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Zaakir Tameez @ztameez.bsky.social · Sep 9

He is indeed. An extraordinary book

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Zaakir Tameez @ztameez.bsky.social · Sep 9

Guest link— www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/b...

A Foremost Scholar of Slavery Wonders if America Can Ever Atone

www.nytimes.com

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Zaakir Tameez @ztameez.bsky.social · Sep 9

My review of Eric Foner’s new book, “Our Fragile Freedoms,” for the New York Times—

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/b...

A Foremost Scholar of Slavery Wonders if America Can Ever Atone

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Zaakir Tameez

Nelson Black - Tampa, FL @nwblack3.bsky.social · Sep 9

By interesting coincidence, I just read about this event in @ztameez.bsky.social‘s excellent new biography of Charles Sumner. Sumner was the attorney who argued the case before the MA Supreme Court. A century later, his arguments helped form the basis for the arguments in Brown v Board.

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Zaakir Tameez @ztameez.bsky.social · Sep 6

Here’s a thread from a reader with some excerpts from the book! 📚

Travis @travtufts.bsky.social · Sep 6

Finished @ztameez.bsky.social’s fantastic bio of Charles Sumner. It’s inspiring, really well-written and researched, and quite moving.

It might be my favorite book of the year. Bravo!

Thanks for the rec @tracynovick.bsky.social and @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com!

Some lessons I took 👇🏻

Cover for

CHARLES SUMNER:
CONSCIENCE OF A NATION

By Zaskir Tameez

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Reposted by Zaakir Tameez

Brian Lyman @brianlyman.bsky.social · Sep 4

Sumner’s brief in the Roberts case is not well-known, but it should be. It is stunningly perceptive about the psychological impact of segregation, and reads like the first filing in Brown v. Board of Education, decided over 100 years later.

Travis @travtufts.bsky.social · Sep 4

Happy first day of school, Boston!

And a happy new school opening day to The Sarah Roberts.

Sarah and her father Benjamin filed the first school desegregation suit in US history in 1849.

She was represented by Robert Morris, the first Black attorney in MA, and future US Senator Charles Sumner.

The Sarah Roberts Case (U.S. National Park Service)

www.nps.gov

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Travis @travtufts.bsky.social · Sep 4

Happy first day of school, Boston!

And a happy new school opening day to The Sarah Roberts.

Sarah and her father Benjamin filed the first school desegregation suit in US history in 1849.

She was represented by Robert Morris, the first Black attorney in MA, and future US Senator Charles Sumner.

The Sarah Roberts Case (U.S. National Park Service)

www.nps.gov

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Reposted by Zaakir Tameez

Art Herstory @artherstory.bsky.social · Sep 2

Charles Sumner, 1875, by #AnneWhitney (American, 1821-1915), who was born #otd, Sept 2. Located in General MacArthur Square, Cambridge, MA.
#womenartists #artherstory

A photo of a bronze statue of a man in formal 19th-century attire - including a shirt with a collar, a bow tie, a waistcoat, a long jacket, and trousers - seated in a chair and gazing outward. Fingers of his right hand are inserted in at least two places into the book on his right knee.

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Tracy O’Connell Novick @tracynovick.bsky.social · Sep 1

DID YOU KNOW that the PEN with which President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation is at the Massachusetts Historical Society, because Senator Charles Sumner asked for it??

TIL from @ztameez.bsky.social’s Sumner bio!

www.masshist.org/database/4

MHS Collections Online: Pen used by Abraham Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation

Massachusetts Historical Society, Collections Online: Pen used by Abraham Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation

www.masshist.org

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Reposted by Zaakir Tameez

Tracy O’Connell Novick @tracynovick.bsky.social · Aug 30

@ztameez.bsky.social’s bio of Charles Sumner: such a good read and I am learning so much!

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Zaakir Tameez @ztameez.bsky.social · Aug 24

I am speaking on Sunday at 2pm for a live discussion on Charles Sumner… anyone is welcome, register here:

marketing.gilderlehrman.org/l/941553/202...

