Zaria El-Fil
@dearzaria.bsky.social
History PhD Candidate | Southern Borderlands | Slavery Studies | Bookstagram: @BlackademicReads
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
We're excited to welcome Ana Lucia Araujo, Toby Green, and Brooke Newman as the new editorial team for our Race in the Atlantic World series! Check out the blog for more on the editors and the series.
https://loom.ly/j2osHxM
https://loom.ly/j2osHxM
November 19, 2025 at 5:32 PM
We're excited to welcome Ana Lucia Araujo, Toby Green, and Brooke Newman as the new editorial team for our Race in the Atlantic World series! Check out the blog for more on the editors and the series.
https://loom.ly/j2osHxM
https://loom.ly/j2osHxM
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
Have you ever heard someone go off, and their words are so perfectly chosen, so well said in that moment, that you’re in awe? You think, “There’s nothing to add here,” and you applaud in your head.
That’s exactly this. Pure perfection. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
That’s exactly this. Pure perfection. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
December 21, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Have you ever heard someone go off, and their words are so perfectly chosen, so well said in that moment, that you’re in awe? You think, “There’s nothing to add here,” and you applaud in your head.
That’s exactly this. Pure perfection. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
That’s exactly this. Pure perfection. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
In Special Damage, Jessica Lake offers a comparative legal history of gendered hate speech, verbal abuse, and sexual harassment across 19th-century America, Australia, and England. #ReadUP
https://www.sup.org/books/law/special-damage
https://www.sup.org/books/law/special-damage
December 16, 2025 at 4:02 PM
In Special Damage, Jessica Lake offers a comparative legal history of gendered hate speech, verbal abuse, and sexual harassment across 19th-century America, Australia, and England. #ReadUP
https://www.sup.org/books/law/special-damage
https://www.sup.org/books/law/special-damage
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
Nice review of THE DRIVER'S STORY in the latest issue of Slavery & Abolition, which calls the book "a fascinating and excellent study that will be of great benefit to scholars of slavery within the Caribbean and beyond."
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The Driver’s Story: Labor and Power in the World of Atlantic Slavery
Published in Slavery & Abolition: A Journal of Slave and Post-Slave Studies (Vol. 46, No. 4, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
December 16, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Nice review of THE DRIVER'S STORY in the latest issue of Slavery & Abolition, which calls the book "a fascinating and excellent study that will be of great benefit to scholars of slavery within the Caribbean and beyond."
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Professor Mahmood Mamdani about his new book, "Slow Poison." The book is a firsthand report on the tragic unraveling of Uganda's struggle for independence. n.pr/4oQgMjr
Mahmood Mamdani on how Uganda's history shaped his belonging — and his son's moment
NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Professor Mahmood Mamdani about his new book, "Slow Poison." The book is a firsthand report on the tragic unraveling of Uganda's struggle for independence.
n.pr
December 16, 2025 at 1:31 PM
NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Professor Mahmood Mamdani about his new book, "Slow Poison." The book is a firsthand report on the tragic unraveling of Uganda's struggle for independence. n.pr/4oQgMjr
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
My new book is now available for pre-order from UNC Press @uncpress.bsky.social! Use code 01SOCIAL30 at checkout to save 30%. uncpress.org/978146969362...
Spirits of Empire
The Declaration of Independence depicted Native Americans as bloodthirsty savages, and from its founding the United States aimed to expand westward by seizin...
uncpress.org
December 16, 2025 at 2:22 AM
My new book is now available for pre-order from UNC Press @uncpress.bsky.social! Use code 01SOCIAL30 at checkout to save 30%. uncpress.org/978146969362...
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
@apnews.com:
At least 2 killed and several more hurt in shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island
At least 2 killed and several more hurt in shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island
At least 2 killed and several more hurt in shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island
Police say multiple people have been shot in the area of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
apnews.com
December 13, 2025 at 11:23 PM
@apnews.com:
At least 2 killed and several more hurt in shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island
At least 2 killed and several more hurt in shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
I was in Myanmar in 2015, just as identity cards were taken from Rohingya to keep them from voting. It was part of a decades-long process of redefining citizenship that ate away at their rights more every year. When governments start doing this, they can move the goalposts anytime they want to.
A reminder that most Americans who are life-long citizens have nothing OTHER than a Real ID to prove their citizenship. This is CBP’s chief enforcer saying that ID doesn’t count.
