Dania Betún Warhol (elle) @daniawarhol of the transfeminist network EspicyNipples @espicynipplez is a Puerto Rican media maker who’s calling much-needed attention to the water crisis on the island.

Over 500,000 people are experiencing severe water shortages caused by historic drought and the government’s neglect of the water infrastructure, in addition to long power outages. A few quick ways to show your solidarity are to follow @espicynipplez and donate towards their work to document the stories of Black, trans, queer & other marginalized communities in Puerto Rico at bit.ly/donate2espicy. 🇵🇷 We were fortunate to have Dania share thoughts with us on how journalists can be accountable to grassroots justice movements by centering communities, keeping them safe, and engaging in decolonization, popular education, redistribution, and repair: “As journalists, we are accountable to the people and to community-based movements, not to corporations, institutions, or powerful interests—and certainly not to the ‘like’ economy. Especially in these times we are living in with artificial intelligence and with all these narratives surrounding the issue of legality, that is a language and a discourse in itself that journalism has the ability to demystify and put the power (knowledge) in the hands of the people. Therefore, a crucial first step for every journalist is to undertake the internal work of decolonizing themselves because possessing strong narrative techniques is insufficient if your practices and discourse reproduce the very same forms of violence you denounce. Furthermore, journalists must put their knowledge at the service of these movements through popular education, thereby ensuring that people from the most marginalized communities can continue this work. Accountability also requires returning resources and visibility to communities, correcting mistakes, protecting vulnerable sources, refusing to provide coverage based solely on suffering, and remaining answerable to people and movements beyond publication.” [Image description in comments.]