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Reposted by Zaakir Tameez

Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · Aug 23

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Zaakir Tameez @ztameez.bsky.social · Aug 20

Incredible!

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Zaakir Tameez @ztameez.bsky.social · Aug 20

@sees.bsky.social

Zaakir Tameez @ztameez.bsky.social · Aug 20

Here is what Charles Sumner said whenever he learned that yet another baby was named after him.

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Zaakir Tameez @ztameez.bsky.social · Aug 20

Very cool, great to meet you!

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Reposted by Zaakir Tameez

Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · Aug 19

And you'd think there's a very good jumping off point that everyone knows about to talk about this: Preston Brooks nearly beating Charles Sumner to death.

Noah Berlatsky @nberlat.bsky.social · Aug 19

one extremely horrific aspect of slavery was systematic, vicious, constant rape and sexual abuse. there remain major taboos about talking about that, especially in schools or museums for all ages.

Thomas Lecaque @tlecaque.bsky.social · Aug 19

"How bad slavery was" is worse. Much worse. Much worse than you think, much worse than you're taught, much worse than museums depict. Worse.

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Zaakir Tameez @ztameez.bsky.social · Aug 19

Yes, and most formerly enslaved people were being extra polite when interviewed by whites. Here’s what Henry Ryan, formerly enslaved by Senator Andrew Butler, said:

“Old Judge Butler was a good man,” Ryan recalled. “Master wouldn’t let [his overseers] treat slaves cruel, just light whipping.”

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Zaakir Tameez @ztameez.bsky.social · Aug 19

How bad was slavery? Worse than anything you were taught in school, worse than anything you’ve seen in movies, worse, worse, worse.

“I think slavery,” Harriet Tubman said, “is the next thing to hell.”

Thomas Lecaque @tlecaque.bsky.social · Aug 19

"How bad slavery was" is worse. Much worse. Much worse than you think, much worse than you're taught, much worse than museums depict. Worse.

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Zaakir Tameez @ztameez.bsky.social · Aug 19

If you’re still on the fence about buying the book, here’s a thoughtful review by
@genemeyer.bsky.social

Washington Independent Review of Books @wirobooks.bsky.social · Aug 18

The outspoken abolitionist is finally given his due. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/bookreview/c... @henryholtbooks.bsky.social @genemeyer.bsky.social @ztameez.bsky.social #booksky #charlessumner

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Zaakir Tameez @ztameez.bsky.social · Aug 19

Lovely photos! Thanks for sharing. The hair in Thomas Crawford’s sculpture is amazing.

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caidid @caidid.bsky.social · Aug 19

I am so happy someone reposted this into my timeline today. I went to the same high school as Sumner (a few years behind him lol) and he has long been a favorite historical figure. Very excited to buy and read this! A couple of my own photos below of some favorite local depictions of Sumner. :-)

Bust of a young Charles Sumner in white marble, from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston

Statue of Charles Sumner, in bronze, from the Boston Public Garden. Full statue in bronze of Sumner standing, holding a scroll to his chest atop a granite plinth that says simply "SUMNER." The statue is in snow with bare tree branches and more snow visible in the background.

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Zaakir Tameez @ztameez.bsky.social · Aug 19

Really enjoyed this podcast!

Civics & Coffee: A History Podcast @civicspod.bsky.social · Aug 19

What can a 19th-century senator teach us about justice in America today?
I sat down with Zaakir Tameez, author of Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation, to explore the legacy of one of America’s boldest abolitionists — and why his fight still matters. @ztameez.bsky.social
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Civics & Coffee: A History Podcast @civicspod.bsky.social · Aug 19

And for my California Bay Area listeners - be sure to check out Tameez TONIGHT! He will be speaking at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. You won’t want to miss it!
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www.civicsandcoffee.com/exploring-co...

Exploring Conscience of a Nation: Zaakir Tameez on Charles Sumner’s Fight for Justice

Charles Sumner was one of the fiercest voices for abolition and racial equality in 19th-century America, but how much do we really know about the man behind the Sen…

www.civicsandcoffee.com

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Zaakir Tameez @ztameez.bsky.social · Aug 19

Thank you!

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