Courtney E. Thompson
@cethompson.bsky.social
#histmed #histSTM #emohist #bodyhist | Assoc. prof. at Mississippi State | Osiris Editor | #AnOrganofMurder | #ACalculusofCompassion | Winnie & Gigi #pupdates | extremely online
Pinned
Looking to spice up your #histmed classes? Consider two new books coming out just in time for Fall 2025! Full of pithy and provocative essays, Do Less Harm (ed. me & @drkyliesmith.bsky.social) and The Nursing Clio Reader (@nursingclio.bsky.social) offer new perspectives to meet the moment. 1/2
A lot of people are making Anne Frank comparisons, but let's also remember Harriet Jacobs: it happened here, too.
This is one of the things that I find is most shocking to people outside Minnesota who don’t realize it yet—the scale at which everyone who isn’t white has been forced into a spectrum of hiding.
Very good article drawing out the Tahrir Square comparison.
Very good article drawing out the Tahrir Square comparison.
January 26, 2026 at 5:55 AM
A lot of people are making Anne Frank comparisons, but let's also remember Harriet Jacobs: it happened here, too.
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
A thread of MAGA protesting with guns and not getting murdered for it...
Arizona, November 2020
Arizona, November 2020
January 25, 2026 at 10:22 PM
A thread of MAGA protesting with guns and not getting murdered for it...
Arizona, November 2020
Arizona, November 2020
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
Here's a regular white guy (literally "Chad") not a protester. because, "It seemed pointless, or just a way for people to expiate their sense of guilt." Chad witnessed something shattering. And, that all changed in a moment.
Excellent article!
Excellent article!
January 26, 2026 at 4:33 AM
Here's a regular white guy (literally "Chad") not a protester. because, "It seemed pointless, or just a way for people to expiate their sense of guilt." Chad witnessed something shattering. And, that all changed in a moment.
Excellent article!
Excellent article!
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
One of the best things I’ve read in a while:
January 25, 2026 at 10:39 PM
One of the best things I’ve read in a while:
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
During the Soviet era, at times of govt instability, the state broadcaster would typically preempt scheduled broadcasts by airing performances of Swan Lake
And, tonight, the network's flagship news program -- 60 Minutes -- ran a clip show of old celeb interviews to "celebrate the movies" rather than put together an episode focused on what's going on in Minnesota.
The person who publishes the Free Press — where the words “Minneapolis” and “Minnesota” never appear tonight — also runs CBS News.
January 26, 2026 at 2:59 AM
During the Soviet era, at times of govt instability, the state broadcaster would typically preempt scheduled broadcasts by airing performances of Swan Lake
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
I do think that a possibly underrated dynamic in The Horrors is that the Right as it has reconstituted itself under Trump legitimately can’t understand sincere moral or physical courage
January 26, 2026 at 2:13 AM
I do think that a possibly underrated dynamic in The Horrors is that the Right as it has reconstituted itself under Trump legitimately can’t understand sincere moral or physical courage
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
You could actually structure your moral code around the idea that law enforcement doesn't exist to execute people. You don't have to create perfect victim narratives, you can just refuse to accept that the state gets to kill people.
January 24, 2026 at 9:22 PM
You could actually structure your moral code around the idea that law enforcement doesn't exist to execute people. You don't have to create perfect victim narratives, you can just refuse to accept that the state gets to kill people.
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
This is also connected to that whole thing where all their fantasies of protecting their own *family* centers on enacting violence and not, like, vaccinating their kids and making sure they're prepared for a power outage etc.
Even people they know, they only think of in terms of violence.
Even people they know, they only think of in terms of violence.
rightwingers see people caring about others in their community and instead of finding that inspiring they think it’s some sort of grand conspiracy because they don’t understand what it means to care for others you don’t personally know
January 25, 2026 at 11:09 PM
This is also connected to that whole thing where all their fantasies of protecting their own *family* centers on enacting violence and not, like, vaccinating their kids and making sure they're prepared for a power outage etc.
Even people they know, they only think of in terms of violence.
Even people they know, they only think of in terms of violence.
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
these right wing clowns continuing to express absolute shock over the organizing of the left also reflects a deeply sexist ignorance of the fact that EXPERIENCED, INCREDIBLY EFFICIENT AND HARDWORKING VOLUNTEERS, PRIMARILY WOMEN, RUN THE FUCKING SHOW WITH ALMOST EVERYTHING GOOD IN THIS COUNTRY
I mostly just stay off Twitter altogether but after double checking that the Walter Hudson post was still up I ran across this and just had to share so the Romancelandians who bought hand warmers could hear about the PROFESSIONAL GRADE LOGISTICS.
