Communities don’t choose names by accident. Honoring Lincoln is a way for places to weave themselves into a larger American story. Our place names reflect who we elevate, why, & to what political ends. Thanks @bridgemi.com for the interview bridgemi.com/quality-life... @utkgeography.bsky.social

@nacis.bsky.social @livingmaps.bsky.social Black communities have long used mapping as a tool to challenge, survive, & transcend racism. The Living Black Atlas celebrates these traditions of protest, care & justice. Watch our new video @notebooklm.bsky.social to learn more tiny.utk.edu/LBAshortvideo

Great new piece with my main writing partner @derekgeographer.bsky.social www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcomm...

PhD Candidate Katrina Stack @katgeographic.bsky.social presented “Remapping Black Paris: Walking Tours as Embodied Archives and Cartographies” at the REP Conference last week in Albuquerque! Her collaborators are her advisor Derek Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social and Monique Y. Wells.

Before the American Revolution, Native nations guarded their societies against tyranny theconversation.com/before-the-a...

The Time That Martin Luther King, Jr. Was Almost Assassinated in St. Augustine, Florida. Dr. King said at the time: “We have worked in some difficult communities...but we have never worked in one as lawless as this.” www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/the-time-t...

Great piece on war-naming conventions & the power of language. Timely because of ongoing wars and the renaming of the Defense Dept. The way wars are referred to in the U.S. serves state interests & power rather than necessarily reflects the realities of conflicts. theconversation.com/when-it-come...

"Maps are a form of storytelling, as well as an info source...the lines, colours, symbols &size of regions depicted...communicate social meaning. They subtly but powerfully educate people...about who &what matters" @jswab.bsky.social & @derekgeographer.bsky.social theconversation.com/world-maps-g...

World maps get Africa’s size wrong: cartographers @utkgeography.bsky.social @geographers.bsky.social explain why fixing it matters. Grateful for the talent and collaboration of @jswab.bsky.social theconversation.com/world-maps-g...

Escaped slaves on St. Croix hid their settlements so well, they still haven’t been found – archaeologists using new mapping technology are on the hunt theconversation.com/escaped-slav...

@geographers.bsky.social @knoxnews.bsky.social @nolanews.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #HurricaneKatrina Tattoos a Form of Coping, Storytelling. Reposting @utknoxville.bsky.social news piece about our NOLA study from several years ago. Might have renewed interest on 20th anniversary of storm.

open.spotify.com/episode/02Tb... had a great time talking maps, living black atlas and got some Penn State love too @pennstategeography.bsky.social @derekgeographer.bsky.social @tynergeog.bsky.social @geographers.bsky.social

Data centers consume massive amounts of water – companies rarely tell the public exactly how much theconversation.com/data-centers...

The dark history of forced starvation as a weapon of war against Indigenous peoples. Knoxville, TN's namesake, Henry Knox, burned down the Wea Tribe's corn fields, uprooted vegetable gardens, chopped down apple orchards, and destroyed their livestock. theconversation.com/the-dark-his...

Minneapolis officials consider removing name of segregationist Edmund Boulevard from street, and honoring a civil rights pioneer and state's first Black woman lawyer www.mprnews.org/story/2025/0...

Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia gets a street named after him in San Francisco. The Place-Making Power of Fandom. Naming ceremony kicked off a weekend of festivities marking the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...

@americangeo.bsky.social @rgsibg.bsky.social @geographers.bsky.social Honored to be interviewed by @sbennettbrandt.bsky.social @afarmedia.bsky.social on consequential social & economic decisions and power struggles that have always undergirded map making & place naming www.afar.com/magazine/how...

Burden of self-censorship on political issues felt and seen at America's universities, where faculty do not just deal with individual anxiety of being attacked for expressing their views, but as employees of institutions that would prefer everyone remain quiet theconversation.com/self-censors...

Jessie Simmons applied for a teaching job in a Detroit suburb in 1958 and didn't get it. She was rejected 2 more times in 1959, while the district hired white teachers with less education – but she didn’t give up and got a job offer in ‘67. A story worth knowing:

The term ‘lone gunman’ ignores the structures that enable violence. "Politicians are frequently reluctant to acknowledge the ideological underpinnings of such violence, particularly when those ideologies overlap with their own rhetoric or voter base." theconversation.com/the-term-lon...

@npr.org @apnews.com @cnn.com With Trump vowing to restore Confederate names to all Army bases, place names back in spotlight. Our latest piece @us.theconversation.com unpacks how renaming not just symbolic—it’s a power move w/ educational & ethical consequences. theconversation.com/from-greenla...

"Current proponents of “anti-woke” agenda at both the federal and state levels focused on reshaping educational curricula in a way that will make it inconceivable for future generations to question their historical claims." How George Orwell helps explain Trump theconversation.com/who-controls...

Of possible interest to @tourismgeographies.bsky.social From hotspot to flashpoint: how tourism pushed Barcelona to breaking point, and how social movements are fighting back theconversation.com/from-hotspot...

Reducing American antisemitism requires more than condemning opposition to Israel and targeting elite universities. theconversation.com/reducing-ame...

Now Trump trying to rename the Persian Gulf the 'Arabian Gulf.' Iranian-Canadian human rights activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam MacKay says. "He can spin words and rename bodies of water for political and economic gain but he can’t rewrite 2,500 years of history." www.rawstory.com/trump-arabia...