Bovino, the man overseeing mass deportations, publicly declared that we must all have our papers on us, at all times, or we could be stopped, harassed, kidnapped, and detained, as they did with the man in this case, who is a US citizen.
December 13, 2025 at 3:08 PM
I was in Myanmar in 2015, just as identity cards were taken from Rohingya to keep them from voting. It was part of a decades-long process of redefining citizenship that ate away at their rights more every year. When governments start doing this, they can move the goalposts anytime they want to.
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
Attention scholars: to mark the 20th anniversary of Patrick Wolfe's "Settler Colonialism and the Elimination of the
Native," SETTLER COLONIAL STUDIES is soliciting reflections/ critiques for a special issue on Wolfe and his influence.
Details below. Please circulate widely!
Native," SETTLER COLONIAL STUDIES is soliciting reflections/ critiques for a special issue on Wolfe and his influence.
Details below. Please circulate widely!
December 10, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Attention scholars: to mark the 20th anniversary of Patrick Wolfe's "Settler Colonialism and the Elimination of the
Native," SETTLER COLONIAL STUDIES is soliciting reflections/ critiques for a special issue on Wolfe and his influence.
Details below. Please circulate widely!
Native," SETTLER COLONIAL STUDIES is soliciting reflections/ critiques for a special issue on Wolfe and his influence.
Details below. Please circulate widely!
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
Save 30% on #NewBook "The Invention of Order," in which Don Thomas Deere retraces the colonial origins of spatial organization in the Americas and the Caribbean and its lasting impact on modern structures of knowledge, power, race, and gender. #LatinAmStudies #PostcolonialTheory buff.ly/G60iAfG
December 10, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Save 30% on #NewBook "The Invention of Order," in which Don Thomas Deere retraces the colonial origins of spatial organization in the Americas and the Caribbean and its lasting impact on modern structures of knowledge, power, race, and gender. #LatinAmStudies #PostcolonialTheory buff.ly/G60iAfG
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
Everyone in Chicago needs to read this AND TAKE ACTION. Everyone else should read this and ask what's happening where you are with your public library systems.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has proposed disastrous cuts to our city's libraries while setting aside $5M for a ShotSpotter replacement. As library associate Sara Heymann told me, “Libraries embody everything we need to fight back against fascism.” My piece on what’s at stake and how to fight back:
You Can’t Fight Fascism While Defunding Libraries
“Libraries embody everything that we need right now to fight back against fascism," says Sara Heymann.
organizingmythoughts.org
December 3, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Everyone in Chicago needs to read this AND TAKE ACTION. Everyone else should read this and ask what's happening where you are with your public library systems.
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
The Clements Center for Southwest Studies invites fellowship applications for the 2026-2027 academic year.
For more info and to apply:
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
If you're interested of have questions, feel free to contact me directly.
For more info and to apply:
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
If you're interested of have questions, feel free to contact me directly.
December 5, 2025 at 7:18 PM
The Clements Center for Southwest Studies invites fellowship applications for the 2026-2027 academic year.
For more info and to apply:
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
If you're interested of have questions, feel free to contact me directly.
For more info and to apply:
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
If you're interested of have questions, feel free to contact me directly.
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
National Park Service Ends Fee-Free Days on MLK Day and Juneteenth and Places Trump on America the Beautiful Passes #NationalParks open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...
National Park Service Ends Fee-Free Days on MLK Day and Juneteenth and Places Trump on America the Beautiful Passes
It’s been a while since we checked in with our friends at the National Park Service.
open.substack.com
December 7, 2025 at 12:26 PM
National Park Service Ends Fee-Free Days on MLK Day and Juneteenth and Places Trump on America the Beautiful Passes #NationalParks open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
It’s a Miracle That Mexico Exists at All www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/b... 🗃️
It’s a Miracle That Mexico Exists at All
www.nytimes.com
December 6, 2025 at 1:26 PM
It’s a Miracle That Mexico Exists at All www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/b... 🗃️
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
Now is a good time to read @marthasjones.bsky.social incredible scholarship on this subject: www.cambridge.org/core/books/b...
December 5, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Now is a good time to read @marthasjones.bsky.social incredible scholarship on this subject: www.cambridge.org/core/books/b...
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
Happy birthday! (Going through my mom's emails this morning and we had an exchange — on September 21, 2024 — about your Yale Review essay. I shared it with her & she wrote back that she loved it & would reread it more slowly on the weekend.)
