public assemblies supporting LGBTQ rights, they showed out for Pride.

29/6/2025, 2:43:05 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

How little sense this makes: Threatening Israel on behalf of the Israeli prime minister.

29/6/2025, 2:07:38 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

The times are bringing racial trauma to new generations.

28/6/2025, 2:54:34 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

Wladimir Vera Villamizar, a 33-year-old welder, had a whole lung removed β€” an uncommon procedure that requires months of intensively managed recovery, according to doctors.

28/6/2025, 2:26:54 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

OMG... Days of trying to explain it away and insults, they are trying a veiled insult as an explanation.

27/6/2025, 5:34:33 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

I feel like the low-engaged voters calling themselves the Democratic base are burying the efforts of women of color. Then, they try to gaslight ppl that women of color get the same outcome no matter which party wins to rationalize their decisions. But we see our women suffering disproportionately.

27/6/2025, 2:35:55 AM | 9 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

"Anti-Israel?" Is NYT afraid of Muslims?

26/6/2025, 12:09:43 PM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

The state denies its own intelligence.

25/6/2025, 2:48:14 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

The United Nations' human rights office has slammed Israel for the deaths of hundreds of Gazans trying to get aid through a new delivery system. The UN says over 400 people have been killed near aid hubs since the Israeli and US-backed "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" started operating.

25/6/2025, 2:45:08 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

I'm relieved that New York City said "no" to sex pests.

25/6/2025, 1:58:05 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

That's what "obliterated" means these days.

24/6/2025, 7:46:34 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

That wasn't a ceasefire. That was "concepts" of a ceasefire.

24/6/2025, 1:25:02 PM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

There aren't any.

24/6/2025, 1:15:20 PM | 9 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

Ikr Yeah, as autistics, we never talk about moments when we're not autistic πŸ˜‘

24/6/2025, 1:14:39 PM | 7 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

The European Union says there are β€³indicationsβ€³ that Israel’s actions in Gaza are violating human rights obligations in the agreement governing its ties with the EU β€” but the block was divided Monday over what to do in response.

24/6/2025, 11:54:04 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

There's a rationalization that takes place when people try to figure out why they're hated and as they try to figure out how to avoid being hated. These rationalizations make it so that white supremacists can torture vulnerable minority communities long after they are gone.

24/6/2025, 6:35:48 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

My first love was a Latina who was colorist against brown skin Latinos. I've spent my life a part of communities marked by internal racism & high stratification. There was colorism in the segregated town I was raised in, too. White flight & supremacy leave deep marks on minority communities.

24/6/2025, 6:35:05 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

Particularly when it's comes to religious conservative environments where married women might not speak freely. It's weird seeing how some religiously conservative guys I knew fell deeper down a sexist rabbit hole after getting married.

24/6/2025, 4:07:52 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

I think that a lot of these guys' journey to find a "woman of god" is really them looking for their chief enabler. I'm glad I didn't find a "woman of god" when I was a religious conservative. Under certain circumstances, family formation seems to lead men to understand women less, not more.

24/6/2025, 3:58:52 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

When our circumstances are poor, our values will be our wealth.

22/6/2025, 10:54:11 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

It seems that the pastor welcomed black people to his church but didn't advocate for full equality. It was rare to have a church where I was born that had both races. I didn't think at the time to ask for more from people.

22/6/2025, 7:21:15 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

I remembered this now because I just saw one of his posts today praising the administration for bombing Iran, and I realized I haven't heard the pastor who was against race mixing say that I was smart black man in a long time.

22/6/2025, 7:01:37 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

I didn't know until later in life that the white pastor of the church my grandmother attended was an outspoken opponent of race mixing. But this was when I was already down the religious conservative pipeline and was getting praised by him for being a "smart black man" for supporting his politics.

22/6/2025, 6:54:22 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

If peace doesn't come quickly, we will keep escalating. We will escalate our way to peace.

22/6/2025, 2:38:06 AM | 1 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

If you're going to go to war for a dumb reason, at least make it your dumb reason. Going to war for someone else's dumb reason makes it even dumber, and what Bush did was already dumb enough.

22/6/2025, 1:33:54 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture The New York Times (@nytimes.com) reposted

After more than three months in detention by the Trump administration, a judge ordered Mahmoud Khalil released on bail. He was met on Saturday at Newark airport by his wife, their son and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, along with other supporters. nyti.ms/44sUa1y

Mahmoud Khalil, wearing a keffiyeh, pushing a stroller and walking between his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, their Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. His hand is raised in a fist and all three people are smiling. Photo by Todd Heisler/The New York Times
21/6/2025, 9:09:19 PM | 1916 231 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

You don't give birth when you're dead. If anything comes out of you, it's because someone reached into your corpse disturbing your rest. Of course, the way to get a dead woman's body to produce a baby is to preserve the womb and cut a child out when you're done. This was a sick experiment.

21/6/2025, 1:56:10 AM | 4 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

When I talk negatively about Arkansas, it's not for fun or with delight. It's with sadness. We both wanted to work with the system. Neither of us wanted to leave the state where our mom, aunts, uncles, and grandparents grew up and have lived for generations. We were forced out. This is fleeing.

20/6/2025, 5:35:53 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

I have a younger brother still in Arkansas, but he recently said he's planning to leave, too. He explained he wanted to make it a better place for others like us. But attacks on DEI and the current wave of discrimination leave him vulnerable as one of the rare black professionals in his industry.

20/6/2025, 5:26:19 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

It was that way with me. Only in a different food environment was I able to safely and healthily explore what I am able to eat.

20/6/2025, 5:57:28 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

I wonder if it's not that autistic individuals w/ food sensitivities prefer junk food, but that, in an environment with poor food diversity, junk foods end up being the most accessible foods w/ the texture, flavor simplicity & weakest aroma. Those things can be explored in other foods if available.

20/6/2025, 5:55:38 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

I have mood disorders. Black people with mood disorders have always existed. But in the antebellum period, it was taught that it was impossible. They tried to explain away the absurdity of the idea of slaves lacking the mental health needs free blacks have by saying it had to do with property.

20/6/2025, 3:51:34 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

These were the views of white southerners of the time. They believed that because we didn't have property, we couldn't experience mental illness.

20/6/2025, 3:32:43 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

Seeing some older family member's visible anxiety around white people, they didn't get to have the blue city experience or the coast experience I'm getting. They were forced into a smaller world and isolated from potential allies of many races and backgrounds. Please don't forget us in the South.

20/6/2025, 2:45:28 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social) reply parent

Why use Schumer's picture instead of Thune's here? The Republican Congress is what's handing power to Trump.

20/6/2025, 1:37:19 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture James Hicks πŸŒˆβ™ΎοΈ (ASD) πŸŒˆπŸ¦‹ (ADHD) (@drenethdolly.bsky.social)

Visiting family. That's the only reason I would go back to Arkansas. Even though I lived there up until November of last year, I haven't missed it. I fled Arkansas ahead of the election.

19/6/2025, 10:11:14 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view