Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rebecca Bratspies, Author

@rbratspies.bsky.social

16K followers 3.1K following 2K posts

Professor, CUNY Law | award-winning scholar, author, speaker scuba diver | environmental justice, climate justice, human rights, NYC history, urban policy, comic books | mom | optimist (mostly) www.RebeccaBratspies.com

Videos

Law 24%

Environmental science 23%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Rebecca Bratspies, Author @rbratspies.bsky.social · Apr 28

hey friends. Guess what . . .my book Naming Gotham just won the 2024 American Legacy Book Award for US History!!! #history #NYC #newyorkcity #historybuff #historylovers #historypodcast #NewYork #awardwinning #books #booklovers www.amazon.com/Naming-Gotha...

Good seal. Words Award Winner 2024 emblazoned across the seal

cover of Naming Gotham: The Villains, Rogues, and Heroes Behind New York Place Names. Title in a central red box with white type Photos (in clockwise order) of Peter Cooper, Henry Bruckner, NYC view from Hells Kitchen, Jackie Robinson, at bat, Shirley Chisholm, and Bryant Park

7 8 63

Rebecca Bratspies, Author @rbratspies.bsky.social · 8h

Congratulations. The link for Jade Dance is m.youtube.com/watch?v=SgRp...

Jade Dance

YouTube video by Max Lifchitz - Topic

m.youtube.com

Rebecca Bratspies, Author @rbratspies.bsky.social · 8h

This is very cool news!! Check out Jade Dance at m.youtube.com/watch?v=SgRp...

Rebecca Bratspies, Author @rbratspies.bsky.social · 10h

NYC deserves a mayor who will follow the law and #CloseRikers!

freedomagendany.bsky.social @freedomagendany.bsky.social · 1d

As New York City general elections approach and candidates articulate their plans in regard to Rikers Island, the Campaign to #CloseRikers issued this statement.

🗳️ Stay tuned for our Voter Guide coming next week.

www.campaigntocloserikers.org/statements-r...

2 4

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 18h

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

210 5.1K 16K

Rebecca Bratspies, Author @rbratspies.bsky.social · 1d

If it makes you feel any better, Houston Street was named after this guy--William Houstoun. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Congress. Not after Sam Houston.

1791 portrait of William Houston with a fancy white cravat and a blue/black jacket

1 1

Rebecca Bratspies, Author @rbratspies.bsky.social · 1d

Houston street

1 1

Reposted by Rebecca M. Bratspies

freedomagendany.bsky.social @freedomagendany.bsky.social · 1d

2 1

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Jan W. Mueller, Joe R. Feagin , and 12 more Joanna Bryson, Jan W. Mueller, Joe R. Feagin, Brendan Nyhan, Pamela Samuelson, Scott L. Greer, Daniel W. Drezner, Melanie C. Green, Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, Rebecca M. Bratspies, Michael D. McDonald, Mark Rice, Andrew Rudalevige, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1d

Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.

(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.

190 4.8K 11K

Reposted by Rebecca M. Bratspies

Jamie Dupree @jamiedupree.bsky.social · 2d

Back on April 2, Speaker Johnson swore in 2 House Republicans - during a pro forma session - who were elected the day before. Anyone who says Adelita Grijalva D-AZ can only be sworn in when the House is back and voting is lying to you.

5 94 180

Rebecca Bratspies, Author @rbratspies.bsky.social · 3d

Hmm. Mine were.

Reposted by Rebecca M. Bratspies

FactPost @factpostnews.bsky.social · 3d

Rep. Raskin: People need those ACA tax credits. They're not going to be able to afford a 30-50% increase in premiums, which means they're simply going to be without health insurance. In the meantime, Trump is building a gilded ballroom for their billionaire donors to have some more black tie dinners

1 42 90

Reposted by Rebecca M. Bratspies

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 3d

the word we're going to use, loudly and regularly, is "oathbreaker"

3 8

Rebecca Bratspies, Author @rbratspies.bsky.social · 4d

FWIW, here is mine. It is not a model of anything, but it was pretty easy to set up and it fulfills the "have your own website" criterion. www.rebeccabratspies.com

Home Who Was Major Deegan Anyway?

In Naming Gotham, New York City history comes alive through the lives behind its urban infrastructure. Learn about environmental justice, racial justice, women's rights in NYC.

www.rebeccabratspies.com

Rebecca Bratspies, Author @rbratspies.bsky.social · 4d

Same here

1 1

Reposted by Kimberly A. Prather, Rosemary A. Joyce, Evelyne Schmid , and 12 more Kimberly A. Prather, Rosemary A. Joyce, Evelyne Schmid, Jacob Montgomery, Peter Holmes, Sanford F. Schram, Robert C. Richards, John Marston, Rebecca M. Bratspies, Anne Norton, Claire L. Adida, Alexandra Cirone, Aviel Roshwald, Dan Immergluck, Timothy D. McBride

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 4d

SOUTH CAROLINA… “Judge Goodstein was walking on the beach when the fire started. Her husband, Arnie, was in the house with children and perhaps grandchildren. The family had to escape by jumping from a window or balcony...” www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

940 4.7K 9.3K

Reposted by Juan Cole, Aaron Sojourner, W. Andy Knight , and 1 more Juan Cole, Aaron Sojourner, W. Andy Knight, Rebecca M. Bratspies

George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 @gtconway.bsky.social · 5d

Thugs.