January 26, 2026 at 12:44 AM
these right wing clowns continuing to express absolute shock over the organizing of the left also reflects a deeply sexist ignorance of the fact that EXPERIENCED, INCREDIBLY EFFICIENT AND HARDWORKING VOLUNTEERS, PRIMARILY WOMEN, RUN THE FUCKING SHOW WITH ALMOST EVERYTHING GOOD IN THIS COUNTRY
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
It’s almost impossible to put into words the horror of what’s happening in Gaza. It’s infuriating and heartbreaking at the same time.
🔗 tinyurl.com/2mtfvyua
🔗 tinyurl.com/2mtfvyua
January 26, 2026 at 12:11 AM
It’s almost impossible to put into words the horror of what’s happening in Gaza. It’s infuriating and heartbreaking at the same time.
🔗 tinyurl.com/2mtfvyua
🔗 tinyurl.com/2mtfvyua
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
“He’s killing us in the streets and we still have to pay our taxes in April” is an incredibly compelling point.
Before speaking with two armed men at the Pretti vigil last night, a man approached & asked if I was going to tell the truth. I said yes. He told me how frustrated he was at the media & the harm it’s causing to his community.
I asked if he wanted to share words for the media on camera, & he did:
I asked if he wanted to share words for the media on camera, & he did:
January 26, 2026 at 12:40 AM
“He’s killing us in the streets and we still have to pay our taxes in April” is an incredibly compelling point.
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
In case anyone was wondering how it’s going over on American Girl doll Instagram
January 25, 2026 at 10:21 PM
In case anyone was wondering how it’s going over on American Girl doll Instagram
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
Question for fellow professors:
How are we approaching teaching tomorrow?
I wrote to my students yesterday to let them know I’m here to support them in any way I can. My inclination is to create space at the top of the class for collective processing, but it’s hard to know the bounds on that…
How are we approaching teaching tomorrow?
I wrote to my students yesterday to let them know I’m here to support them in any way I can. My inclination is to create space at the top of the class for collective processing, but it’s hard to know the bounds on that…
January 26, 2026 at 12:58 AM
Question for fellow professors:
How are we approaching teaching tomorrow?
I wrote to my students yesterday to let them know I’m here to support them in any way I can. My inclination is to create space at the top of the class for collective processing, but it’s hard to know the bounds on that…
How are we approaching teaching tomorrow?
I wrote to my students yesterday to let them know I’m here to support them in any way I can. My inclination is to create space at the top of the class for collective processing, but it’s hard to know the bounds on that…
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
don't really want to argue about the ethics of genAI overall right at the moment but if you're giving OpenAI in particular your money please consider literally any other option
The largest Trump superPAC donor so far this cycle is the president of OpenAI
January 26, 2026 at 12:58 AM
don't really want to argue about the ethics of genAI overall right at the moment but if you're giving OpenAI in particular your money please consider literally any other option
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
Every single person doing ICE watch in Minnesota is doing it knowing that they’re putting their bodies and lives on the line and every ICE agent and cop would shoot at their shadow if it startled them. That’s not professionalism, that’s being a coward.
January 24, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Every single person doing ICE watch in Minnesota is doing it knowing that they’re putting their bodies and lives on the line and every ICE agent and cop would shoot at their shadow if it startled them. That’s not professionalism, that’s being a coward.
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
This administration is cooked. Literally no one is scared of them.
January 25, 2026 at 5:20 PM
This administration is cooked. Literally no one is scared of them.
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
Our country was founded on resistance to a tyrant.
Attorney General Pam Bondi: "Our country was founded on law enforcement"
Bondi: "It's extremely organized. The signs they have are all matching, they're well written. And look at what's happening today. How did these people go out & get gas masks? These protesters. Would you know how to walk out on the street and buy a gas mask? Think about that. We're not gonna have it"
January 25, 2026 at 1:15 AM
Our country was founded on resistance to a tyrant.
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
If you only read the opinion journalism in elite media over the last decade, you would have been convinced that wokeness, and not fascism, were the greatest threats to American society. Now some of those authors are retconning by trying to relabel fascism as "the woke right."
