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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw
@mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
260 followers 180 following 270 posts
> Historian of Haiti and the second French colonial empire > Newspaper republisher @ Black Republic of Letters > Video essayist @ Sleeper Hit History > Guitar player @ The Relative Minors > Elbows-up Canadian > JJ & Wes's dad
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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Nov 12
Hello blue world. Just wading in to let you know that I'm working on an indie digital humanities project: a website & repository for La Fraternité, a Haitian🇭🇹 newspaper in Paris🇫🇷 in the 1890s.

It's still in development, but check it out if you're interested:

scalar.library.yorku.ca/black-republ...
Black Republic of Letters: Main
scalar.library.yorku.ca
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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · 7d
Max Scherzer is a Canadian icon.
mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · 14d
Nice to see that the woman who's trying to bring democracy back to Venezuela won the Peace Prize and not the guy who's bombing its ships.
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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · 22d
Dear tech billionaires: please put ChatGPT behind a really expensive paywall.
mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Aug 20
The International Labour Organization is spelled with a U and a Z. So is it secretly Canadian?
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Reposted by Matt Robertshaw
mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Aug 12
• Benito Sylvain tackles racism in the press 👊
• Mormons abolish polygamy 💍
• A plea for the Dutch king to join the antislavery effort 🇳🇱
• An exposé on spiritism and hypnotism 🔮
• Fingerprinting technology in China 🇨🇳
• A French musician sued by an American promoter 🎻
• What's on in the theatre?🎭
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Reposted by Matt Robertshaw
mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Aug 12
The 8th issue of La Fraternité (🇭🇹🗞️🇫🇷) is now available. Peruse the news from 14 October 1890.

See highlights below.

#HaitianSky #FrenchHistory #Paris1890 #YesterdaysNews
Black Republic of Letters: Year 1, Issue 8 – 14 October 1890
scalar.library.yorku.ca
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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Aug 12
• Benito Sylvain tackles racism in the press 👊
• Mormons abolish polygamy 💍
• A plea for the Dutch king to join the antislavery effort 🇳🇱
• An exposé on spiritism and hypnotism 🔮
• Fingerprinting technology in China 🇨🇳
• A French musician sued by an American promoter 🎻
• What's on in the theatre?🎭
2
mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Aug 12
The 8th issue of La Fraternité (🇭🇹🗞️🇫🇷) is now available. Peruse the news from 14 October 1890.

See highlights below.

#HaitianSky #FrenchHistory #Paris1890 #YesterdaysNews
Black Republic of Letters: Year 1, Issue 8 – 14 October 1890
scalar.library.yorku.ca
1 3 3
mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Aug 1
"Colour prejudice—the most ferocious and inept of all—is an error that the past generation was fed as mother's milk... The new generation... is getting rid of it little by little and without effort. And one can hope that by the end of this century, racial prejudice will be a thing of the past."
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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Aug 1
A Haitian in Paris in 1890, Benito Sylvain, tackles racism in the press.

#HaitianSky #History #Paris #YesterdaysNews
Black Republic of Letters: Negrophobia
Benito Sylvain tackles racism in the press
scalar.library.yorku.ca
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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Jul 31
"Vegetarians, as their name implies, eat nothing but vegetables. They claim that, on the day when the entire universe stops eating meat, perfect happiness will reign on the earth—so much will manners be softened by the unique consumption of easily digestible foods!"
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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Jul 29
Highlights:
• Editorial regarding Vodou in Haiti 🇭🇹
• War and peace in Dahomey 🇧🇯
• Thoughts on vegetarians 🥗
• Dumas fils plays a prank 🎭
• Electric lighting 💡
• More thoughts on the anti-slavery congress ⛓️
• A pianist with a broken leg 🦵
• US tariff fears 💰
• US imperialism in Haiti 🇺🇸
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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Jul 29
The 7th issue of La Fraternité (🇭🇹🗞️🇫🇷) is now available. Peruse the news from 7 October 1890.

See highlights below.

#HaitianSky #FrenchHistory #Paris1890 #YesterdaysNews
Black Republic of Letters: Year 1, Issue 7 – 7 October 1890
scalar.library.yorku.ca
1 1 2
Reposted by Matt Robertshaw
katz.theracket.news
Jonathan M. Katz @katz.theracket.news · Jul 7
This is shattering. The Oloffson wasn't just a hotel. Not even just a landmark or historic site. It was a spiritual home for thousands of people over the years, Haitian and foreigner, including me.
susanaferreira.com susana ferreira @susanaferreira.com · Jul 6
Hotel Oloffson is gone. The iconic Port-au-Prince gingerbread was set alight and burned to ash last night. #Haiti
Drone image of the Hotel Oloffson, Port-au-Prince, with the entirety of the wooden building burned, only the brick skeleton remains, surrounded by trees.
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Reposted by Matt Robertshaw
lootina.bsky.social
Tina Loo @lootina.bsky.social · Jun 25
Wow. It really does make you more stupid. arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872
Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task
This study explores the neural and behavioral consequences of LLM-assisted essay writing. Participants were divided into three groups: LLM, Search Engine, and Brain-only (no tools). Each completed thr...
arxiv.org
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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Jun 20
I have two words for you (since 2008).
Reposted by Matt Robertshaw
drmendozan.bsky.social
Dr. Natalie Mendoza @drmendozan.bsky.social · Jun 16
🗃️ I read the article and agree with @kawulf.bsky.social. I would add a few points in support:

This article is premised on a basic misunderstanding of the historical research process. It’s important to note that, as far as I can tell, the author of the article is not a professional historian, i.e.
kawulf.bsky.social Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · Jun 16
This piece is worth reading/ wrestling with. imho.
1. AI can't do original research and thinking; it recombines (often badly) so may be most potent for digestible popular history. That's worth worrying about separately. 1/ www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/m...
A.I. Is Poised to Rewrite History. Literally.
www.nytimes.com
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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Jun 15
#NoKings!*

*in the US; we don't mind having a constitutional monarch here.
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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Jun 12
You know people or follow them online for years and then suddenly one day it's all they want to talk about.
mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Jun 12
*white people.
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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Jun 12
It makes a few people really rich.
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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Jun 12
The whole thing relies on the unfaltering confidence of its adherents.
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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · Jun 12
Is crypto a cult? It seems a bit culty.
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Reposted by Matt Robertshaw
mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · May 30
I couldn't find a list of countries that were members of the League of Nations Council so I spent three hours in the LON digital archive and made this.

(I used the modern flags because they exist as emojis)

#leagueofnations #multilateralism #unitednations
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mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social
Matt Robertshaw @mattjrobertshaw.bsky.social · May 30
Maybe it should have air quotes around "permanent" members.