Gratitude comes with benefits − a social psychologist explains how to practice it when times are stressful. As Senate President @utknoxville.bsky.social, I begin every meeting with gratitude for others to help set a tone for sometimes tough discussions to come. theconversation.com/gratitude-co....

New report from @splcenter.org shows removing Confederate memorials has slowed. We are also seeing "re-Confederatization" of the contemporary landscape with rollback of commemorative reform against white supremacy--from Sylva NC to Fort Benning GA to Shenandoah County VA wabe.org/new-report-s...

Odessa, Texas approves MLK Jr. Street renaming in historic community. Past efforts to rename larger portion of street faced opposition. Resident who lived under Jim Crow says the street will be a reminder of how far the community has come and how much work remains. www.newswest9.com/article/news...

Post-truth politics didn't start w/ Trump 1.0 or 2.0. My paper w/ talented @geogjosh.bsky.social traces how civil rights groups fought racist storytelling long before today's misinformation crisis. Their tactics matter more than ever in an era of weaponized lies www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Harvard will NOT comply w/ Trump's demands for reduced power of students & faculty members over university’s affairs. NO to immediate federal reporting of international students w/ conduct violations. And NO to bringing in outside party to ensure viewpoint diversity. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/u...

Outstanding graduate research mentor: LaToya Eaves @spacedemands.bsky.social, Kelsey Ellis Outstanding graduate student support: Alex Logan, Derek Alderman @derekgeographer.bsky.social

Trump's targeting of Smithsonian fails to realize: "Historical scholarship requires openness to debate and willingness to embrace new findings & perspectives. Also involves the humility to accept that no one – least of all the government – has monopoly on truth." theconversation.com/with-its-exe...

Elaine Brown, former Black Panther, may get her own Oakland street name. Named road intersection in West Oakland is the site of an apartment building and commercial hub that Brown’s nonprofit, Oakland & The World Enterprises, built last year. oaklandside.org/2025/03/28/e...

Are Florida’s Confederate statues & place names coming back? Trump orders restoration of monuments. Unclear how much power Secretary of the Interior can exert at local level, but it will surely inspire or scare officials into compliance. #ReConfederatization www.jacksonville.com/story/news/p...

From Greenland to Fort Bragg, America is caught in a name game where place names become political tools. I am honored to write with @sethographer.bsky.social @jpbrasher.bsky.social to amplify critical name research @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social theconversation.com/from-greenla...

Trump administration seeks to starve libraries and museums of funding by shuttering this little-known agency. At work is not just an innocent reduction of government spending. It is about controlling how the past is narrated and what we see as possible in future theconversation.com/trump-admini...

@geographers.bsky.social Story of Great Migration often overlooks Black businesses that built Detroit. State-sponsored redevelopment dealt harsh blow to Southern migrant entrepreneurs in the Motor City seeking economic independence, upward mobility and freedom theconversation.com/the-story-of...

Members of St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church in Darien, Georgia creates ‘Weeping Time’ monument to remember 429 people sold into slavery episcopalnewsservice.org/2025/03/18/g...

A teacher in Idaho has been told to remove posters reading "Everyone is welcome here" - specifically because it features different skin tones. As I wrote last week, this is a global political movement that has explicitly set the goal of eradicating the very concept of equality.

How do you like Vaccine Drive, Radiography Road, or Laboratory Place? Glasgow, Scotland councillors ridiculed over "creative" street name ideas for housing estate. Meant to honor site's history as former hospital, but caused an outbreak of criticism. www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/...

My time w/ Federal Advisory Committee on Place Name Reconciliation ends. Not surprising but sad. Worked with terrific people & wrote principles of name reform that could inform policy in different future in which we find ourselves subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene... via @eenews.bsky.social

Anti-DEI guidance from Trump administration guts educators’ free speech rights. "To not teach students about [race and racism] is...to fail in our role as educators. To forbid teaching...is an attack on the core mission of educational institutions in a democracy." theconversation.com/anti-dei-gui...

Congrats @stnameslab.bsky.social. What a wonderful resource your team has created for geographers and place/street naming scholars @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social @rgsibg.bsky.social

Trump’s threats on Greenland, Gaza, Ukraine and Panama revive old-school US imperialism of dominating other nations by force, after decades of nuclear deterrence theconversation.com/trumps-threa...

When two of your interests (Minor League Baseball & Civil Rights memory work) collide 😃 Thought you might also find this interesting @derekgeographer.bsky.social

Black communities are using mapping to document and restore a sense of place. Thank you @us.theconversation.com for re-highlighting this piece led by @geogjosh.bsky.social for Black History Month. Would love to see it republished by @americangeo.bsky.social theconversation.com/black-commun...

Cutting funding for science can have consequences for the economy, US technological competitiveness theconversation.com/cutting-fund...

The Heartwarming and Cynical Story of Fort Bragg's New Old Name www.ncrabbithole.com/p/fort-rolan...

@i-name.bsky.social This place naming takeover has gone beyond unserious. Are we sure this isn’t a prank, or an article from The Onion? www.thedailybeast.com/new-gop-bill...

Check out this for #BlackHistoryMonth! Especially relevant for @geographers.bsky.social & @americangeo.bsky.social How Black communities use mapping to document & reclaim a sense of place. Thanks @tucsonsentinel.com for re-publishing piece @theconversation.com www.tucsonsentinel.com/opinion/repo...