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snelsonus.bsky.social
Steven Nelson
@snelsonus.bsky.social
4K followers 690 following 260 posts
Former dean, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art; UCLA professor emeritus; and left-handed art historian who sees lots of shiny objects.
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snelsonus.bsky.social
Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 6h
Uncovering the lives of enslaved people is incredibly important. Here’s a great example of such work. #arthistory

hyperallergic.com/1047549/port...
Portrait of Enslaved Man Dispels Years of Falsehoods
The truth of Frederick Baker’s life was long obscured by a whitewashed history perpetuated by the Longwood mansion in Mississippi, new research says.
hyperallergic.com
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snelsonus.bsky.social
Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 8h
Methinks that a road trip to London to see Nigerian Modernisms at the Tate is in order. www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tat...
Nigerian Modernism | Tate Modern
www.tate.org.uk
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Reposted by Steven Nelson
mlobelart.bsky.social
Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 1d
If you're in the Boston/Cambridge area, in three weeks I'll be talking about my Van Gogh book at Harvard's Mahindra Humanities Center mahindrahumanities.harvard.edu/event/enviro...
Screen shot of Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard page: "The Environment Forum with Michael Lobel: Van Gogh and the End of Nature"
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Reposted by Steven Nelson
samjownes.bsky.social
Sam Jones @samjownes.bsky.social · 4d
Trump’s Imaginary Peace Deal Mocked by World Leaders While Newsom Torches The Regime’s Campus Loyalty Pledge
Trump’s Shutdown Backfires, Newsom Torches His University Loyalty Pledge, Johnson Gets Cut Off, and The Regime’s Portland Lies Exposed
Great news for truth, terrible news for Trump
www.dworkinsubstack.com
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snelsonus.bsky.social
Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 5d
a woman is holding a cup of coffee in her hand while another woman looks on .
ALT: a woman is holding a cup of coffee in her hand while another woman looks on .
media.tenor.com
snelsonus.bsky.social
Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 5d
This exhibition is an extraordinary cavalcade of work from that time that gives a broad view of Black makers and their formal and social concerns. The exhibition design is extraordinary.
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snelsonus.bsky.social
Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 5d
We ran to National Gallery of Art to see “Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955-1985” before the museum closes due to the government shutdown. If you have time today or tomorrow, go!

www.nga.gov/exhibitions/...
Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985 | National Gallery of Art
The first exhibition to consider photography’s impact on a cultural and aesthetic movement that celebrated Black history, identity, and beauty.
www.nga.gov
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snelsonus.bsky.social
Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 5d
The were joined by a second work.
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snelsonus.bsky.social
Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 5d
The Trump-Epstein friendship statue has returned to the National Mall, on 3rd St. by the National Gallery of Art East Building.
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snelsonus.bsky.social
Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 5d
Yeah. Hard pass.
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snelsonus.bsky.social
Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 5d
Because the mainstream media’s bar is always higher for non-Republicans.
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adamserwer.bsky.social
Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 5d
Universities considering capitulating to the Trump “conditions” should use this real world example to understand they will simply be destroying their own institution. bsky.app/profile/nich...
nicholasgrossman.bsky.social
Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 5d
Chris Rufo's disastrous takeover of New College in Florida shows what universities would become if they sign the Trump regime's extortionary "compact."

New College was supposed to model the anti-woke conservative higher-ed Americans crave. Instead, it showed the opposite, and serves as a warning.
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snelsonus.bsky.social
Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 5d
These are the people @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social wants us to talk to. Let that sink in.
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snelsonus.bsky.social
Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 5d
Someone is going to have to explain to me how this administration isn’t totally weird. www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump...
Trump, 79, Posts Bizarre Grim Reaper-Themed AI Music Video
If the music video is to be believed, Russell Vought is the Grim Reaper.
www.thedailybeast.com
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Reposted by Steven Nelson
arunadsouza.bsky.social
Aruna D’Souza 🇨🇦 @arunadsouza.bsky.social · 5d
My latest for the NYT: the Iraqi-American painter Hayv Kahraman had to flee Baghdad as a child because of American bombs, and had to flee her home in Altadena because of wildfires. The two events come together in her new paintings. I interviewed her about it. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/a...
Forced to Flee Two Homes, a Painter Finds a Refuge on Canvas
www.nytimes.com
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Reposted by Steven Nelson
gregggonsalves.bsky.social
Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 5d
PASS IT ON.
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proftwolf.bsky.social
Todd Wolfson @proftwolf.bsky.social · 6d
As president of @aaup.org I stand with Governor Newsom. Every single democratic governor should follow suit
governor.ca.gov
Governor Gavin Newsom @governor.ca.gov · 6d
IF ANY CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SIGNS THIS RADICAL AGREEMENT, THEY'LL LOSE BILLIONS IN STATE FUNDING — INCLUDING CAL GRANTS — INSTANTLY.

