Heather J. Chin
@heatherjchin.bsky.social
8.2K followers 1.1K following 88 posts
deputy editor @billy-penn.bsky.social @whyynews.bsky.social | @aajafreelance co-director + @aajaphilly nat'l board rep | @switchboardnyc | Always curious, often hungry | RT/like=🤔🤣🤗🔖
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Reposted by Heather J. Chin
atrupar.com
Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."
Reposted by Heather J. Chin
dylanflesch.bsky.social
Happy #BannedBooksWeek. If you love libraries and hate censorship, I'd encourage you to do more than just read a banned book this week. Here are a few ideas:
1. Get involved in your local public library board
2. Join or start a friends group
3. Organize a people's assembly for your public library
Reposted by Heather J. Chin
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns to Terry Gross: America has always been divided... historians have seen that... America was born out of violence. It doesnt take away from the ideals put forward in creation to acknowledge that. #PBS #AmericanRevolution
Reposted by Heather J. Chin
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns: good stories with complexity, whether shakespeare or led by kevin costner (yellowstone) will appeal... made this film not for blue or red audience, but for an American audience. ... but could not have made this film w/o #PublicMedia #PBS #AmericanRevolution
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns on stories of ppl who didnt get portraits painted, teens, women, criminals, enslaved...
"Stories that come to us w barnacles of sentimentality & nostalgia deserve to be scraped off, told & become impt, when you know the extraordinary, violent & diverse story of #AmericanRevolution. #PBS
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Terry Gross: telling these stories that include voices of enslaved & women & indigenous might be called DEI; screening this at Smithsonian or NPS could get you canceled.
Ken Burns: i like to say DEI is "E Pluribus Unum" "A story is a story is a story." #AmericanRevolution #USHistory #PBS #FreshAir
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns to Terry Gross: Washington was against keeping & recruiting Black soldiers who fought bravely in Lexington & Concord, eventually realized mistake... Terry notes W describing colonists as enslaved to British. Ken says "irony & hypocrisy not lost on anybody." #AmericanRevolution #PBS
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns: good stories with complexity, whether shakespeare or led by kevin costner (yellowstone) will appeal... made this film not for blue or red audience, but for an American audience. ... but could not have made this film w/o #PublicMedia #PBS #AmericanRevolution
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Terry Gross: telling these stories that include voices of enslaved & women & indigenous might be called DEI; screening this at Smithsonian or NPS could get you canceled.
Ken Burns: i like to say DEI is "E Pluribus Unum" "A story is a story is a story." #AmericanRevolution #USHistory #PBS #FreshAir
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns to Terry Gross: Washington was against keeping & recruiting Black soldiers who fought bravely in Lexington & Concord, eventually realized mistake... Terry notes W describing colonists as enslaved to British. Ken says "irony & hypocrisy not lost on anybody." #AmericanRevolution #PBS
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns: freedom then defined around white me. W property and no debt, an assumption of manifest destiny and God given preference, but where does it say God given rights but only for white ppl?
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns to Terry Gross: Washington was against keeping & recruiting Black soldiers who fought bravely in Lexington & Concord, eventually realized mistake... Terry notes W describing colonists as enslaved to British. Ken says "irony & hypocrisy not lost on anybody." #AmericanRevolution #PBS
Reposted by Heather J. Chin
jennycohn.bsky.social
👀A Rutgers professor who teaches an anti-fascism class was blocked from leaving the US hours > Trump’s “Antifa” roundtable w/ Jack Posobiec who has called Bray a “domestic terrorist professor.” TPUSA at Rutgers has called him an “antifa member,” a claim he denies. He’s received death threats. 1/
US anti-fascism expert blocked from flying to Spain at airport
Rutgers University professor who published book on antifa was informed at boarding gate that his trip was cancelled
www.theguardian.com
heatherjchin.bsky.social
In intro to #PBS event, Pa. Rep. Brendan Boyle notes he is part of 1st gen to grow up w #PublicMedia... made me realize me too! I've been grateful for being a PBS kid, but didn't realize that childhood was unique to our generation in comparison to parents & grands & even our kids to an extent.
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns: I often think of PBS is to communication as what the Declaration of Independence is to the country -- supporting a lifetime of learning... criticizes end of CPB and reallocation of $700M funding for public media as "short-sighted."
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Terry Gross notes "which side would I be on?" Not sure I'd want war in my backyard, to see men in my life die. Ken Burns notes what would I be willing to die for? Many ppl made these decisions. Last line in Declaration notes pledging lives & sacred honor to each other. #AmericanRevolution #freshAir
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns: declaration of dependence post battle of long island/Bklyn loyalists signed... then when British devastated farms& fams, ppl shifted, so complex. Families divided. Notes Franklin's son formed terrorist org hunting Patriots, who hunted loyalists in turn. Was down & dirty, local & macro.
heatherjchin.bsky.social
I remember learning about brothers against brothers in elementary school, historical fiction, and local museums in NYC & Brooklyn. Still frustrating so many Americans refuse to recognize this division & complex humanity & reality & history then as now. #AmericanRevolution #PBS
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns: declaration of dependence post battle of long island/Bklyn loyalists signed... then when British devastated farms& fams, ppl shifted, so complex. Families divided. Notes Franklin's son formed terrorist org hunting Patriots, who hunted loyalists in turn. Was down & dirty, local & macro.
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ironically, American colonists reckoning w enslavement of African Americans didnt mean any recognition of Indigenous peoples' humanity. Jefferson and Declaration explicitly discussed need to expel "Indian savages" in push westward. #AmericanRevolution #PBS
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns: declaring independence brought on discourse about slavery and the enslaved publicly for 1st time anywhere. So by time #AmericanRevolution, Civil War & women's suffrage was already gonna happen, in essence. #FreshAir #PBS
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns noting Franklin's idea for a United States was modeled after Haudenoshonee and Iroquois Nation, which was destroyed by #AmericanRevolution. #PBS
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns: declaring independence brought on discourse about slavery and the enslaved publicly for 1st time anywhere. So by time #AmericanRevolution, Civil War & women's suffrage was already gonna happen, in essence. #FreshAir #PBS
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns to Terry Gross: Washington was against keeping & recruiting Black soldiers who fought bravely in Lexington & Concord, eventually realized mistake... Terry notes W describing colonists as enslaved to British. Ken says "irony & hypocrisy not lost on anybody." #AmericanRevolution #PBS
Reposted by Heather J. Chin
washingtonpost.com
A federal judge in Chicago blocked President Trump from deploying National Guard troops in Illinois.

