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Joseph Rezek

@rezekjoe.bsky.social

14K followers 3.9K following 6.1K posts

English Prof and Director of American Studies at Boston University. Gay dad and husband. 2024-2025 NEH fellow for “The Racialization of Print,” forthcoming from OIEAHC & UNC Press. https://www.bu.edu/english/profile/joseph-rezek/

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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · Jun 13

I just submitted my book for peer review. After 15 years of thinking, researching, and writing, and, as I keep saying, an NEH this year to finish up. I’m furious about the gutting of that institution, which makes so much knowledge possible. I hope this book eventually lives up to that honor.

Screen shot of my table of contents: The Racialization of Print
By Joseph Rezek, Boston University
Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and the University of North
Carolina Press (under contract)
For peer review only, do not cite or circulate without permission.
Introduction: Print's Racialization over the longue durée
Chapter 1. The Europeanization of Print in the Early Anglophone Atlantic

Chapter 2. Nominal White Authorship at the end of the Seventeenth Century

Chapter 3. Race, Gender, and Genius in the Eighteenth Century

Chapter 4. Phillis Wheatley and Her Books

Chapter 5. Haiti's Media Revolution

Chapter 6. Native American Print Sovereignty, 1826-1837

Chapter 7. The Specimen Logic of Print in the Nineteenth Century

Bibliography

Word Count: 142,647

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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 10h

Okay everyone!!! Here is the paper miche canopic jar piñata my husband and mother-in-law made for the twins’ ancient-Egyptian-themed 9th birthday party!!! A dozen kids smashed it to pieces A++++

A giant paper miche canopic jar sitting on a wooden table

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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 14h

Uh oh it’s a 9yo birthday party!!!!

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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 15h

No kings is a LOVE AMERICA RALLY. Right on senator!!!!

Bernie sanders tweet video saying “No, Speaker Johnson:
The No Kings Rally on October 18 is not a "hate America" rally.
Quite the contrary.
It's a rally of millions of people who believe in American freedom and are not going to allow you and President Trump to turn us into an authoritarian country.”

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Rep. Jamie Raskin @raskin.house.gov · 1d

And the lawsuits will follow promptly. Government shutdowns give presidents no additional authority to dismiss federal workers. We’ll fight these outrageous assaults on civil servants and public services.

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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 16h

Trembling for my country y’all…

Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 16h

Every single journalist and political figure in America needs to absolutely condemn the casting of peaceful opposition to Trump as “terrorists.” It’s outrageous and extremely dangerous.

Joe Walsh @walshfreedom.bsky.social · 1d

Looks like everyone in my former political party has signed on to the Donald Trump/Stephen Miller game plan, which means calling Democrats “terrorists.” Terrorists? Despicable. Shameful.

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 1d

A peaceful protest rally under the Tom Paine motto "No Kings" is being held on the mall in Washington and in hundreds of other sites around the country. Prior No Kings rallies have attracted 11-12 million attendees, the largest political rallies in US history. bsky.app/profile/atru...

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Mike Johnson: "We're so angry about it. I mean, I'm a very patient guy, but I've had it with these people. The theory we have right now -- they have a hate America rally that's scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It's the pro-Hamas wing and antifa people ... "

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Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 1d

I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.

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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 19h

As a father, it is one of my duties to make sure we always have bagels in the house.

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okthen25.bsky.social @okthen25.bsky.social · 1d

This 👇🏼👇🏼

Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 1d

Can an historian of journalism please explain to me how the rule developed where a president says something, it has to be taken seriously as possibly true, even if it is obviously false. This rule must have a history (meaning, it can change! That is my point!)

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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 1d

Peaceful protest is as American as apple pie. The No Kings protests exemplify that tradition - for GOP leaders to come out and accuse them of hating America means the leadership must truly be terrified of the groundswell of righteous nonviolent anger they have unleashed.

Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, America, he is referring to the 100% peaceful No Kings rallies that have literally nothing to do with Hamas or antifa or hating America.

America has been gaslit by these lunatics every day for a decade, and at some point the other shoe will drop—though I have no idea what or when that will be.

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Ashton Pittman @ashtonpittman.bsky.social · 1d

ICE left David, a 17-year-old boy, stranded on the side of Interstate 20 after pulling over his immigrant father, Hector, in Mississippi.

David began running in the scorching sun after the car and watched as it disappeared from sight—soon headed to a Louisiana ICE prison.

Here's their story.

ICE Stranded a 17-Year-Old on I-20 After Arresting His Father. The Mississippi Dad Now Faces Deportation.

A 17-year-old watched as ICE arrested his immigrant father, Hector, on I-20 in June. The family faces mounting legal fees and the risk of deportation.

www.mississippifreepress.org

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Sophie Sherry @sophiesherry.bsky.social · 1d

During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door.   It wasn’t the feds — it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help.

He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’

During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...

chicago.suntimes.com

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Carole V. Bell @cvbell.bsky.social · 1d

[At last.] It’s no surprise MIT’s Sally Kornbluth is the first to flatly reject Trump’s deal
MIT rejects proposed federal ‘compact’ as other institutions weigh their options. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/10/m...

It’s no surprise MIT’s Sally Kornbluth is the first to flatly reject Trump’s deal - The Boston Globe

Kornbluth deserves all the credit for standing up for her institution’s core values, even at considerable risk.

www.bostonglobe.com

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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 1d

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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 1d

Purchased! Can’t wait!!! @kawulf.bsky.social

Picture of my copy of Lineage, a new book by Karin Wulf

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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 1d

I fucking love buying books.

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Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 1d

This is the way

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

M.I.T. Rejects a White House Offer for Special Funding Treatment

www.nytimes.com

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Atle Mikkola Kjosen @klumpen.bsky.social · 1d

100% agree.

Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 1d

I fucking love buying books.

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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 1d

I love it here

Screen shot of duke univ press liking my post about buying books

Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 1d

It might even be YOUR book I am buying

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Mel 🍉 @melly253.bsky.social · 1d

Buy books because digital print can be altered. Buying books is an act of resistance, especially banned books. I support indie bookstores and I also buy every banned book I see.

Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 1d

I fucking love buying books.

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Melanie Nicole 🇨🇦 @melanienicole76.bsky.social · 1d

Yup.

Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 1d

I fucking love buying books.

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Kelly Jelly 🪼 @kellybdevoe.bsky.social · 1d

And then never reading them, it’s my favorite

Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 1d

I fucking love buying books.

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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 1d

Books are soooooo gay 🥳🌈🥇