Some public school teachers are courageously protecting kids rights to access all material, despite threats and retaliation. Thank you to @palan57.bsky.social at @forbes.com for shining a light on their remarkable stories. More than ever, we need heroes to be visible.

I pledge allegiance to Jon Stewart.

“[David] Letterman joined the critics on Thursday, noting that he had beaten up on president after president over the years, and “not once were we squeezed by anyone from any governmental agency.”

When I was in Greece, my cab driver told us that poetry and philosophy developed during a prolonged period without war. When I read the news each day about Trump, authoritarian attacks, and billionaires usurping democratic processes, and not about poetry, I think of what is lost.

This Tuesday in Ann Arbor. A reading about attempts to intimidate and silence academics.

A reminder that a 2020 study by ABC news found 54 examples of violence, criminal violence in which actual charges had to be filed by state and federal authorities, inspired directly by Donald Trump. 0 such cases, ever, for Bush or Obama. Ask Trump to answer for all 54 of those, then talk to Dems.

With new language to the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities (in defiance of students and faculty), U-Michigan’s regents, general counsel and Student Life enact a final coup to control how “violations” are defined and adjudicated.

COLLEGE STUDENTS WALK OUT In one week, students at American, Howard, Georgetown, UDC, and more will make it clear there is no cooperation with DC's occupation. JOIN THE WALKOUT ON TUESDAY, SEPT 9. Sign your strike card and get connected to other students on your campus: bit.ly/free-dc-walkout

Thanks to the Michigan Daily, faculty and staff at U Michigan share perspectives about the desirable values and actions of our next president.

University of Michigan faculty and staff speak up about what we want in our new president. (post-Ono) @michigandaily.bsky.social @silkyweineck.bsky.social @sbagen.bsky.social @basit-zafar.bsky.social @yiliw.bsky.social @drgigiawad.bsky.social

This brought me to tears. I stand in solidarity with Chicago.

“President Trump accused the Smithsonian Institution on Tuesday of focusing too much on ‘how bad slavery was’ and not enough on the ‘brightness’ of America as his administration conducts a wide-ranging review of the content in its museum exhibits.”

For ethical, independent journalism these days, look to student journalists. The Michigan Daily editorial board has been excellent. Here, they condemn the capitulation of the corporate media. @michigandaily.bsky.social

correcting the maddening dishonesty

BREAKING: A FOURTH whistleblower has come forward with information about Emil Bove, a Trump judicial nominee who Senate Republicans rubberstamped yesterday. Bove helped orchestrate the blanket pardons of violent January 6 rioters.

5-6pm ET today, @williecarver.bsky.social (2022 Kentucky teacher of the year) and @sassylibrarian.bsky.social (librarian + fierce protector of books and students) join me and host THetzel on Living Writers to talk about censorship and the cowardice of administrators who witness teacher harassment.

Just watched Monica Coles' devastating testimony about being fired on her 3rd day teaching K-5 art—for wearing pants and short hair in a monoculture of teachers w/ long hair, heels and dresses—in a conservative public school district where the PTA funds the school. www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_Qm...

“A Metro Times analysis of [Detroit Mayor Mike] Duggan’s fundraising shows a sizable share comes from donors of President Donald Trump, GOP party leaders, and conservative power brokers with vested interests in state policy.”

Guidepost Solutions' chairman is monitoring the extortion of Columbia by Trump. U. of Michigan regents, all on their own, hired "consultants" from Guidepost last year to comb through video tapes to harass and attempt to expel students who protested the war on Gaza.

we will look back on this era and realize the student newspapers were the free press. www.thedp.com/article/2025...

Regent Bernstein makes a mockery of First Amendment rights. According to the state charter, regents have no authority to meddle in hiring decisions, let alone to subject members of our campus to their petty whims and biases. Donating $$ to the Dems shouldn’t protect him.

The UMich regents and General Counsel stopped reporting litigation in their agendas in the past year, at a time when they face serious lawsuits from the ACLU and former employees for 1st Amendment violations, discrimination, due process violations, and retaliation. Public university = transparency?

U-Mich's Regent Bernstein overrides the assessment of UM administrators and tells the General Counsel to immediately terminate Rachel Dawson, our director of multicultural initiatives. Our regents have turned U-M's campus into a theater where they act on their biases and pettiness.

