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In the headlines...

🕊️ On the 100th day milestone of their “Walk for Peace,” the Buddhist monks were joined by thousands of Virginians. The group now sets its sights on its final destination: the U.S. Capitol.

📚 After Mayor Zohran Mamdani mentioned New Yorkers could access “Heated Rivalry” for free through the library during the winter storm, downloads surged by more than 1000%.

LGBTQ+

University students in California have made 300,000 Wikipedia edits to preserve LGBTQ+ history

Amid ongoing efforts to erase LGBTQ+ history from the Trump administration, students at the University of California Berkeley are fighting to preserve it.

For the past decade, students in Professor María Rodríguez’s classes covering ethnic studies, gender and women’s studies, and performance studies have edited and created Wikipedia articles about LGBTQ+ history, with a focus on queer and trans people of color.

In partnership with Wiki Education, the students have contributed over 300,000 edits and 3,000 citations to Wikipedia, and garnered more than 96 million views.

Why is this good news? There have long been attempts to erase or dampen the contributions of LGBTQ+ people in history, and this effort addresses the disparities in what information is available about who, especially when it comes to white LGBTQ+ populations and LGBTQ+ people of color.

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You may also like: How people are preserving LGBTQ+ history — despite the Trump administration’s efforts to erase it​

More Good News

​Amid ICE crackdowns, activists created a directory of over 470 Latino businesses to support on Super Bowl Sunday. The list includes bars and restaurants across 13 major U.S. cities, encouraging fans to exclusively support Latino establishments for the big game.

​An Altadena bakery's anti-ICE cookies sold out in minutes, with proceeds benefiting Minnesotans. Altadena Cookie Company announced on Instagram that 100% of proceeds from the cookie designs would go to the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota’s Immigrant Rapid Response Fund, which provides support in Minneapolis.

​Conservationists saved and rehabilitated two endangered seal pups found off the West Coast. Guadalupe fur seals are largely found living on Guadalupe Island, off the Pacific coast of Mexico, and the islands of the San Benito Archipelago, but they’ve been increasingly found stranded off the coast of California.

​The Hague court ordered the Dutch government to protect residents on an island that’s sinking due to climate change. The Hague District Court also ruled that the government discriminated against Bonaire’s 20,000 inhabitants by not taking “timely and appropriate measures” to protect them from climate change before it’s too late.

Animals

These beagles were slated for euthanasia. Now they’re living their best life beside pigs, goats, and sheep on a farm in Wyoming

→ Read more​

People doing good

A Maryland man spends every day before work walking shelter dogs — even on holidays

Since 2018, Darren Genson has volunteered with Ann Arundel County Animal Services every single morning — “Unless I’m sick or … an obligation I can’t avoid” — before he goes to work as a full-time insurance agent.

Genson adopted his own dog, Charli, at the shelter, and wanted to continue volunteering to help the dogs who “don’t get a break.”

Genson grew more drawn to the “difficult” dogs who were skittish around humans, and the ones who were “high risk,” considered “not adoptable,” and were never able to go on walks with volunteers. He slowly got them to warm up — and now spends every day with them, walking about four to six dogs per shift.

→ Read more (Gifted link)

More Good bits

🧶 Don’t know how to knit? You can still get a “Melt the ICE” hat.

💫 Minnesota’s state bird meets the Rebellion. (TikTok)

🪧 The most beautiful protest ever heard. (TikTok)

🐞 A new ladybug species is the size of a grain of sand.

📞 A payphone is bridging political divides.

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