Before the segment of the episode dedicated to honoring Tinu, co-hosts Miles Griffis and Betsy Ladyzhets talk with podcast producer James Salanga about the latest COVID-19 numbers. And they share a brief hopeful update about beginning analysis that could help lead to repurposed drugs as treatment for Long COVID.  

Find our podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, or listen below and jump to the start of the podcast transcript.

Tinu deserved so much better than the capitalist landscape that is the United States.

I have been going back to this piece she wrote which was part of a book. https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2022/02/24/what-black-disabled-women-want

Tinu deserved so much more than the cards she was dealt, but I hope she's resting well now. I wish we'd had more time together.

Tinu helped many people with her educational posts and her generosity of spirit, boosting mutual aid posts for others (including me) despite her desperate need for mutual aid of her own.

It's not fair that she was infected with COVID in the first place. It's not fair that she had to cope with cancer and Long COVID at the same time. It's not fair that her life was stolen from her.

Her beautiful soul will be missed for the rest of our lives.

Goodbye, Tinu.

Love, Karistina

I will miss, admire, and be grateful to Tinu always.

Love,

Kate

We will meet again. We will. Until then, rest as much as you can.

https://youtu.be/ACT1LMagFX0?si=-zCfRTif2w7BRMpt

Soar, sis.

Much love from Morénike Giwa Onaiwu

https://www.whoneedsnormalcy.com/2024/10/untitled-musings-for-tinu.html

Tinu, I will miss your smile, laughter, the advocacy you brought to social media platform(s), for disabled individuals when the world was so dark and bleak. Fly high. You will be missed.

Ollie

She taught me so much about how to be assertive and ask for help when I need it, especially as I'm a shy person who lurks more than I post.

I miss her so much. I will continue the fight against ableism, the fight for a better world, the fight for a world where justice, mutual aid, and accessibility are the core of our communities. Much love to you, Tinu. We all love you and miss you.

-- Aidan (Aaidanbird)

4:34

Tinu Abayomi-Paul aka Empress...

thank you for holding space.

I try so hard to show my ass but they will throw me back up on that pedestal. It's no place for an activist or advocate in my opinion. I don't mind being admired but being idolized is dangerous.

2:09 PM

I could not agree more. I can't live on a pedestal and not just being allowed to be, the spaces where I can just have support without being the leader in the space all the time is important. I think that admiration can walk a fine line to idolizing.

5:44 PM

You said a WORD about not being the leader all the time!!

🔥

Start a message:

Thank you for holding space with me.

Tinu helped me develop as a disability advocate

Tinu helped me to find balance.

Tinu was a human being

Tinu was a friend

Tinu was a daughter

Tinu was more off the pedestal

She was a joy to know

She was also so very funny and just a general light in the hellscape that Twitter can be sometimes.

She helped so many people crowdfund and organize to cover expenses, and inspired me to use the privileged parts of my identity to help others. She was such a presence in online disability spaces and will continue to be with us all as we move forward in the fight for justice and accessibility. #ForTinu <3

Thanks everyone, for the chance to memorialize Tinu's bright, bright presence on social media, with her efforts to support, educate, and advocate for others. As much as I can at least, with these 3 threads she reshared before she passed.

The first thread of Tinu's I would like to share is about sleep and rest. She says, "Start praising yourself for sleeping. I used to berate myself for waking up past ten, even though that usually meant I only slept 4-6 hours. Ever since I set a sleep goal of 8 hours and started considering THAT success instead of being awake at a certain hour, I'm much happier."

https://x.com/Tinu/status/1570498205665853440?t=nnmvhfegYgEpWNMic1_wbg&s=19

The second thread is on individualism (and racism) in capitalism, which was a clear part of her advocacy for our community. She asked, "Why does capitalism or white supremacy care about you being an individual?" then tells us, "Groups are harder to gaslight and control, unless that group is reinforcing capitalist and white supremacist programming. Working cooperatively lessens their power. Working outside the prescribed systems lessens their power. Fixing your problems as a community lessens what they can promise you. Marginalized folks won't get safety nets for free." This was why she was so compelled to intertwine our community together to support one another.

https://x.com/Tinu/status/1819146380436472016?t=RCKoRiH3BEZtk5Xy-FdPew&s=19

In the final thread, she talks about doing what you can. She knew that "sometimes fighting feels hopeless because we come from instant gratification programming. It hurts that it takes months or years to get help for ongoing emergencies and genocides." she also said "We are saving who we can as much as we can," and that "Some of us can’t do anything and have to focus on saving ourselves or doing smaller jobs, but there really aren’t smaller jobs. You still mean everything to the people you put your heart into." She said this as she "[mourned with us] over the people we couldn’t save. Senseless, painful deaths of brilliant, exceptional people.Ordinary folks with giant hearts. Kind people who never bothered anyone," in her own words. And now, we devastatingly mourn her too. Now that she's gone, we have to honor her and keep helping each other.

https://x.com/Tinu/status/1764958212481020250?t=kWyYIjdpvPo74WnKDoiKeQ&s=19

thank you.

-Camille

Morgan W.

Respectfully, beautiful, you are so loved.

