Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Mikki Brock

Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 19h

aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage

Sophie Sherry @sophiesherry.bsky.social · 22h

During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door.   It wasn’t the feds — it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help.

He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’

During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...

chicago.suntimes.com

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Kathleen Clark @kathleenclark.bsky.social · 1d

A master class from MIT in responding to authoritarian overreach:

Your “premise … is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
… America’s leadership in science & innovation depends on independent thinking & open competition for excellence.

Dear Madam Secretary,
I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters.
I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education.
As we discussed, the Institute's mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges.
We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples:
• MIT prides itself on rewarding merit. Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions.
• MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family's finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available to any American with an internet connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly 10%.

source:
https://orgchart.mit.edu/letters/regarding-compact

• We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don't like - and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree.
These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they're right, and we live by them because they support our mission - work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law.
The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
In our view, America's leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.
As you know, MIT's record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America's research universities and the U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people. We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation.
Sincerely,
Sally Kornbluth

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Mikki Brock @mikkibrock.bsky.social · 1d

absolutely--I am the same. In the drafting stages, something on the page each day is good, and "happy enough" with some of it is great!

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Mikki Brock @mikkibrock.bsky.social · 1d

"start writing and hope for the best": this has always been more or less my entire "writing process." I figure out what I want to say as I go along. I am always fascinated to learn that some people actually have an organized method of doing things.

happy writing to anyone else at it this morning!

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Reuters @reuters.com · 1d

'When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,' the Norwegian Nobel Committee said as it announced Maria Corina Machado as the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize

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Lou Roper @roperlou.bsky.social · 2d

#earlymodern

Newcastle Uni Special Collections & Archives @ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social · 2d

New on CollectionsCaptured is a wonderfully illustrated set of 17 proof copies of early 17th Century maps, later included in John Speed's 'Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine'.

All 17 pages can be seen here on CollectionsCaptured: collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...
[Ref. Freinds/JSM]

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 3d

NEW: I spoke to clergy and faith leaders who've joined protests at the Chicago-area ICE facility.

Three say they've been shot with pepper balls, sometimes while praying.

All say ICE is also violating their religious freedom, and one is arguing it in court. religionnews.com/2025/10/07/i...

Religious protesters say ICE threatens religious freedom in Chicago

(RNS) — Despite potential danger, religious leaders and faith activists have been a visible presence at Chicago-area ICE protests, some waving signs with slogans such as ‘Love thy neighbor’ and ‘Who w...

religionnews.com

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Andrea Junker @strandjunker.com · 3d

You can joke about Pam Bondi’s ridiculous unprofessionalism all you want, but I’m deeply shocked by it: She acts as if she fears absolutely no consequences, convinced that there will be no more political power transfers. — This should shake everyone to their core.

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Mikki Brock @mikkibrock.bsky.social · 3d

I think this is right. And I appreciate how she takes seriously the mentalities of the interrogators too—something your work does brilliantly as well. Mostly, whenever I revisit this book, I’m reminded how beautifully it’s written.

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Mikki Brock @mikkibrock.bsky.social · 4d

One of the best things about teaching is the opportunity to revisit works that have shaped your thinking as a historian. This one, I’m reminded, is such a compelling tour de force. I can’t wait to discuss it with my students.

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Erin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 5d

If you are a supporter and reader of @contingent-mag.bsky.social one of the biggest things you can do to help us at the moment is get this CFP to the NTT folks in your life. The fracturing of social media has made it very difficult to get the word out esp. to adjuncts and VAPs.

CFP: A Time of Monsters

The monster has been here all along. It is a historical constant that manifests in wildly different ways across time, place, and culture. Whatever form it takes, the monster claws at categories; it un...

contingentmagazine.org

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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 6d

If a federal judge, appointed by Trump, can call him “simply untethered to facts,” our White House press corps can as well.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

In sum, the President is certainly entitled "a great level of deference," Newsom II, 141
F.4th at 1048, in his determination that he "is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws
of the United States." 10 U.S.C. § 12406(3). But "a great level of deference" is not equivalent to
ignoring the facts on the ground. As the Ninth Circuit articulated, courts must "review the
President's determination to ensure that it reflects a colorable assessment of the facts and law
PAGE 22 - OPINION AND ORDER
Case 3:25-cv-01756-IM Document 56
Filed 10/04/25
Page 23 of 31
within a 'range of honest judgment.'" Id. at 1051 (quoting Sterling, 278 U.S. at 399). Here, this
Court concludes that the President did not have a "colorable basis" to invoke § 12406(3) to
federalize the National Guard because the situation on the ground belied an inability of federal
law enforcement officers to execute federal law. Id. at 1051-52. The President's determination
was simply untethered to the facts.
c. Whether there is a Rebellion or Danger of Rebellion
Defendants also aroue that the Sentember 28 2025 federalization order is authorized

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Mikki Brock @mikkibrock.bsky.social · 7d

This is the message.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 7d

The government is in full shutdown and the Republicans are refusing to call the House back into session.

Want to know why?

Because we have secured the final vote on releasing the Epstein Files and they don’t want it out.

Call GOP and tell them to swear in @adelitaforcongress.bsky.social.

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Charles Louis Richter @richterscale.bsky.social · 9d

apparently you become a combatant as soon as they shoot at you

Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 9d

“This is not stretching the envelope. This is shredding it. This is tearing it apart.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

Trump 'Determined' the U.S.
Is Now in a War With Drug Cartels, Congress Is Told A notice calls the people the U.S. military recently killed on suspicion of drug smuggling in the Caribbean Sea "unlawful combatants."

