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Reposted by Rachel Swarns

CherryTreeLit.bsky.social @cherrytreelit.bsky.social · Aug 27

When she's not reading submissions, CNF Editor Sufiya Abdur-Rahman is reading recent books by Rachel L. Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social and by CT 9 contributor Kristin Keane.

Cherry Tree is open for submissions til October 1 at cherrytree.submittable.com/submit

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · Jun 14

"That it has gotten so bad in the past should free us of any illusion that it cannot get much worse now. But that it has been successfully defeated in the past — or at least beaten back — should free us from the fatalism that it cannot be beaten back now.”

Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · Jun 14

Ezra Klein summarizes Hahn’s work this way: “Illiberalism is part of the American tradition: Jim Crow. The Red Scare. The internment of Japanese Americans. Operation Wetback…"

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · Jun 14

For those of us shaken by the news today and searching for some historical context to make sense of it all, I’m re-listening to this interview with Steven Hahn, the Pulitzer Prize winning historian of Reconstruction and, more recently, the author of Illiberal America.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/o...

Opinion | The Very American Roots of Trumpism

www.nytimes.com

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · Jun 13

I loved telling this story. It is the story of slavery in the north, too often overlooked, and the story of the unexpected friendship between two women – one Black and one white – who confronted this history together. In these times, that feels like a balm.

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · Jun 13

That marked the beginning of a journey that has carried Bruno from the archives in upstate New York – where she documented her family’s enslavement of scores of people – to Washington, DC where she finally met a descendant linked to a family her ancestors had enslaved.

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · Jun 13

Debra Bruno loved telling stories about her Dutch ancestors in upstate New York...until a historian told her: “If you have Dutch ancestors in the Hudson Valley, they were probably slave owners.” www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/u...

She Confronted a History of Enslavers in Her Family. Here’s What Happened.

www.nytimes.com

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Tim Osborne Photography 🍁 @timosborne.ca · Jun 13

Here's your Friday morning dose of fox kit cuteness. Could see this attack coming from a mile away! #wildlife #fox

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Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · Jun 13

I'm excited to be speaking about my forthcoming book, The Second Emancipation, at the Schomburg Library's Centennial Festival tomorrow at 1. www.publishersweekly.com/9781324092452

The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide by Howard W French

In this magisterial account, journalist French (Born in Blackness) revisits the history of the Pan-Africanist movement through t...

www.publishersweekly.com

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · Jun 13

I loved telling this story. It is the story of slavery in the north, too often overlooked, and the story of the unexpected friendship between two women – one Black and one white – who confronted this history together. In these times, that feels like a balm.

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · Jun 13

That marked the beginning of a journey that has carried Bruno from the archives in upstate New York – where she documented her family’s enslavement of scores of people – to Washington, DC where she finally met a descendant linked to a family her ancestors had enslaved.

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · Jun 13

Debra Bruno loved telling stories about her Dutch ancestors in upstate New York...until a historian told her: “If you have Dutch ancestors in the Hudson Valley, they were probably slave owners.” www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/u...

She Confronted a History of Enslavers in Her Family. Here’s What Happened.

www.nytimes.com

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Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · May 15

RFK Jr. said multiple times during his house and senate hearings today that no scientists have been fired from federal agencies. Our reporting has shown that hundreds, if not thousands, of scientists have been let go from NIH/CDC/FDA

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · May 10

You can read more here www.nytimes.com/2025/05/09/w...

Pope Leo’s Creole Roots Evoke Sense of Connection From Some Catholics of Color

www.nytimes.com

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · May 10

Pope Leo’s ancestors had roots in Black Catholic communities that were deeply impacted by the Church’s involvement in and support of slavery/segregation. That they held on to their faith and worked to make the Church responsive to a diverse flock – and produced our new pope! -- inspire me.

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · May 10

You can read more here www.nytimes.com/2025/05/09/w...

Pope Leo’s Creole Roots Evoke Sense of Connection From Some Catholics of Color

www.nytimes.com

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · May 10

Pope Leo’s ancestors had roots in Black Catholic communities that were deeply impacted by the Church’s involvement in and support of slavery/segregation. That they held on to their faith and worked to make the Church responsive to a diverse flock – and produced our new pope! -- inspire me.

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · May 9

Fuller story published overnight! www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/u...

New Pope Has Creole Roots in New Orleans

www.nytimes.com

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · May 8

www.blackcatholicmessenger.org/pope-leo-xiv...

White smoke, Black pope? Pope Leo XIV, first American pontiff, has African roots

Previously unknown genealogy on the 69-year-old Chicago native was revealed by genealogists shortly after white smoke rose in St. Peter's Square.

www.blackcatholicmessenger.org

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · May 8

Hidden legacies! Our new American pope was born in Chicago, but his maternal ancestors were Creoles of color from New Orleans, according to Jari Honora, a genealogist and family historian at the Historic New Orleans Collection. #PopeLeoXIV

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Angela @inspiredangela.bsky.social · May 9

It's the story of America that we hold in our genes. ❤️💙

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · May 8

www.blackcatholicmessenger.org/pope-leo-xiv...

White smoke, Black pope? Pope Leo XIV, first American pontiff, has African roots

Previously unknown genealogy on the 69-year-old Chicago native was revealed by genealogists shortly after white smoke rose in St. Peter's Square.

www.blackcatholicmessenger.org

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · May 8

Hidden legacies! Our new American pope was born in Chicago, but his maternal ancestors were Creoles of color from New Orleans, according to Jari Honora, a genealogist and family historian at the Historic New Orleans Collection. #PopeLeoXIV

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · May 3

Join us! Hope to see you there!

Seth Rockman @sethrockman.bsky.social · May 2

A week from today-- FRIDAY MAY 9!

We are delighted to welcome @rachelswarns.bsky.social to Brown University for a talk. Free and open to the public: 4:00 pm.

Poster featuring Rachel Swarns's picture and information about her May 9 talk at Brown University at 4:00 pm

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Rachel Swarns @rachelswarns.bsky.social · May 1

Thank you for your review and for taking the time to read my book!

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