“I am very much struggling to figure out where this would ever stop,” said U.S. District Judge April M. Perry.
Judge blocks Trump from deploying troops in Illinois for now
Officials in Oregon and Illinois had challenged the Trump administration’s push to dispatch the National Guard in both states.
www.washingtonpost.com
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns: declaration of dependence post battle of long island/Bklyn loyalists signed... then when British devastated farms& fams, ppl shifted, so complex. Families divided. Notes Franklin's son formed terrorist org hunting Patriots, who hunted loyalists in turn. Was down & dirty, local & macro.
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns to Terry Gross: America has always been divided... historians have seen that... America was born out of violence. It doesnt take away from the ideals put forward in creation to acknowledge that. #PBS #AmericanRevolution
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns: although we began this when Barack Obama still had 13 months left in his presidency, i believe this #AmericanRevolution documentary is so relevant now. . . No more impt film i will be involved in... #PBS
Reposted by Heather J. Chin
stefanoschen.bsky.social
There are so many fights over federal funding that it's hard to keep track. Today, Gov. Hochul called the Trump admin hypocrites for pulling $34M in antiterrorism funds for the subway and rails. (This is separate from the $187M security funding restored last week.)
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/n...
Hochul Attacks Trump for Withholding $34 Million in Security Funding
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Heather J. Chin
markfollman.bsky.social
A very weird detail in this WSJ story about Trump’s weaponization of DOJ and FBI:

“Trump occasionally reminds aides about an incident last year in which Trump cut his hand on Bondi’s large wedding ring, causing him to bleed.”

…??

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Inside the Justice Department Where the President Calls the Shots
The president has executed a wholesale transformation of the Justice Department, taking control in ways he could have only dreamed of in his first term.
www.wsj.com
Reposted by Heather J. Chin
thecity.nyc
Just last week, AG Letitia James spoke on THE CITY's podcast about her legal battles with Trump, including the case in which she has now been indicted.

"The Department of Justice is supposed to be independent," she said.
LISTEN: Letitia James Discusses Her Legal Battles with Donald Trump, and More
A weekday newsletter to keep you up on New York.
www.thecity.nyc
heatherjchin.bsky.social
Ken Burns: I often think of PBS is to communication as what the Declaration of Independence is to the country -- supporting a lifetime of learning... criticizes end of CPB and reallocation of $700M funding for public media as "short-sighted."