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Mikki Brock @mikkibrock.bsky.social · 9d

If universities agree to this—if they capitulate even further—then something that *actually* makes America great will crumble into unrecognizable fragments. Academic freedom is not a bargaining chip; it’s the whole ballgame. This is not a “compact.” It’s extortion. It’s an ending.

Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference

www.nytimes.com

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 10d

People think they’re taking down a rich intellectual sinecure but they’re mostly terrorizing committed public servants who make $58,000 a year after 15 years of experience at a school that has to budget creatively so students can access textbooks.

Emily Farris @emayfarris.bsky.social · 10d

This new column by @tressiemcphd.bsky.social makes me think about when I recently had to talk to the police for yet another safety plan, I tried to “lighten” the mood by saying that we all knew this wasn’t my first rodeo. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...

For at least the past 15 years, my colleagues in academia have grappled with angry letters to university officials for doing their jobs. They have weathered campaigns for their firing. They have contended with an internet army obsessed with doxxing them, their parents, their kids. I’ve been contacted by the F.B.I. more than once in my career. Not because I hold any important state secrets or know a biker gang but because one of my colleagues has lived with so much sustained harassment from right-wing “activists” that it has become a matter of federal concern. Watch lists (one of which was constructed by Kirk’s organization) do not distinguish between public intellectuals at wealthy enclaves and hoi polloi who teach popular classes at cash-strapped schools. In either case, an army of trained provocateurs stands ready to destroy their lives to prove their bona fides as conservative activists.

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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 10d

Here's a better message

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Hannah Elias @hannahelias.bsky.social · 11d

Are you an emerging scholar researching Black British history and looking for opportunities to share your research? Please get in touch with @oliviawyatt1999.bsky.social or Meleisa Ono George via contact info below to take part in this ⚡️ talks session @ihr.bsky.social (and please share widely!)

IHR Black British History Seminar @ihrblackbritish.bsky.social · 11d

Kicking off our fantastic line up with a showcase of new research! Get in touch if you are a postgraduate or early career researcher who would like to introduce their work to the field.

📍 Hybrid: N304, IHR, Senate House, WC1E 7HU and Online
📅 Thursday 16th October, 2025
⏰ 17:30
🔗 bit.ly/3INwCfO

Email Olivia.Wyatt@ed.ac.uk or Meleisa.Ono-George@history.ox.ac.uk to present online or in-person

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Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 10d

I can’t believe I’m watching interviews of city mayors talking about how they are coordinating with other mayors to discuss how to protect their residents FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

I know we are “used to it” but it is absolutely insane

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Mikki Brock @mikkibrock.bsky.social · 12d

I’m in this photo and I don’t like it

Meg Mulrooney @megmulrooney.bsky.social · 12d

I get to post this meme again! It’s my header for some reason.

That famous meme of a guy looking at a pretty woman and whistling while his actual girt looks at him in disbelief but the pretty woman is labeled the historic crises I’m living through and the girlfriend is labeled the historic crises I’m supposed to be researching. The guy is of course labeled ME.

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Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 14d

Before I turn on @npr.org again or read another @nytimes.com editorial, because I know exactly how it'll be:

This isn't "a threat" to academic freedom. It's not igniting "a debate" about it. The "future" of academic freedom isn't at stake. This is what the end of academic freedom has made possible.

Texas Tech chancellor directs faculty to recognize only two sexes in classroom instruction

The memo comes after Texas A&M fired a professor over a lesson related to gender identity after a student objected to it.

www.nbcnews.com

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Karl Jacoby @karl-jacoby.bsky.social · 15d

Only an administration intent on committing war crimes in the present and future would stoop to calling Wounded Knee a "battle" rather than what it truly was: a massacre of over 250 Lakotas, mainly women, children, and the elderly. 1/

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Matt Gabriele @profgabriele.com · 17d

“For him, the study of the past was about better understanding the path to the present - whose contours weren’t assumed, but rigorously, unrelentingly sought. Living in the darkness of Nazism, Bloch understood that he first needed to seek the roots of the tree before it could be uprooted & toppled.”

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Mikki Brock @mikkibrock.bsky.social · 17d

This nearly made me spit out my coffee. 😂

Humor For Resistance @funnysnarkyjoke.bsky.social · 18d

#satire #epsteinfiles

[pic of pam bondi]

BREAKING NEWS PAM BONDI CONFIRMS EPSTEIN FILES RAPTURED. FILES WITH JESUS NOW. "Respect God's Privacy," Says Bondi, Slapping Microphones Out Of Reporters' Hands'

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Kevin Gannon (now a Moo Deng fan account) @thetattooedprof.bsky.social · 17d

Thread. The new McCarthyism is, and has been, tearing through education for years. These are just a sampling, and they have been the rehearsals for purges in places like late-night TV.

Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 17d

How about the Texas teacher fired for reading an excerpt from an illustrated Diary of Anne Frank?

Teacher Fired for Reading Excerpt from Illustrated Diary of Anne Frank to Eighth-Grade Class

An unidentified teacher at the Hamshire-Fannett Independent School District in Texas has been fired after she read aloud an excerpt from the illustrated version of Anne Frank’s 'The Diary of a Young G...

people.com

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