Part 1 of big project finished this morning: a spreadsheet of all 162 Black legislators in Mississippi during the 1800s, tracking every documentation I could find for them on the US census: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... 1/3

This is a wild thread about the fabrication of academic citations completely made up by AI tools in Google scholar.

Now that Mississippi users can access this site again, I need to get back in the routine of posting here regularly. I'm on sabbatical for the spring 2026 semester (yay!), and my current main focus is leading the "Making Their Mark" project. +++

I'm on Bluesky, so I must be out of Mississippi again... 😆 *waves* from New Orleans, where I'm gathering with a bunch of cool people from Monument Lab to talk about exciting projects in the works!

Presenting "Until It Is Faced: Using Primary Sources to Teach the History of Civil Rights in Mississippi" at @asalh-bhm.bsky.social with @jperksmith.bsky.social, Al Dorsey, and Beth Kruse #ASALH2025

this needs to be hammered into the skulls of every elite individual and institution on every measure - reputationally, financially, morally - you come out better if you fight the guy stand up! it’s the right thing to do and better for you in every way! how often does that happen?

Yesterday's ASALH panel on @ccp-org.bsky.social was great! @profgabrielle.bsky.social and @jimccasey1.bsky.social, if y'all ever want another librarian, let me know! 😁

Looking forward to my second day at @asalh-bhm.bsky.social! I'll be presenting "Until It Is Faced: Using Primary Sources to Teach the History of Civil Rights in Mississippi" with Al Dorsey and @jperksmith.bsky.social at 4:00. #ASALH2025 #TeachTheTruth

While I have Bluesky access, here are photos, info, and media links from our 150th anniversary commemoration of the Clinton Massacre on Sept 4-6: much-ado.net/legislators/... This season of organized white supremacist violence in 1875 brought about the end of Reconstruction in Mississippi.

I'm aliiiiive! I'm out of Mississippi and in Atlanta for @asalh-bhm.bsky.social, so I was able to get on Bluesky! Full day of panels today. My panel with Jessica Smith and Al Dorsey, "Until it is Faced: Using Primary Sources to Tell the Story of Civil Rights in Mississippi," is tomorrow at 4:00.

At least I can still access Bluesky on my phone. Hope that doesn't change. #Mississippi

“See, Mississippi is not actually Mississippi’s problem. Mississippi is America’s problem because if America wanted to do something about it, what’s been going on in Mississippi, it could have been stopped by now.” —Fannie Lou Hamer

During the first week of September, we'll be commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Clinton Massacre with several events in and around Clinton, Mississippi. Details at much-ado.net/legislators/.... Please help spread the word!

During the first week of September, we'll be commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Clinton Massacre with several events in and around Clinton, Mississippi. Details at much-ado.net/legislators/.... Please help spread the word!

The AI Slop Overload Does Not Taste Good - The Scholarly Kitchen

I wonder when all the national media is going to start breathlessly reporting every day on how all the rollbacks of equity programs, scholarships, and social justice centers on college campuses at behest of this admin makes black, brown, trans, and queer folks feel unsafe

In today's mail! I've been waiting for this to come out. 😁 @upmississippi.bsky.social

"I am, at any given moment, Schrodinger's criminal. So are you. So are all of us."

Honoring Emmett Till's birthday at the national monument in Sumner, MS

This is the small newspaper clipping that I show to my Governor's School students to show the callous establishment reaction to the murder.

Trump Told Park Workers to Report Displays That ‘Disparage’ Americans. Here’s What They Flagged. Descriptions and displays at scores of parks and historic sites have been flagged for review in connection with an executive order from President Trump.

Federal judge temporarily blocks Mississippi’s new DEI ban U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate on Sunday approved the request for a temporary restraining order sought by a coalition of civil rights and legal organizations on behalf of students, parents and educators.

"ICE isn’t helping anyone. They’re not making us safer or more prosperous. With every new headline, I find it harder to understand what role they’re playing that would allow us to even call them public servants." I published some thoughts today on ICE and the meaning of public service.

