Natalia Cooper

Photo of a stamp with A Philip Randolph. Text reads: Black History Month Spotlight, The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominately Black labor union

This year's Black History Month theme is African Americans & Labor, so let's talk about the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP)!

2025 marks the 100 yrs since the founding of BSCP, the first predominantly Black union to be recognized by the American Federation of Labor 🧵

God’s strongest soldier (I cooked dinner instead of ordering in)

I hate when businesses use "gluten friendly" in place of "gluten free" because if someone is allergic to gluten/avoids gluten why would they want something "gluten friendly" ???

Some 2024 faves #booksky

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Is Right Where She Belongs The southern-raised Nickel Boys actor has carved out her own Hollywood niche.

You might have seen a lot of buzz over "Nickel Boys" and it's well-deserved. One of those reasons is because of the Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. I profiled her for @thecut.com and she was quite moving, even as we sat across from each other.

www.thecut.com/article/aunj...

The Andrew Brimmer Undergraduate Essay Prize 2024 Award Winner “Racist Infrastructure: Impact of the Interstate Highway System on Black Neighborhoods” Salma M. Abdi, University of Minnesota

✨GOOD NEWS ALERT✨

A young Black woman from the University of Minnesota, Salma Abdi, just won THE TOP PRIZE for college students studying #economics. This is a big deal because Black women don't even make up 1% of economics #phd graduates.

She is a member of @sadiecollective.bsky.social 💜 #econsky

History’s Lessons on Anti-Immigrant Extremism Even Donald Trump’s recent assertion that he would use executive action to abolish birthright citizenship has a historical link to the Chinese American experience.

Excellent writing by @michaelluo.bsky.social www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Meghan Markle's new Netflix show is my super bowl

Does Democracy Even Work? One researcher tests the limits of “deliverism.”

Governors who expanded social-welfare programs in their state were rewarded by voters—in the short run. Jerusalem Demsas discusses on "Good on Paper":

Don’t tell Oklahoma dept of education

The US economy is poised to beat expectations in 2025

The US economy is poised to beat expectations in 2025

www.goldmansachs.com/insights/art...

Swagger on Apple TV is the best tv I’ve watched all year ⛹🏾‍♂️

#AddToBlackSky

Fascinating social nugget from a WSJ piece on crypto and meme stock trading by WSJ newsroom associate Katherine Hamilton

My daily affirmation

This year, our editors selected 10 books—including “James,” by Percival Everett—that brought clarity to confounding issues or compelled us to see differently the things we thought we knew.

Read the full list: theatln.tc/MRvnWRxH

A paragraph from Ta-Nehisi Coates' book The Message, which reads: "It may seem strange that people who have already attained a position of power through violence invest so much time in justifying their plunder with words. But even plunderers are human beings whose violent ambitions must contend with the guilt that gnaws at them when they meet the eyes of their victims. And so a story must be told, one that raises a wall between themselves and those they seek to throttle and rob."

Ta-Nehisi Coates wields words like sledgehammers.

Black Republicans feel left out of Trump’s 2nd-term picks As President-elect Donald Trump fills out his Cabinet and closest advisers, African American Republicans ask why more Black people haven’t been selected.

i think i could get rich selling volcano insurance to professional black republicans abcnews.go.com/Politics/bla...

Free my guy Hunter

Cleaning off my desktop and not sure where to put this

Home insurance in areas hit by repetitive disasters is going to be the number one housing affordability issue over the next 4 years. And possibly going into the midterms.

More so than interest rates. Florida in particular is going to have huge problems.

Mother Meredith Marks has updated her Instagram profile pic ahead of tonight’s #RHOSLC

Books We Love Here are 350+ great reads from 2024 hand-picked just for you by NPR staff and trusted critics.

Books We Love returns with 350+ new titles handpicked by NPR staff and trusted critics. Find 12 years of recommendations all in one place — that's nearly 4,000 great reads.

Word of the day is ‘librocubicularist’: one who loves nothing better than reading in bed.

(Not easy to say, but I’m glad to know it exists).