For those of you who don't know, author @sarahkendzior.bsky.social coined "transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government" in her 2020 book, "Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America" It's a powerful read, as are all of Sarah's works. Buy/Read.

What's mandate of Black Studies during this moment. What's our responsibility? Join us as we host the first of a series of public conversations in Baltimore, at the Baltimore Unity Hall. We'll be in dialogue with Paul Coates and Olakekan Kamau-Nataki. Next Wednesday from 6-8pm.

This is such a useful resource from @penamerica.bsky.social "What To Do If You’ve Been Doxed Or Placed On A Watchlist" Please consider letting others know that this exists. pen.org/what-to-do-i...

If you were concerned about Kimmel, here's another for you… Journalist Mario Guevara has been detained for 100+ days, ironically arrested as he reported on a "No Kings" protest. The Trump-Vance admin just issued an order of final removal, to send him to El Salvador—where he fled from 21 years ago.

And here's Coleman A. Young, who would become first black mayor of Detroit, who told HUAC they must have confused him for a stool pigeon. michiganadvance.com/briefs/on-th...

"Globalization, Neoliberalism, and the Global Rise of Right-Wing Politics," a curated reading list of journal articles and issues published by Duke University Press, has been made freely available through October 31. Access here: buff.ly/zplaDVr

Don't let the embarrassment that is Ezra Klein's op-ed distract you from the embarrassment you will feel if you forget to submit your ALPE proposal by Monday 😳

I'm on the list too. (Who knew?)

Kirk is their Rosa Parks.

"The only known solution to creeping authoritarianism is broad-based, peaceful, geographically dispersed mass engagement by everyday Americans. That’s it. That’s what works." Story: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Not going to @apsa.bsky.social this year. Will participate virtually. If there's any organizing going on that folks think I should be made aware of, let me know.

They got me. A lot. If they got me....they probably got you.

The comparative move makes sense. But I don't know many racial politics scholars who've taught about the US in a normatively positive, exceptional framework.

I'll be presenting on crime data. Please join us.

Ten days left to submit proposals for the inaugural ALPE conference in Richmond. Come join us for this exciting launch! lpeproject.org/blog/cfp-ina...

Are you an NYC resident who is willing to set up a meeting with your City Council members to get them on record re: supporting our budget demand? docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... - sign and we will contact you to let you know what is needed.

The New Yorker asked me “how bad” today’s Supreme Court ruling was. I boiled it down to one paragraph: link.newyorker.com/view/5bda429...

Being of service can stave off a great deal of this.

The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal. Donald Trump isn't a strongman, he's a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.

Disease prevalence in US states before & after vaccine introduction 🧪 From Edward Tufte & graphics.wsj.com/infectious-d...

I just heard that a group of national guards (probably a small one) got off the MARC train at the west baltimore stop. Has anyone else reported on this?

I wouldn't make a big distinction between the situation for Black women and Black men. The labor market situation for both has deteriorated sharply since January. The Black unemployment has risen a full pp to 7.2%, the white rate hasn't budged at 3.7%

“Nothing is more important than stopping fascism, because fascism will stop us all.” - Fred Hampton

Wild set of posts here:

#NIH is hanging by a thread. The #CDC has been decimated. #RFK Jr. and Russell #Vought are psychopaths--I don't say this frivolously--they are cold, calculating, inflicting violence on millions through public policy. It is where we are right now. These men are not normal. 1/

70 years ago today, 14-year-old Emmett Till, an African American from Chicago, was brutally murdered for allegedly flirting with a white woman four days earlier. When you see “MAGA,” realize THAT was the America Trumpers are saying was “great.” I want a GREATER America than that. We all should.

Full resignation letter from Demetre C. Daskalakis, a CDC leader, does not hold back. "The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud."

The only thing I can say about this paragraph is read it. Sit with it. Read it again. @michaelharriot.bsky.social

Michael Powell from The Atlantic had the audacity to say that a mother in Ward 8 would likely WANT the national guard there to protect her child. This shouldn't have been a matter of "if you know you know" but if you know you know.

“We need a massive movement of higher ed workers & students...As higher ed goes, so goes democracy. But the converse isn’t absolutely true. Higher ed alone cannot save democracy, but we’re a critical part. We need a broader societal movement to save our country.” — Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

This is the baseline. If the Democrats cared about extending democracy they'd have done this some time ago. Any official who doesn't support this with their chest should be shown the door.

As usual, orders of magnitude worse than anything blue states did during the "left wing illiberalism" panic

Know-your-rights trainings, cop watching, and more taking place over the upcoming weeks. 51st.news/making-some-...

I just want to add that there is organized right wing money and infrastructure behind these board anti woke rebellions. It seems to be a coordinated response to BLM. Great report by Isaac Kamola: www.aaup.org/manufacturin...

But the DC Crime!!!

I need people who make this argument to replace “immigration and crime” with “Black people” to see why arguments with this structure can only get you so far without begging very important questions about the limits of meeting voters where you think they are.

If you've been having problems with Anna's Archive this explains it. www.reddit.com/r/Annas_Arch...

annas archive and https://open-slum.org (shadow library status page) are both failing for me recently. the front page of annas loads but then if you try to search for anything it gives a 504 cloudflare warning. its been like this for two days now with various internet connections.

Please help us spread the word! www.cllctivgive.com/organization...

Liberalism ENABLED the end of slavery, but did not drive it. Slaves themselves ended slavery & Haiti was founded as a result. A new biography by @juliagaffield.bsky.social tells the story of Jean-Jacque Dessalines, who France demonized in revenge. My @liberalcurrents.com interview:

Today, the Blog officially activates our out of office message for the rest of the month. But before we go, we offer a final plug for the upcoming @a-lpe.bsky.social conference, count down the top ten most read posts of 2025 so far, and announce some personnel changes!

This was known in 2018 and the mainstream policy establishment fought against embedding social justice in early policy. They said this was a problem "for later" and that only wealthy people could develop the market for electrification. It's later and we need a bigger political caucus for climate.

The “deal” that Brown made with the Trump admin is much more extreme than is being reported. It includes government oversight of course evaluations and no barrier to government interference in faculty hiring. Read it for yourself here: www.brown.edu/sites/defaul...

@polityalsberuf.bsky.social does great work, and I'm honored to be on their board. Glad I could contribute this month's cover, shot last year near Idlewild, Michigan.

Race, Racism, and the Crisis of Democracy in Political Science is out. Most important academic article I've written to date.

As Ruth Wilson Gilmore noted, "[Karl] Marx observed that tax struggle is the oldest form of class struggle." Given the "Big Beautiful Bill," it might be useful for some of us to become more familiar with tax policy. Here's a thread about U.S. tax policy and politics.

Over ten years ago I created a mix that combines Douglass' What to the Slave is the Fourth of July with Marvin Gaye's performance of the Star Spangled Banner. Gets at the complicated nature of this day better than anything I've written. www.lesterspence.com/the-frederic...

A french news agency asked me to comment on the trial a couple of days ago. Told them I'd love to talk about authoritarianism and racial politics....but I've no interest at all in talking about the trial.