You were there for me when I was so fearful and feeling so alone. I’ll never forget you.

In and Out of Time: by Maya Angelou

The sun has come.

The mists have gone.

We see in the distance... our long way home.

I was always yours to have;

You were always mine.

We have loved each other in and out of time

When the first stone looked up at the blazing sun And the first tree struggled up from the forest floor I have always loved you more.

You freed your braids... gave your hair to the breeze.

It hung like a hive of honey bees.

I reached in the mass for the sweet honeycomb there...

Mmmm...God how I love your hair.

You saw me bludgeoned by circumstance.

Lost, injured, hurt by chance.

I screamed to the heavens...Loudly screamed...

Trying to change our nightmares into dreams...

The sun has come.

The mists have gone.

We see in the distance our long way home.

I was always yours to have And you were always mine.

We loved each other

in and out -

in and out -

in and out of time.

But that being said, Tinu was always there for me. She believed in me and wanted to help me at every possible step and gave me great advice how to get my tweets for mutual heard.

And I definitely remember one of my proudest moments was I did a live tweet donation drive of Thor: Love and Thunder to get her GoFundMe donated. And she inspired me to do more. Especially when the first one I did was for a mutual of hers and the movie of my choice was A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.

But she even helped me directly as despite me worrying about her financial state, she donated 50 dollars to me anyway back in 2021. And I'm forever grateful she did and everything else she's done for me.

The last thing she tweeted to me was when I finally got my ID in West Virginia and I showed a picture of the office to show I'm telling the truth. And she said I didn't need to because she trusts me. And that really meant a lot to me.

So I was hoping I would not see Tinu pass away and yet, it did. And to say I wasn't happy is an understatement. Tinu really meant a lot to me. I haven't had time to properly grieve or anything due to my personal problems but that's neither here or there.

But I know one thing, I promised her, my vow after she passed away that I will keep on fighting. I will keep on finding a home, a job, everything.

Tinu, you really meant so much to me. Especially given we're both autistic.

I will really miss you, my friend. You were always a solid friend.

Sincerely yours,

Sebastian/Sersi

We never met in person, still her warmth always reached me. Tinu showed me that life goes on after abandonment. That there will be people who love you on the other side, and who do so with ease. I am forever thankful to her, for her putting herself out there, and for sharing her mind and heart. Tinu uplifted and spoke about women in our community with such pride. Getting to know women like Tinu is why I look forward to seeing where my future takes me. Tinu showed me that a vibrant enjoyable life is achieved by owning your story, reaching out, and using your voice. That kindness is a lifestyle, it's something you choose, and fight against all odds to exercise. That our boundaries are a vital exercise of kindness towards ourselves. She exemplified that there is no time limit to making new connections, indulging in our hobbies and interests. I miss her so much. Someone who is loved this much, by so many, will no doubt be loved forever. Her thoughtfulness and love moved and grounded people in ways I'm just thankful as fuck to have gotten to experience for myself. My heart goes out to Tinu's family, to her friends she held close, and especially to her children, who she spoke so highly about and loved so much. And for those of us mourning Tinu from a distance, showing up as a community, for the disabled community, and for Black disabled women, is paramount now more than ever. Tinu proved that on the other side of feeling at war with yourself, there is so much love waiting for you. She gave us a tangible example of exactly how to help each other and make change where it counts. We lost such a beautiful warm hearted woman to policy that neglected her, and continues to neglect us all. May we continue to learn, put ourselves out there, take accountability, make changes, and try to have a positive impact on all the lives we touch. We can do so, and so we should. If for nothing else, #ForTinu.

I wish I could have done more for you.

Will try to do what I can, in memory, for love & justice.

May all human & nonhuman systems of lies, oppression, greed, and bigotry be turned over.

May love be healed & this planet have peace… or whatever She needs & wants.

Rest in peace & power, Tinu.

-Christina

It's enough to say, Thank you, Tinu.

Heidi Sue Roth

“Tell me something good that happened today.”

Today was beautiful

for a moment, I swear,

you were everywhere. 

In a vibrant Autumn sky, in the gold edging leaves,

in busy midday noises and the quiet in between. 

It was beautiful, Beautiful, 

you were everywhere. 

For a moment.

L. Es.

She gave me a sense of what disability could look like. She made me care about my life again. She made me into an advocate for myself and disabled people everywhere. She saved my life. That was the last thing I ever got to tell her.

She was my friend.

Her mutual aid fundraising work saved countless lives, and gave hope to countless more who had been left to die by the capitalist system once their bodies could no longer keep up with production. She practiced and encouraged intersectionality, prioritizing the most marginalized of society and demanding that we all do the same as her followers.

Tinu’s untimely and preventable loss at the hands of medical negligence leaves a massive hole in the online disability community. The injustice of it must galvanize us all to fight for universal free healthcare and reparations for Black people. It’s the least we can do #ForTinu.

I hope and pray that Tinu is resting in peace, love, joy and power now, singing and dancing with the ancestors. I hope her bereaved family feels the presence of her powerful spirit watching over them as an ancestor and angel now.

Tinu will be missed forever.

-Charlene aka HeironymousBish