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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

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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

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 14h

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.

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FactPost @factpostnews.bsky.social · 1d

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

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

Hmm. Mine were.

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Indigo Wendigo @obdurodon.bsky.social · 2d

Let's review the timeline.

(1) Goodstein ruled against Trump's illegal demand for voter info.

(2) Harmeet Dhillon at DoJ said "nothing will stop us" about the case.

(3) Stephen Miller called judges insurrectionists.

(4) A day later, Goodstein's house gets bombed.

This is stochastic terrorism.

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 2d

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...

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Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 2d

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

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Rebecca Bratspies, Author @rbratspies.bsky.social · 2d

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 · 2d

Same here

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LA Blue Dot in GA @namwella1961.bsky.social · 6d

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

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Rob K. @robkarpati.bsky.social · 3d

In normal times this would be a huge scandal.

George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 @gtconway.bsky.social · 4d

Thugs.

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

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

Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 4d

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

Reposted by Rebecca Bratspies, Author

Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 4d

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.

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 4d

🚨🚨 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 🚨🚨

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

FYI @michaelhobbes.bsky.social

Rebecca Bratspies, Author @rbratspies.bsky.social · 6d

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

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Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 6d

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

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Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 6d

💔 🕊️ 🙏

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Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 9d

I may have found my defining quote.

Pair this with my pinned post and you will see what I mean!

From a poster called “just shower thoughts“ reading: when people talk about traveling to the past, they worry about radically, changing the present by doing something small, barely anyone in the present to really thinks that they can radically change the future by doing something small.

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Charlotte Garden @charlottegarden.bsky.social · 7d

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.

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

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.

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JVG 骨 @jasonv.bsky.social · 8d

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

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Nothin’ but Blue Skies from now on @bluesos.bsky.social · 8d

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

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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 8d

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

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

Ready to be a waiter at the table of his success

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Just Kevin @kevinleecaster.bsky.social · 9d

I get quite a few self-described leftists that tell me that Democrats are no better on climate than Republicans are.

Well, just look at all of this solar Biden was able to help get deployed and you'll see why that is such a stupid take on a complex issue. The more solar deployed the faster it goes!

Many more homeowners are going solar nationwide
Over the last five years, the number of homes with rooftop solar has nearly tripled.
Number of homes with solar, per 1,000 people No data

Maps of 2020 and then in 2025, from NY Times I think

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

Oh my god.