Years from now, it'll be difficult to explain the things people in media were wailing about before all this. Sophomores writing underconsidered op-eds about cultural appropriation. Protests against demagogues on campus. YA drama. "Mobs" on Twitter. These were the threats to free society.
January 25, 2026 at 3:24 PM
If you only read the opinion journalism in elite media over the last decade, you would have been convinced that wokeness, and not fascism, were the greatest threats to American society. Now some of those authors are retconning by trying to relabel fascism as "the woke right."
Be like them, be the opposite of ICE: be Pretti Good.
Pretti died after asking a woman he was with if she was OK.
Good died after telling the man who killed her that she wasn’t mad at him.
Good died after telling the man who killed her that she wasn’t mad at him.
January 25, 2026 at 5:04 PM
Be like them, be the opposite of ICE: be Pretti Good.
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
I spent the most formative years of my political life reading headlines like this seemingly every week.
January 25, 2026 at 4:07 PM
I spent the most formative years of my political life reading headlines like this seemingly every week.
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
It was common for Confederates to refer to "Yankee hirelings."
They assumed ordinary people's motivations for fighting them could only be monetary.
There was a Jeffersonian angle to it. Like, people who didn't own their own land, and grow cash crops on it, had no liberty.
They assumed ordinary people's motivations for fighting them could only be monetary.
There was a Jeffersonian angle to it. Like, people who didn't own their own land, and grow cash crops on it, had no liberty.
James O'Keefe says he's never seen anything so organized as the anti-ICE movement, observers--he seems to think this term is code--everywhere he goes. Who is paying for it??? he demands to know. It's like he can't even imagine people caring for one another.
January 25, 2026 at 4:28 PM
It was common for Confederates to refer to "Yankee hirelings."
They assumed ordinary people's motivations for fighting them could only be monetary.
There was a Jeffersonian angle to it. Like, people who didn't own their own land, and grow cash crops on it, had no liberty.
They assumed ordinary people's motivations for fighting them could only be monetary.
There was a Jeffersonian angle to it. Like, people who didn't own their own land, and grow cash crops on it, had no liberty.
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
Our government's atrocities are bringing together Bears fans and Packers fans.
January 25, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Our government's atrocities are bringing together Bears fans and Packers fans.
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
I actually think it's pretty easy to explain.
Younger people didn't buy into an older neoliberal elite's prejudices, the older neoliberal elite absolutely lost their shit at the notion that they might be called on to change, and fascists exploited that reactionary moment
Younger people didn't buy into an older neoliberal elite's prejudices, the older neoliberal elite absolutely lost their shit at the notion that they might be called on to change, and fascists exploited that reactionary moment
Years from now, it'll be difficult to explain the things people in media were wailing about before all this. Sophomores writing underconsidered op-eds about cultural appropriation. Protests against demagogues on campus. YA drama. "Mobs" on Twitter. These were the threats to free society.
January 25, 2026 at 3:49 PM
I actually think it's pretty easy to explain.
Younger people didn't buy into an older neoliberal elite's prejudices, the older neoliberal elite absolutely lost their shit at the notion that they might be called on to change, and fascists exploited that reactionary moment
Younger people didn't buy into an older neoliberal elite's prejudices, the older neoliberal elite absolutely lost their shit at the notion that they might be called on to change, and fascists exploited that reactionary moment
We need a Capitol Crawl 2.0, and just in general, demonstrations in DC that the nation's politicians can't ignore.
Protests have been filled with the elderly, disabled, and at risk putting their lives on the line. But politicians, safe in their offices, protected and insulated from everyday people, do nothing but collude in their backrooms to give even more funding to the fascist ICE agency.
Let us all have the courage displayed by the residents of Minneapolis.
January 25, 2026 at 4:55 PM
We need a Capitol Crawl 2.0, and just in general, demonstrations in DC that the nation's politicians can't ignore.
Reposted by Courtney E. Thompson
The rush to lie about and justify the murder of Alex Pretti, whose ruthless execution was filmed from multiple angles, is astonishing. If that's how they respond to a well-documented case of lawless abuse of power, how do you think they'll handle the ones that aren't filmed?
January 25, 2026 at 4:08 PM
The rush to lie about and justify the murder of Alex Pretti, whose ruthless execution was filmed from multiple angles, is astonishing. If that's how they respond to a well-documented case of lawless abuse of power, how do you think they'll handle the ones that aren't filmed?