Deborah McDowell
@dem8z.bsky.social
10K followers 3.3K following 2.7K posts
Reader, writer, teacher, gardener, seamstress, contrarian. Professor, @WoodsonUVA Alice Griffin Professor of English, University of Virginia. Please, no DMs unless I know you. For professional matters, please contact me via UVA.
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dem8z.bsky.social
Alice Walker, “The World We Want is Us”https://poets.org/poem/world-we-want-us
The World We Want Is Us
It moves my heart to see your awakened faces;
poets.org
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
oliviamesser.bsky.social
in case you missed this, @wsj.com reported that Trump is — or is trying to at least — direct Pam Bondi via social media DMs, and that when he posted demanding the Comey indictment, it was an accident

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
ennasirk.bsky.social
And hiring, just look at the replacements they install!
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
maxkennerly.bsky.social
And this highly-productive white guy*, who is so competent he can run both the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service. Meritocracy!

* I assume he's a white man although by appearance he is a melting Elf on the Shelf.
Bessent Taps Social Security Chief to Serve as C.E.O. of I.R.S.
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
adamserwer.bsky.social
It’s not segregationist though. You can tell because pam bondi, pete hegseth and co are so competent and clearly deserve their jobs
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
jamellebouie.net
yeah, trump has made very clear that he doesn’t think black people deserve to be in jobs of influence! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...
Trump Fires Black Officials From an Overwhelmingly White Administration
www.nytimes.com
dem8z.bsky.social
Terra Cotta’s regime bans considerations of race in hiring but grants itself carte blanche to consider race in firing.
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
jbfree.bsky.social
Guess I need to go buy a new copy at my local, independent Montgomery, AL bookstore. You know the place. 😁
dem8z.bsky.social
Great news! Must get immediately!! Congratulations!!
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
blklibrarygirl.bsky.social
Remember when I said something nice was coming today? Well: I was asked to write the introduction to the new edition of Toni Morrison’s BELOVED! I’m so honored and happy! Here’s the new cover—that’s my name down at the bottom!!!!
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
nhenrydixon.bsky.social
What did the everydayness of racial chattel slavery look like beyond enslaving? I explore this question in my talk. Join us!
nhenrydixon.bsky.social
Looking forward to speaking in Prince Edward County next month!

Registration info: www.thecounty.ca/residents/se...
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
maryhicks.bsky.social
Thank you! That means so much!
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
griesar.bsky.social
Wealth is now most commonly seen as a corrupting force.
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
griesar.bsky.social
Being universally loathed probably can feel like a conspiracy
atrupar.com
Stephen Miller: "If you can't see that since we've taken office, there's been an organized, systemitized campaign to delegitimatize, dehumanize, threaten, impede, obstruct, and physically assault ICE officers in their duties, then I can't persuade you of it."
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
pembrokecenter.bsky.social
Tickets available now!
The Pembroke Center Publics Lecture
and the Shauna M. Stark ’76, P’10 Out of the Archive event
Variations of Legal Violence: A talk by Judith Butler

Wednesday, November 5, 2025
4:00 p.m.
Free and open to the public. Registration is required: butleratpembroke.eventbrite.com
Pembroke Center Publics Lecture Series. Variations of Legal Violence. Judith Butler. Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School. University of CA, Berkeley. Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. Free admission. Registration required.
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
pembrokecenter.bsky.social
Tuesday, Oct. 28. 4:00 p.m. Mabel O. Wilson (Columbia): "Hints on Public Whiteness: Building the Smithsonian Castle." Pembroke Hall 305. A Pembroke Seminar “The Civic Work of Monuments” Lecture. Learn more: events.brown.edu/pembroke/eve...
@juliethooker.bsky.social
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
pembrokecenter.bsky.social
Applications open for 26-27 postdocs. Welcoming apps from any field that relates to the theme of the Seminar, "The Meanings of Merit: Labor, Categories of Difference, and the Creation of Knowledge." See: pembroke.brown.edu/funding-oppo.... Due 11/24. @pajaf.bsky.social @brownanthro.bsky.social
2026-27 Postdoctoral Research Fellowships at the Pembroke Center. Applications Now Open. Applications due Monday Nov 24 2025. Complete applications must include curriculum vitae, cover letter, writing sample.
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
pembrokecenter.bsky.social
Applications due next week: grants for students research on women, gender, and/or sexuality for current Brown undergrads and grad students. Deadline Mon., 10/13. More about the grants: pembroke.brown.edu/academics/st.... @brown.edu
2025-26 Student Research Grants at the Pembroke Center. Apply by Monday, Oct 13. Undergraduate and graduate grants available.
dem8z.bsky.social
Thanks so much for alerting me!!
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
wendyallisonlee.bsky.social
Attn: @dem8z.bsky.social, you are part of today's Out of the Archives post!
pembrokecenter.bsky.social
Out of the Archives: a 1992 letter from Judith Butler in the papers of Hortense J. Spillers. Butler is giving the Pembroke Center Publics Lecture Wednesday, November 5. Tickets have sold out, but the lecture will be recorded and available on our YouTube playlist: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis....
Image shows a typewritten letter to Professor Hortense Spillers, signed by Judith Butler, Professor of Humanities. The letter is on Johns Hopkins University stationary.
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
bakerdphd.bsky.social
I'll be updating next week's current-state-of-state-higher-ed-policy slides.

Left is an article about the VA senate dems telling UVA their state funding will be in question if they agree to that odious compact. On the right is the key part of the senate letter.

www.cbs19news.com/news/state-s...
Screenshot from the top of the article. Title is "State Senate Democrats tell UVA to not consider education compact." Published today. 

Main text reads "RICHMOND, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- The University of Virginia could lose state funding if it signs onto an education compact it received from the federal government last week." Screenshot from the letter from VA dems which reads "Therefore, we call upon you to immediately cease all consideration of signing this compact.
Furthermore, we want to be explicitly clear: if the University of Virginia signs this compact, there will be significant consequences in future Virginia budget cycles. As the leadership of the Senate with responsibility for appropriations affecting higher education, we will work with our colleagues to ensure that the Commonwealth does not subsidize an institution that has ceded its independence to federal
political control."
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
johnedwinmason.bsky.social
Remember, it's ok to vote for just two. (Probably a smart move, too.)
alixeharrow.bsky.social
hi charlottesville! if you're voting in the city school board election this november, there are four candidates running for three seats. here's where they stand on the return of police to our schools:
keep police out of cville schools! 2025 school board candidate guide.
zyahna bryant [✓]: opposed school resource officers
lisa torres [✓]: voted against SROs
dashad cooper: supports SROs
emily dooley: voted for SROs as chair
VOTE NOV. 4 2025
Reposted by Deborah McDowell
mtgillikin.bsky.social
Here’s a very helpful guide to voting in the city school board election. There are 4 candidates for 3 seats.
alixeharrow.bsky.social
hi charlottesville! if you're voting in the city school board election this november, there are four candidates running for three seats. here's where they stand on the return of police to our schools:
keep police out of cville schools! 2025 school board candidate guide.
zyahna bryant [✓]: opposed school resource officers
lisa torres [✓]: voted against SROs
dashad cooper: supports SROs
emily dooley: voted for SROs as chair
VOTE NOV. 4 2025