Christina Sharpe: "The Shapes of Grief"
An essay by Christina Sharpe on witnessing the unbearable.
yalereview.org
December 4, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Happy birthday! (Going through my mom's emails this morning and we had an exchange — on September 21, 2024 — about your Yale Review essay. I shared it with her & she wrote back that she loved it & would reread it more slowly on the weekend.)
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
Good mail day. Emilie Connolly’s new book that I am excited to read. 🗃️
December 2, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Good mail day. Emilie Connolly’s new book that I am excited to read. 🗃️
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
I have no idea how one is supposed to teach American History at Texas Tech under this system. But perhaps that is the goal.
My larger fear is that TX has been the proving ground for the conservative takeover of academia. So what happens at Texas Tech will not stay at Texas Tech.
My larger fear is that TX has been the proving ground for the conservative takeover of academia. So what happens at Texas Tech will not stay at Texas Tech.
December 2, 2025 at 1:08 AM
I have no idea how one is supposed to teach American History at Texas Tech under this system. But perhaps that is the goal.
My larger fear is that TX has been the proving ground for the conservative takeover of academia. So what happens at Texas Tech will not stay at Texas Tech.
My larger fear is that TX has been the proving ground for the conservative takeover of academia. So what happens at Texas Tech will not stay at Texas Tech.
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
The Chronicle of Higher Education: “'Yale and Slavery' is not just a book about Yale: It is [...] a deeply researched panorama of America’s psychic and literal investment in the enslavement of Native American and African people.”
Reckoning With Yale’s Ties to Slavery
An institutional history of the “peculiar institution.”
www.chronicle.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:02 PM
The Chronicle of Higher Education: “'Yale and Slavery' is not just a book about Yale: It is [...] a deeply researched panorama of America’s psychic and literal investment in the enslavement of Native American and African people.”
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
The most precious commodity you have is your attention. You don’t have to waste it on poor-faith debates or arguments with strangers if you don’t think they’ll be productive. You can prioritize the things that matter to you and make your life richer.
November 30, 2025 at 8:00 PM
The most precious commodity you have is your attention. You don’t have to waste it on poor-faith debates or arguments with strangers if you don’t think they’ll be productive. You can prioritize the things that matter to you and make your life richer.
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
Come learn something w/us next week! All free+public: grad DH Fellow Seanna Viechweg on her digital Caribbean speculative storytelling archive; @twilliams81.bsky.social teaches sifting large volumes of text into categories via LLMs; 4 makerspace textile & papercraft workshops: scholarslab.org/events
November 29, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Come learn something w/us next week! All free+public: grad DH Fellow Seanna Viechweg on her digital Caribbean speculative storytelling archive; @twilliams81.bsky.social teaches sifting large volumes of text into categories via LLMs; 4 makerspace textile & papercraft workshops: scholarslab.org/events
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
I was so proud of the people spending Black Friday out in the cold in front of the mall reminding hordes of shoppers that there is an ICE detention facility next door to the mall.
November 28, 2025 at 10:22 PM
I was so proud of the people spending Black Friday out in the cold in front of the mall reminding hordes of shoppers that there is an ICE detention facility next door to the mall.
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
6 years ago, as I prepared to host students for Thanksgiving, I received a call informing me Harvard denied me tenure. Before I had a chance to process, it was all public. This year the memory stings more as I watch dear colleagues and friends like @durba.bsky.social experience the same violence.
Why Lorgia García Peña Was Denied Tenure at Harvard
A decision not to retain a beloved Latinx-studies professor raised questions about the university’s commitment to students of color.
www.newyorker.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:12 PM
6 years ago, as I prepared to host students for Thanksgiving, I received a call informing me Harvard denied me tenure. Before I had a chance to process, it was all public. This year the memory stings more as I watch dear colleagues and friends like @durba.bsky.social experience the same violence.
Reposted by Zaria El-Fil
Got emotional reading a passage about a little Black girl who wants to grow up to be a Dodger just like Jackie Robinson and thinks that Harriet Tubman looks like she had a good throwing arm
I want Black kids to live in a world where those are the connections they are invited to make
I want Black kids to live in a world where those are the connections they are invited to make
November 26, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Got emotional reading a passage about a little Black girl who wants to grow up to be a Dodger just like Jackie Robinson and thinks that Harriet Tubman looks like she had a good throwing arm
I want Black kids to live in a world where those are the connections they are invited to make
I want Black kids to live in a world where those are the connections they are invited to make