(put another way, weird to say, as Rubio does, that Europe produced “the genius…of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones,” who were self-consciously playing music rooted in the traditions of the African diaspora.)

Of course they do.

Yes it’s Valentine’s Day. But it’s also the chosen birthday of Frederick Douglass who was born in 1818 on a plantation in Talbot County, Maryland. He escaped from slavery & rose to become the most eloquent and forceful voice for the abolition of slavery & for Black voting rights in the U.S.

Brooklyn Bridge Park - 4:05 PM

St. Ann’s Warehouse

Fascism 101: Homeland Security seeks the names of people who criticize ICE on social media. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...

"The first person to be executed for treason in the US was not a spy or someone who sold secrets to a foreign government. It was not a Confederate general who took up arms against his government. It was an abolitionist named John Brown." from @nhannahjones.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/m...

Shelsky’s Smoked Fish - Brooklyn

Wow who could have ever foreseen a white woman using tears to manipulate power! I, for one, am stunned. (Yes it’s good character detail.)

Aggressive immigration enforcement in South Texas has led to significant construction delays and economic disruption. on.wsj.com/4kwxtA0

4) I understand why most Americans are not similarly fluent. Just as I understand why we don’t travel as much to other countries. This is a big place. But the idea of actually getting angry about listening to songs in another language is weird. Opera? Some Americans pay a fortune to go.

How the military criminalized blackness in Vietnam: my essay on an eye-opening new history of the war. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/b...

Chat bots give the wrong medical advice more than half the time. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...

This is a great piece by my colleague spencer on the bad bunny helftimeshow but of course there’s never been a more divisive idea in American history than all of us being American, we fought a civil war over it and Trump is nothing if not manifest opposition to it www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...

Bad Bunny has a consulting historian. news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...

I sobbed when I saw the sugar cane field. My grandfather was a sugar cane farmer in Puerto Rico. Incredible to see this. 🇵🇷❤️

crickets from the free speech crowd, of course

Bishop Ronald Hicks

St Patrick’s Mass - The new Archbishop presiding

For many Black families, tracing their roots means navigating missing names and incomplete family stories. The third annual Black Family History Symposium in Charlottesville centered on what it means to reclaim those stories, and why that history still matters.❤️‍🔥 www.whsv.com/2026/02/08/b...

Adam Serwer: “Donald Trump is still psychically wounded by the election of Barack Obama.” @adamserwer.bsky.social

Go back to bed…

Deja Vu: Black Washingtonians can recall when the Washington Post was showing contempt for the Black middle class almost daily. It was not that long ago... www.nytimes.com/1986/09/26/u...

"For years, a cottage industry of political observers has contorted itself to obscure and occlude the obvious. That regardless of what others see in him, Trump’s entire political career...cannot be understood outside the context of his bitter, deep-seated racism." (gift link)

Get over it, haters: It’s Bad Bunny’s world - you just livin’ in it. www.newyorker.com/newsletter/t...

Three thoughts. 1. It’s always been about the white nationalism 2. He is returning to the old favorites because his support is waning 3. He dabbled with this trope before but would always leave a hair of deniability. Going straight there also seems like a sign of weakness

Derrick Bell was right - which is why they continue to burn him in effigy

Ciao, Capri!

"'A week ago, eight to ten churches asked for clergy to come and provide support to create a protective band so people could come to church, because dark-skinned people are afraid to come to church.'"

Medgar Evers’ killer was a Klansman, but Trump administration says stop calling him a racist mississippitoday.org/2026/02/05/m...

Steve Bannon calls for Trump to deploy ICE and military troops to polling sites www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

Evening music

Just out - and recommended

Manhattan, W 29th St.

They can’t shoot us all - but they fully intend to track us all. @tressiemcphd.bsky.social on how the data state has gone rogue. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/o...

"Among the hires at CBS News announced by Weiss is a doctor who claims he reduced his biological age by 20 years with cold plunges; that cod liver oil treats autism; and that Alzheimer’s and dementia can be reversed with supplements he sells on his online store." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

It’s a long way to the top/ If you wanna rock n roll/

Order to release Adrian and Liam Arias is a real barn burner storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Morning music

NEW: Our photojournalists @cengizyar.com and @peterdicampo.bsky.social were on the ground in Minneapolis, covering what they saw in the days before and after the shooting of Alex Pretti. Read their accounts below:

Well you’re built like a car/ You’ve got a hubcap diamond star halo/

A Brooklyn Three Dog Night

the arrest of journalists in minneapolis, including don lemon, is more evidence that the only move the administration knows how to make is to use force, and does not know how to respond when that force is met with defiance and indifference.

Important story from @alibreland.bsky.social about how the us government now speaks in the voice of an incel groyper www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

Timely, from The University of North Carolina press

It’s just unfathomable to me that people think it makes sense for any law enforcement to be masked and anonymous. Police officers operate under risks and don’t wear masks. Judges & prosecutors, the same.

Two global trading houses that brokered an opaque deal with the Trump admin this month to sell Venezuelan oil were previously prosecuted for bribery schemes involving oil sales elsewhere… A senior trader at Vitol donated $6 million to Trump’s 2024 election. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Home office assistants

He murders you and drags your corpse through the mud. Fintan O’Toole on the “crime” of witness. www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...

This is a really important and timely message, perfectly delivered -- if you only ever got to hear one thing from @jamellebouie.net in your whole life I'd say this is it