The latest on ICE raids and Sudan, Hurricane Melissa, and books for Scorpio season.

Last week, I shared about the work of the Defending Our Neighbors Fund, an initiative to provide emergency response funding to grassroots organizations to ensure immigrant families facing the threat of separation, wrongful detention, and deportations have access to lawyers.

There are more than 6 million U.S. households that have a family member at risk of detention or deportation. But your donation will directly support at least one: one child stranded here without his family, one person wrongfully grabbed off the streets while they were probably just trying to get through the day, one person that just wants to go home. You’ll also be supporting the work of an organization that’s working tirelessly to help them do the same.

You can also support by following them on social media @defendingourneighborsfund.

 ‘We’ll be here’: Across three cities, communities step up as SNAP runs out. A mother of four in Detroit, a pastor serving LGBTQ+ congregants in Dallas and a food bank manager in Chicago share their fears — and resilience — as federal funds are set to expire. 19th News >

Palestinian women in Gaza continue to endure the impossible. Through the stories of women who lost their husbands during the genocide, we can understand real solidarity in struggle. Prism >

New England educators and students brace for ICE raids. As ICE steps up raids across the country, educators and students in New England are on edge, worried about arrests and disruptions in their schools. Prism >

How Hurricane Melissa got so dangerous so fast. “The role climate change has played in making Hurricane Melissa incredibly dangerous is undeniable." Grist >

460 Killed in horrific massacre in Sudan hospital, WHO says, amid RSF takeover. Rapid Support Forces fighters stormed the hospital and killed everyone inside, Sudan Doctors Network said. Truthout >

Mamdani's youth support goes beyond New York. For many, he's now a national leader. Zohran Mamdani's focus on affordability concerns has energized many young voters around the country, who say he speaks to some of their most pressing economic concerns. NPR >

DHS is billing unaccompanied immigrant kids $5,000. The fine is one of several new financial penalties for immigrants created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Donald Trump signed in July. The intercept >

CA relies on incarcerated firefighters. They finally make the federal minimum wage. It took a grassroots push to win the legislation that offers more pay and an opportunity for reduced prison sentences. Truthout >

An interview with former ICE Director emphasizes Trump’s violent immigration tactics. Sarah Saldaña, who led ICE when Obama was nicknamed the “Deporter-in-Chief,” says that “it has never been done in this way before.” Marshall Project >

A former deputy was convicted in killing of Sonya Massey after 15-month wait for justice. Sean Grayson has been incarcerated since he was arrested 11 days after Sonya Massey’s death in July 2024. Capital B News >

From Mississippi to Maryland, Black communities are taking on big tech. There are 1,200 data centers in the South, and $200 billion worth are on the horizon. Black community members said they are fighting a new wave of “extraction.” Capital B News >

Americans who call abortion their top voting issue are now more likely to support banning it. Of people who said abortion was their top priority, 57 percent also said society would be better served by reverting to “traditional gender roles,” seven percentage points above the general population. 19th News >

Books for Scorpio Season

A curated recommendations of books that bring the drama, intrigue and deep connection that Scorpios are known for.

The Land in Winter

Andrew Miller

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, this atmospheric novel set during a famously freezing 1960s winter and explores the minutiae of married life through the interior lives of two couples. Read >

Song of My Softening

Omotara James 

This collection of raw poems open wide the questioning of how we express both love and pain, how we view our bodies in society, and our nation’s relationship with Black queerness. Read >

Death at the Door: A Ruby and Cordelia Mystery

Olivia Blacke 

The odd couple of crime-solving returns in Olivia Blacke’s Death at the Door, where a ghost and her living roommate find another mystery on their doorstep. Read >

Read This When Things Fall Apart

Kelly Hayes

Through letters from Let This Radicalize You co-author Kelly Hayes, this book is a care package for activists and organizers building power under fascistic, demoralizing conditions. Read >