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Reposted by William Sturkey

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 23h

yeah, trump has made very clear that he doesn’t think black people deserve to be in jobs of influence! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

Trump Fires Black Officials From an Overwhelmingly White Administration

www.nytimes.com

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Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 1d

The “compact” for higher ed is an unserious document written by unserious people from a position of spectacular ignorance. No one should take it seriously. Sadly, my bosses are taking it seriously.

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down

How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

newrepublic.com

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

The elimination of USAID is a moral atrocity and all involved made a choice to enable, and then lie about, ending the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - Mohammed Taher clutched the lifeless body of his 2-year-old son and wept. Ever since his family's food rations stopped arriving at their internment camp in Myanmar in April, the father had watched helplessly as his once-vibrant baby boy weakened, suffering from diarrhea and begging for food.
On May 21, exactly two weeks after Taher's little boy died, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat before Congress and declared: "No one has died" because of his government's decision to gut its foreign aid program. Rubio also insisted: "No children are dying on my watch."
That, Taher says, "is a lie."

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William Sturkey @william-sturkey.bsky.social · 2d

This is very good and helpful on higher ed "compact":

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down

How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

newrepublic.com

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Jacob Montgomery @jacobmontgomery.bsky.social · 3d

What people cannot seem to get through their heads is that the justifications the Trump administration uses to attack higher education is a *pretext* not the actual reason. There is no reasonable permanent compromise available, because their actual goal is control.

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 3d

Danielle Allen fails the Lando test / lives out the Arrested Development meme: "A deal on the core principles in a compact could then become a framework for negotiating on legislation." Come ON. With this administration and this Congress?
therenovator.substack.com/p/why-im-exc...

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William Sturkey @william-sturkey.bsky.social · 2d

I also suspect that weed smoking has something to do with it.

Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 3d

I see pieces like this a lot, often w/ a spin of lamenting cultural degeneration, but reading is a LABOR issue, it’s declined because so many people are working overtime or two jobs & employers expect after hours work. France has Earth’s highest reading rate b/c long lunch breaks & labor protections

After Dinner Conversation® @afterdinnerconversation.com · 3d

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Ashley D. Farmer @drashleydfarmer.bsky.social · 7d

Announcing the QUEEN MOTHER book tour, celebrating the life and legacy of Audley Moore—trailblazer, activist, and mother of modern Black Nationalism.⁣
⁣
RSVP and more information: ashleydfarmer.com/events

Pre-order today: lnkd.in/g9_gC2UA

@pantheonbooks.bsky.social

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William Sturkey @william-sturkey.bsky.social · 9d

Congrats! Can't wait to read it!

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Gautham Rao @gauthamrao.bsky.social · 10d

Took about 20 years. And I never thought a book about enslavers using deputization to give themselves policing power would be relevant to our times. But we are where we are.

My book, White Power: Policing American Slavery, is now available for preorder.

a.co/d/29c7EIP

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Kathleen Conti @kathleenconti.bsky.social · 10d

We're hiring 2 tenure-track positions this year at FSU's History dept, one in US post 1865 and the other in sub-Saharan Africa -- just CV, letter, and online app to apply by Nov 3.

I'm not on either search committee (I'm on research leave in the spring) but am happy to answer any questions!

Image of FSU's main building surrounded by tropical plants, live oaks, and Spanish moss.

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Ida Bae Wells @nhannahjones.bsky.social · 11d

My latest:”Through gossamer tributes, Kirk’s cruel condemnation of transgender people & his racist throwback views abt Black Americans were no longer anathema but instead are being treated as just another political view to be respectfully debated —like a position on tax rates or health care policy.”

What the Public Memory of Charlie Kirk Revealed

www.nytimes.com

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William Sturkey @william-sturkey.bsky.social · 14d

There was an under the radar coaching personnel move that a lot of fantasy players should have seen coming!

William Sturkey @william-sturkey.bsky.social · 14d

Even from a purely military standpoint, this is ridiculous. There is no one there whose actions would result in a MOH today. No way, not even close. And certainly not THAT many. It dilutes the value of the Medal itself.

Let alone the reality of the killing.

Tom Joscelyn @tomjoscelyn.bsky.social · 14d

The MAGA monocultural revolution is so thorough that Hegseth made it a priority to honor soldiers who carried out war crimes in 1890.

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Todd Moye @moye.bsky.social · 15d

I’m so fortunate to have had Bill Leuchtenburg in my life, and I’m honored to help extend his legacy with a donation to the WEL Fund at UNC Press. Please join me in donating, and support the kind of public-facing scholarship he championed.