BREAKING: The Supreme Court allows the Trump administration to move forward with the abolition of the Department of Education. It gives no explanation for its order. All three liberals dissent. www.documentcloud.org/documents/25... From Sotomayor's dissent:

On this shitshow day, if you want to do something positive, please help Marcellous, a patient care provider at Michigan Medicine. He slipped on a puddle at work and injured his leg. Instead of providing worker's comp, they fired him. Please read more and consider donating! gofund.me/872de8c8

Please help Marcellous - he worked at U-M for 10 years. Then he got hurt on the job, and they discarded him like he was nothing. Every little bit helps. His story is at the link. gofund.me/abbc7d16

They’ve destroyed American medical research, the American education system, the American university research system, and the aid system that protected millions of lives, and they’ve given our anti-immigrant masked paramilitary police force a budget the size of a nation

Trump administration withholds more than $156M for Michigan school programs, educator training www.bridgemi.com/michigan-gov... via @bridgemi.com

I love the Michigan Daily. “the relative silence from the regents surrounding their efforts to commit acts of espionage against their own student body is alarming. Their response …shows that even despite the accusations, the regents have no interest in taking responsibility for their actions.”

Advice for Mandani to support his goals of increased wages and shared prosperity. (Peter Dreier). Including: conservatives will try to undermine you by calling you “radical.” It’s a historical stunt.

Bravo to the Mississippi educators seeking a restraining order to the law prohibiting educators from teaching students about issues "related to race, sex, color, gender identity, sexual orientation or national origin.” @insurgentprof.bsky.social

Michael Roth at Heterodox. 👏👏👏

U of Florida Law student writes article claiming the U.S. constitution only protects white people. Student receives award. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/21/u...

On the topic of shooting ourselves in the foot… I posted the Michigan House’s proposed budget (which will cut $250M from U Michigan) on a U-M parent’s FB group, warning that this will lead to higher tuition. More than one parent applauded the House, insisting that U-M needs to tighten their belt.

“scientific data does not support the existence of systematic discrimination against White people that perpetuates disadvantage across all domains of life (such as opportunities, networks, education, wealth, health, legal treatment) relative to other racial/ethnic groups.”

“Accordingly, the Trump administration has engaged in selective outrage about discrimination, focusing disproportionately on a supposed rampant anti-White racism problem in this country that is not supported by data, while remaining silent about prevalent discrimination against racial minorities.”

"Two search firms told The Chronicle they will no longer participate in higher-education searches in Florida. 'We aren’t going to even bid on jobs in Florida,' one top search firm leader said. 'Too much outside interference. We do a lot of work in these searches and don’t want it just thrown away.'"

This is insane and also I hope that seeing a US fucking senator thrown to the ground and cuffed for asking a question will help some of the people who still aren’t getting it to recognize that THE POLICE ARE THE SOURCE OF THE VIOLENCE

When you need to apologize and say, “we hired random idiots to follow and photograph our students, thereby putting them at risk” but instead you say, “we would never target anyone and the rogue guy who acted shamefully has been sacked.”

“Leadership requires moral clarity, not strategic evasion. Students were followed, harassed, and criminalized under your watch. History will remember.” @professorjvh.bsky.social May U-M Faculty report to regents re: excessive surveillance: regents.umich.edu/files/meetin...

The Guardian broke the story about excessive surveillance on U Michigan’s campus (thousands of surveillance cameras, undercover cops trailing students, drones over public squares). U-M regents approved spending for cops/cameras and ignored our complaint in the May Faculty Governance report.

Alerted to my cameo in the Ono grilling at 1 hour: 59 minutes.

How did Santa Ono lose a one-man race? Professor @silkyweineck.bsky.social writes: “Perhaps it was the instinctive bipartisan contempt most of us feel for blatant pandering: Ono’s assurances that he would follow orders had .. an eagerness to humiliate himself that does not signal leadership.”

I love my detail-oriented senator Andy Kim! @kim.senate.gov

It's gratifying to know that this can happen when you try to sell your soul to the devil. No presidency. No job. No salary. No president's mansion. No integrity.

“there were precious few questions about his academic plans for the institution” tinyurl.com/3674pmks

Ono’s lack of depth was apparent even when he began his term at U-M. Any candidate who emphasizes sports and selfies more than academics should have been rethought. This is why we need critical faculty in the next U-M Pres search.