John Munro

Reading Leslie Marmon Silko's Almanac of the Dead in one of my classes this year, I keep telling the students that once you read this book, from that point forward you will see things in the news from time to time that will remind you of everything it described about a future we now live in.

Cycling Not Discriminatory Yesterday the Birmingham Post reported comments by Councillor Deirdre Alden, who argued against investment in cycling, saying that it was mainly young white males who cycle and it was a discriminat…

The Councillor for this area, Deirdre Alden, is opposed to enabling cycling at all, on the grounds that it's a discriminatory activity.

YouTube video by John Munro History from Below as Exemplified by One Book: Black Reconstruction

Thanks for this. I don't enjoy filtering, but I feel like there's little choice given Birmingham's refusal to create cycling infrastructure.

The Harbourne Walkway is a little out of the way for my regular commute, but I am a fan. I even gave a lecture along it once!

Same spot another cyclist was killed last year. The authorities have long known that this design puts people on bikes in danger. But that's preferable to the possibility that car owners might be inconvenienced.

These injuries and killings are the result of conscious policy choices.

This is just truly one of the most successful urban policies of our lifetimes and we need to replicate it in every major city.

a person with a mobility device walking on a cleared road next to a snowy sidewalk

This was a choice, not by the person walking but by the decision makers who refuse to prioritize them.

Photo Credit: D_S_J_

I love how every single Labour MP on here ends up indirectly advertising for the Greens when their bullshit gets dogpiled.

One after another after another. Way to go, @zackpolanski.bsky.social!

As someone who could never support Starmer's Labour after Gaza, a year ago I felt such despair about UK politics.

But now I'm so grateful that we have a real and viable alternative with @zackpolanski.bsky.social's Greens. Thank you!

The Sen̓áḵw residential complex, developed by the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation, continues to rise by the Burrard Bridge in #Vancouver. A really impressive manifestation of indigenous urbanism (with a little sustainable futurism thrown in…)

Connecting Struggles poster. Further details at https://connectingstruggles.wordpress.com/

Check out this fantastic program for "Connecting Struggles" in Birmingham on 15 December.

Details here: connectingstruggles.wordpress.com

Dear car owner,

Sure, leaving your property here blocks wheelchair access and sight lines. But your convenience is at stake!

We just want to reassure you that you'll never be towed, and so there's no reason not to do this any time you please.

Sincerely,
@bhamcitycouncil.bsky.social

Bet that still meant 2 rich seminar conversations! The ways Silko confronts us with colonial violence hasn't been easy for my class, but they've really risen to the idea of sustained study of significant texts across disciplines.

If you assign it again, I'd love to hear about it.

YouTube video by John Munro Vancouver by Bike - Mobility and Inequality

I started this look at Vancouver at Sen̓áḵw just over three years ago. Incredible how much has happened there since then.

Currently reading Leslie Marmon Silko's Almanac of the Dead across five weeks in one of my classes this semester. Challenging, but rewarding for sure.

Ashamed to be represented by this

"If you decrease the space given to cars, they go slower, public transit goes faster, and walking and cycling become safer."

Neither complicated nor expensive, but requires challenging some entrenched priviliges few in power are willing to take on.

In their refusal to convert some of the vast swathes of space for car owners into safe mobility lanes, the powers that be in Birmingham are actively preventing people from cycling.

I mean, who's going to cycle here when the average short commute is like this....

Lament for a lost London | The Observer

In The Observer, I’ve reviewed Songs Of Seven Dials: @tricksterprince.bsky.social’s fascinating, detailed history of the changing streets of Covent Garden through the early c20th. From race to jingoistic media to gentrification, a book full of resonances today

observer.co.uk/culture/book...

Spain is coming through. Bravo.

Sven Beckert’s Chronicle of Capitalism’s Long Rise Capitalism is a global economic system, so a proper chronicle of its rise to dominance has to examine the entire world, as historian Sven Beckert does in his massive new book, Capitalism: A Global His...

Thank you to @nelsonlichtenstein.bsky.social for this beautiful review of Capitalism: A Global History.
jacobin.com/2025/12/beck...

Sven Beckert’s Chronicle of Capitalism’s Long Rise Capitalism is a global economic system, so a proper chronicle of its rise to dominance has to examine the entire world, as historian Sven Beckert does in his massive new book, Capitalism: A Global His...

Just read @nelsonlichtenstein.bsky.social's review, which has me all the more looking forward to this.

Plugging Antony Lowewenstein’s 2023 book “The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World”

What the Israelis test on us, governments all over the world are buying to use - including on you. That’s part of why Israel gets away with genocide.

Whenever my kids (ages 11 and 14) are late getting home, the danger my city's car culture puts them it is always where my mind goes first.

And I live in Birmingham, UK, so it's not an irrational fear. It's the way people with power like it.

Shabana Mahmood urged not to help those ‘seeking to build division’ Exclusive: In open letter, 225 groups describe home secretary’s plan to overhaul asylum system as ‘cruel and ‘ruthless’

A message from community groups for Shabana Mahmood, @alcarns.bsky.social & other Labour politicians.

“In communities up and down the country, we are proud to show warmth and kindness to refugees … We know that your cruel new plans do not represent us, our communities or who we are as a country.

Dedham church keep anti-ICE nativity scene despite pushback St. Susanna’s ICE-focused nativity has drawn backlash from Catholic leaders and community members. Parish leaders say the display reflects the harsh realities of current immigration policies.

“I think the role of all churches is to speak out on issues, that’s what the Gospel is about ... How we treat the least among us is how we ultimately treat Christ.”

Delivery riders in Solihull targeted in immigration crackdown Last month, 171 people were arrested as officials targeted workers in the so-called gig economy.

To those who have asked: what is the point of Starmer's Labour?

The answer is in: to ready the way for Reform.

The British Empire in the Culture War: Nigel Biggar’s Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning The British Empire has been politicised to an extent that many of us could never have predicted just a few years ago. The colonial past features especially prominently in the right wing-oriented pr...

1/2 Historians of slavery & Empire have known all along that Lord Biggar’s & History Reclaimed’s interventions in these fields are wholly politically motivated, morally & logically inconsistent and founded on the cherry-picking rather than examination of evidence. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Mercedes driver 'intended to kill' as car ploughed into students - trial Victim 'thought he was going to die' when he was knocked down outside Tunnel Club

Pedestrianize Livery Street.

Mercedes driver 'intended to kill' as car ploughed into students - trial Victim 'thought he was going to die' when he was knocked down outside Tunnel Club

Pedestrianize Livery Street.