OPINION: Amid federal budget cuts, "Mississippi has lost millions in science funding so far and is poised to lose tens of millions more for biomedical research from NIH alone," Logan Havard writes.

you've heard about the college kids who can't do anything without ChatGPT's help—but what about the students who oppose generative A.I. for myriad reasons and refuse to rely on it as a shortcut? well, I found and spoke with a few of them here: slate.com/life/2025/07...

We can circle the barn all day voicing opinions on using AI for writing but eventually you get to the heart of the matter, which is that you either enjoy thinking or you don’t.

My Mississippi State University Libraries colleague on how federal cuts are hurting universities' preservation of congressional papers

There are only three political positions in America today 1) I like the fascism 2) I'll acquiesce to the fascism (reasons for this one vary: cowardice, access, denial, misguidedly thinking that acquiescence is savvy, etc) 3) I oppose the fascism The rest is details

"If you want to dismantle democracy, take out the people who can prove why it needs to exist." @staceyabrams.com at @mmei63.bsky.social on why authoritarians are afraid of teaching about people like Medgar Evers

And if you concede in advance, it gives them even more power over you.

not a single person's job, not a single grant, will be saved by surrendering instead of fighting. ask columbia.

*sounds the "that was probably AI generated information, that's why you can't find it and now at least 2 library staff have had to do first an initial and then a cross check of that information to confirm it doesn't exist so yes, we've had double time wasted by your time saving efforts" klaxon*

"Journalism, Truth, and Civil Rights" panel with @fumblebragg.bsky.social, @annawolfe.bsky.social, Howard Ballou, @jmitchellnews.bsky.social, and @nhannahjones.bsky.social

This lady made my day by celebrating Reconstruction in Mississippi! @joyannreid.bsky.social

"Everyone in this country has at least one foot in Mississippi, whether they know it or not." - @wralpheubanks.bsky.social on current events

Great conversation about the stories we tell - and don't tell - with @wralpheubanks.bsky.social, @joyannreid.bsky.social, and Dr. Ebony Lumumba. Thank you, Joy, for the shout-out to Reconstruction!

Powerful talk about Medgar Evers by Michael Vinson Williams

Amazing panel with Bettie Dahmer, @reenaevers.bsky.social, and @kerrykennedy.bsky.social telling wonderful stories about their fathers, civil rights martyrs. Moderated by @joyannreid.bsky.social. Powerful kickoff to a weekend celebrating the 100th birthday of Medgar Evers.

If you see this sign when you visit a National Park, consider writing in and saying: 1. What a great job NPS staff are doing (especially with now limited resources!) 2. That you value full, complex, and truthful histories and want them to be told at these sites

I wish this headline was "POLITICIANS' Anti-Diversity Crusade..." because it should be clear that this is on them. I spoke up because the public needs to see what's being done to our universities, which have worked so hard at diversity and truth-telling... which is exactly why they came after us.

"It turns out that people would rather read a thoughtful essay with an error in it than one of ChatGPT’s grammatically flawless articles about delving into a thought-provoking tapestry of synergy." www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/im-...

Heading to Jackson this weekend for what looks to be an amazing gathering. Can't wait to see (and meet??) @staceyabrams.com, @esglaude.bsky.social, @nhannahjones.bsky.social, @reenaevers.bsky.social, and lots more people who give me hope while the world burns.

It’s a good thing Congress isn’t alive to see this

Harvard hired a researcher to uncover its ties to slavery. He says the results cost him his job: ‘We found too many slaves’

Thank you, @trjackson.bsky.social, for shining a light on what politicians are doing to our students and to such important programs at Mississippi's public universities.

It was great to see our little Mississippi town turned out for this.

After the latest round of grading papers, I wrote about AI, ChatGPT, the death of the student essay, and what it means for the future of human cognition.

New signs at incarceration camps raise historical erasure concerns asamnews.com/2025/06/19/d... via @AsAmNews