960 5.5K 11K

Rebecca Bratspies, Author @rbratspies.bsky.social · 5d

Dartmouth as a model of resistance was not on my bingo card. Go Big Green!

Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 5d

It appears that my employer, Dartmouth, one of the Trump 9, has said no to the compact. All the better given that our president is cited within it. But she’s saying no. Count the small victories when they come.

Office of the President
Dear Dartmouth community,

As many of you know, Dartmouth was one of nine universities asked by the White House to give feedback by Oct. 20 on a draft of its “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”

I am deeply committed to Dartmouth’s academic mission and values and will always defend our fierce independence.

You have often heard me say that higher education is not perfect and that we can do better. At the same time, we will never compromise our academic freedom and our ability to govern ourselves.

Best,
Sian Leah Beilock
President

Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 5d

74 680 4.5K

Reposted by Rebecca M. Bratspies

Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 5d

This car was driving around Manhattan without any license plates, effectively making it immune to traffic enforcement for safety infractions like posting up on the sidewalk.

Cars like this should immediately get impounded. That would prevent crime and save lives.

2 5 22

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Pamela Samuelson, Juan Cole , and 9 more Anna O. Law, Pamela Samuelson, Juan Cole, Alan Richardson, Suzanne de Cheveigné, Rebecca M. Bratspies, Dana R. Fisher, Erin O’Donnell, Toni Haastrup, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Paddy Hillyard, Dunlap

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 6d

🚨🚨 My dear friend and fellow academic, the Palestinian American sociologist @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social has been taken by the Cook County Sheriff near Chicago. They have not mirandized her. Please signal boost. All eyes on Broadview for Eman and the community she was defending 🚨🚨

16 1.2K 1.5K

Rebecca Bratspies, Author @rbratspies.bsky.social · 7d

FYI @michaelhobbes.bsky.social

Reposted by Rebecca M. Bratspies

LA Blue Dot in GA @namwella1961.bsky.social · 7d

Good morning, here's a mood-booster to start your day off with a laugh.🎃
#ProudBlue #Pinks #TrumpIsUnfitForOffice

10 120 330

Rebecca Bratspies, Author @rbratspies.bsky.social · 7d

Dealing with SiriusXM is truly peak post-capitalism. There is no such thing as "the price." There is only "which channel of access are you using and how savvy are you."

a drawing of a girl crying with the words aa ugg hhh written above her head

Alt: a line drawing of a stressed out girl screaming "aaugghhh"

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Steve Peers, Anders Nilsson, Rebecca M. Bratspies

Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 7d

Today, Oct.2nd, is the anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder by Saudi agents.

160 2.1K 5.5K

Reposted by Rebecca M. Bratspies

Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 8d

💔 🕊️ 🙏

29 79 400

Rebecca Bratspies, Author @rbratspies.bsky.social · 9d

just a reminder of what the air used to be like before environmental regulation. These images are of New York and Pittsburgh but every place was like this.

Pittsburgh factory billowing black smoke from multiple smokestacks. early 1900s

pollution in Manhattan obscuring the Chrysler building entirely.

3 15

Reposted by Scott L. Greer, Rebecca M. Bratspies, Daxton R. Stewart

Charlotte Garden @charlottegarden.bsky.social · 9d

I'm skimming, but this paragraph stood out:

And there’s the issue of masks. This Court has listened carefully to the reasons given by Öztürk’s captors for masking- up and has heard the same reasons advanced by the defendant Todd Lyons, Acting Director of ICE. It rejects this testimony as disingenuous, squalid and dishonorable. ICE goes masked for a single reason -- to terrorize Americans into quiescence.

23 660 2.3K

JVG 骨 @jasonv.bsky.social · 9d

Absolute all-timer sentence in today's @nytimes.com

"some legal experts have called it a crime to summarily execute civilians" says today's New York Times, continuing their long tradition of whitewashing fascism

4 4.3K 14K

Reposted by Rebecca M. Bratspies

Nothin’ but Blue Skies from now on @bluesos.bsky.social · 10d

There’s a process to amend the Constitution, it’s called “amending the constitution”. As far as I know Article 5 makes no mention of SCOTUS having a role in that process

2 5 32

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Steve Peers, Rebecca M. Bratspies , and 1 more Anna O. Law, Steve Peers, Rebecca M. Bratspies, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 10d

Trump's petition asking the Supreme Court to let him officially redefine (read: rescind) birthright citizenship is now available and

I wish I did not have to worry about the Supreme Court taking seriously such obviously, egregiously unserious & racist bullshit

www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...

www.supremecourt.gov

38 330 1.1K