CALIFORNIA WILL NOT BANKROLL SCHOOLS THAT SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM.
New York Times: "Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference." The White House asked nine top universities to pledge support for President Trump’s agenda to help ensure access to research funding.
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sunyufspresident.bsky.social
SUNY UFS President Bruce Simon @sunyufspresident.bsky.social · 6d
Thank you @aaup.org

www.aaup.org/news/univers...
Universities Must Reject Trump Admin "Loyalty Oath" Compacts
The AAUP and AFT warn that the Trump administration’s offer to give preferential treatment to colleges and universities in exchange for allegiance to a partisan ideological agenda is entirely corrupt.
www.aaup.org
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Reposted by Steven Nelson
publicdomainrev.bsky.social
The Public Domain Review @publicdomainrev.bsky.social · 6d
In 1900, Black librarian Daniel Murray began a bibliography of works by Black Americans, his goal “to secure every book and pamphlet in existence, by a Negro Author”, exhibit them at the 1900 Paris Exposition, and then archive them at @LibraryCongress: publicdomainreview.org/collection/d...
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Reposted by Steven Nelson
jamellebouie.net
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 7d
what does an "unconstitutional DEI principle" mean in the context of a tunnel project? what, a black person is going to use it?
ndhapple.bsky.social
City Nolan @ndhapple.bsky.social · 7d
OMB Director Russell Voight says that US DOT will announce that the federal government is "pausing" funding for both Gateway and the Second Avenue Subway because of "unconstitutional DEI principles" -- x.com/russvought/s...
Voight's tweet
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snelsonus.bsky.social
Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 8d
In the wake of the Kirk assassination and the volley between Ta-Nehisi Coates and Ezra Klein, we should all learn from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” www.csuchico.edu/iege/_assets...
www.csuchico.edu
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Reposted by Steven Nelson
zinnedproject.bsky.social
Zinn Education Project @zinnedproject.bsky.social · 8d
#tdih 1919 #RedSummer Black sharecroppers met in Elaine, Arkansas to organize for fair pay for cotton.

More than 100 of them were massacred by a white mob.

Twelve Black men were sentenced to death for "riots." #Terrorism #TeachOutsideTextbook 🧵
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/el...
Sept. 30, 1919: Elaine Massacre
Black farmers were massacred in Elaine, Arkansas for their efforts to fight for better pay and higher cotton prices. A white mob shot at them, and the farmers returned fire in self-defense. Estimates ...
www.zinnedproject.org
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propcazhpm.bsky.social
Citizen.Coping @propcazhpm.bsky.social · 8d
“People would go to church after a Saturday lynching and they could never see the disconnection or connection.”
- Betye Saar

I've Got Rhythm, 1972
Betye Saar b. 1926

"… assemblage became a language of protest and renewal during a period of social rupture"
- Sixties Surreal

#ArtSky #BlackSky
Short description: a working metronome has an old photo of white USians attending the lynching of a Black USian. A figure of a burned Black man with a noose atop US flag beats time back and forth, a front panel of newspaper clippings has headlines showing lynchings More info: In the functioning metronome of “I’ve Got Rhythm,” Saar has placed a skeleton-like spirit on top of the American flag, ticking along. Inside of the musical structure are newspaper clippings; circled in red, it reads: “Negro lynched after refusing to dance on white’s command.” “People would go to church after a Saturday lynching and they could never see the disconnection or connection,” Saar explains. ...the metronome ticks — an ominous beat signaling impending doom.
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snelsonus.bsky.social
Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 8d
Those of us who live in Washington, DC have no voting members in Congress. Whether you live in DC or not, please consider writing Congress to ask that they oppose bills that restrict our local power and support those that enhance home rule. freedcproject.org/congress?sou...
Tell Congress to side with DC — Free DC
freedcproject.org
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snelsonus.bsky.social
Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 9d
Pearl of wisdom.
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