This week on Friday with Friends, I was joined by Celtic Ginge, a creator who proudly calls themself “a thorn in the side of those that seek to oppress.” Across Substack, Instagram, Bluesky, YouTube, and more, Ginge blends humor, history, and sharp political analysis to dismantle lies and systems that would rather keep us silent. You can find them here
What unfolded in our conversation was not just banter, but a weaving of story, culture, and rebellion, a transatlantic echo between Irish resistance and Black liberation.
Key Themes From Our Conversation
1. Rebellion as Cultural MemoryCeltic Ginge spoke about how their content is steeped in Irish history, protest, and rebellion. From uprisings against colonial rule to modern-day critiques of fascism, they reminded us that rebellion is not a trend, it is inheritance.
And here’s the truth: what empire did to Ireland mirrors what empire did in the U.S. after Reconstruction. Supremacy culture recycles the same playbook everywhere: erase, control, suppress, then repackage it as progress. When we tell these stories side by side, we expose design, not coincidence.
59 Days of Resistance: A Journey Through Black and Irish Liberation
2. Humor as Resistance and HealingWhat began “kind of as a joke” on TikTok became a platform for truth. Celtic Ginge leaned into humor and satire to cut through noise, piss off fascists, and expose hypocrisy. Humor, in this frame, is not dismissal but a weapon: it disarms, connects, and unsettles. But humor is also a healing modality. Our people have always laughed through pain—not to minimize it, but to survive it. Humor reminds us that laughter is holy, rebellion is joyous, and ridicule is sometimes the sharpest sword.
3. The Personal as PoliticalBehind the laughs and viral content is someone who works in live events with musicians, comedians, and rock stars. That duality, worldly exposure alongside online vulnerability, mirrors how so many of us carry public roles while also navigating digital resistance. It’s a reminder: we don’t have to compartmentalize. We can show up whole, in our work, in our art, in our resistance.
4. Crossing Borders of StruggleThough rooted in Irish resistance, the conversation opened up space to draw parallels with global fights against oppression, colonial legacies, whiteness policing itself, and the dangers of nostalgia for an imagined past.
This conversation was a reminder that colonial violence is borderless, and so too is resistance. Our stories are not separate, they are chapters of the same book of liberation.
Why This Matters
This wasn’t just a chat, it was an exploration of how history continues to breathe in us. It was about using culture, humor, and storytelling to fight back against systems that want us silent, compliant, or ashamed. And it was a living reminder that global solidarity is not abstract, it’s a thread running through us all.
Practice Your Praxis
* Self: Reflect… what parts of your story carry inherited rebellion? Where do you use humor or truth-telling as resistance?
* Home: Share a story of rebellion from your own lineage with family or friends. What patterns do you notice?
* Work: Identify one way to bring humor, truth, or story into spaces that usually suppress them.
Looking Ahead
Friday with Friends is growing, and I want you to be part of it, so if you would like to chat with me, message me. These aren’t one-off conversations, they’re building a community of shared learning and liberation.
✨ Next week, I’ll be joined by Kate Coffman founder of Rooted Beginnings. Kate is a proud neurodivergent teacher, a certified DIRFloortime® practitioner, and a mother raising neurodivergent children. Her work is grounded in joy, curiosity, and meaningful connection, values that resonate deeply with liberation and healing.
✨ If this conversation stirred something in you, consider supporting my work through a paid subscription to Liberation Education. Your support fuels the kind of dialogue that keeps history alive and pushes us closer to liberation.
Desireé B. StephensFounder, Make Shi(f)t HappenEducator | Counselor | Community Builder
Thank you Lisa Haight, Carolyn Ellis, Susan, Sally J Falk, Tiffany Donnelly, and many others for tuning into my live video with Ginge! Join me for my next live video in the app.