UNC Press @uncpress.bsky.social · 15d

"I can't think of a better way to honor Dr. Leuchtenburg's scholarship, mentorship, and friendship than by donating to the William E. Leuchtenburg Fund.” @moye.bsky.social

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Chronicle of Higher Education @chronicle.com · 16d

The former provost of UNC says that trustees used closed-door sessions to discuss policy and finance issues, in violation of state open meetings laws.

UNC-Chapel Hill Board Hides Information from the Public, Says Former Provost in Lawsuit

In closed-door meetings and deleted messages, he alleges, they discuss matters of policy.

chroni.cl

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The Assembly @theassemblync.bsky.social · 17d

BREAKING: Chris Clemens alleges the UNC-Chapel Hill board often went into closed session illegally, including before they postponed tenure votes, and forced him to resign after he informed faculty about the delays.

www.theassemblync.com/education/hi...

Former Provost Sues UNC-Chapel Hill Trustees Over Closed Meetings

Chris Clemens accused the trustees of "hiding matters of grave public concern,” including tenure debates, using a Signal group and closed session.

www.theassemblync.com

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 20d

Say what you will, but these people were sending death threats "the right way."

Chip Mitchell @chipmitchell1.bsky.social · 20d

Nearly 50 college instructors across #Illinois landed on #CharlieKirk's “Professor Watchlist.” @wbez.org reached out to all of them and found the list triggered hateful messages, threats of rape or death, and intensification since Kirk's killing.

#twill www.wbez.org/politics/202...

Illinois professors face threats after landing on Charlie Kirk group watchlist

An online database compiled by a group affiliated with slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk identifies close to 50 Illinois college instructors it labels "radical professors."

www.wbez.org

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William Sturkey @william-sturkey.bsky.social · 21d

I have this book and love it dearly.

Nathan Ellstrand @nellstra.bsky.social · 21d

New book from @uncpress.bsky.social:

Go Back and Fetch It: Recovering Early Black Music in the Americas for Fiddle and Banjo by Kristina R. Gaddy and Rhiannon Giddens

uncpress.org/978146969057...

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Joe Stieb @joestieb.bsky.social · 21d

Something that I think might explain a bit of the mainstream liberal kowtowing to MAGA in the post-Kirk environment comes from Paul Berman's Terrorism and Liberalism book, where he argues that liberals have a rationalistic sense of proportionality about the world.

What he means is that if/

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William Sturkey @william-sturkey.bsky.social · 21d

Congrats!!!!!

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Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · 21d

This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.

Washington Post Columnist Says She Was Fired for Posts After Charlie Kirk Shooting

www.nytimes.com

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 22d

Just so I'm clear:

TV host says we should kill every homeless person? No big deal

TV host says the right must "go to war" with the left? Pfft.

TV host says the government is cracking down on critics? Well, the government cracks down on him for the criticism.

Free speech, everyone.

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 27d

So:
a) none of political assassins were students, or even shared a coherent ideology - shameful to blame universities
b) Trump is already engaged in the attack on campus speech the Free Press wants
c) I worry a lot more about the animosity to campus The Free Press is fueling than any of my students

The acceleration of political violence has been frightening: from the attack on the Capitol in January 2021, to the murder of a healthcare executive allegedly by Luigi Mangione, to the attempted assassinations of Trump, to the killing of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., to the shooting of state lawmakers in Minnesota. And now Kirk’s murder.

There are many guilty parties in the rise of political violence. But to our minds, among the biggest culprits are the universities. In the same way that madrassas radicalize jihadis, America’s campuses are among the places in the U.S. most hostile to disagreement and debate. Where they preach “inclusion,” they actually practice exclusion—shouting down speakers they disagree with, for instance. Where they promote “diversity,” they actually enforce a uniformity of thought, denying tenure to dissenters.

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Kevin M. Levin @civilwarmemory.bsky.social · 23d

Imagine learning that Concentration Camps in Germany were ordered to remove signs and other exhibits documenting the suffering and hardships of Jewish prisoners. That's what we are talking about when it comes to the tory of slavery at Harpers Ferry. #NationalParks www.wlbt.com/video/2025/0...

Harpers Ferry historic site may remove slavery exhibits after Trump admin order

The Trump administration has ordered the removal or cover up of exhibits about slavery at Harpers Ferry, a national historic site in West Virginia.

www.wlbt.com

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William Sturkey @william-sturkey.bsky.social · 24d

No, that will not happen. What might happen is a split within their important online right-wing base.

Turning point folks aren't the power players. They're just useful to win elections.