Eli Cumings

Remarkable document: hundreds of European politicians are calling to mobilize European resources to protect the Sumud aid flotilla as it faces escalating attacks on its way to Gaza.

In other words: European politicians are trying to protect humanitarian volunteers *from Israel.*

The concurrence relegates the interests of U. S. citizens and individuals with legal status to a single sentence, positing that the Government will free these individuals as soon as they show they are legally in the United States. Ante, at 8 (opinion of KAVANAUGH, J.). That blinks reality. Two plaintiffs in this very case tried to explain that they are U. S. citizens; one was then pushed against a fence with his arms twisted behind his back, and the other was taken away from his job to a warehouse for further questioning. More fundamentally, it is the Government’s burden to prove that it has reasonable suspicion to stop someone. The concurrence improperly shifts the burden onto an entire class of citizens to carry enough documentation to prove that they deserve to walk freely. The Constitution does not permit the creation of such a second-class citizenship status.

Justice Sotomayor, not mincing words, also says that today's decision will lead to the "creation of [] a second-class citizenship status" for Latinos, who now will have the burden to "carry enough documentation to prove that they deserve to walk freely."

🚨The Supreme Court today gives Trump a license to engage in racial profiling, with Justice Kavanaugh writing in concurrence to expressly endorse ICE and Border Patrol targeting any Latinos they observe in Los Angeles speaking Spanish and then demanding their papers.

first page of the article

So excited to share my new article in @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social:
"Colonial World-Making and Global Knowledges at the Early Modern Cape of Good Hope" (Open access)
academic.oup.com/past/advance...

UK opinion on Gaza war (YouGov, July 2025)

18% support Israel’s actions in Gaza, 55% oppose
81% of those who oppose say it’s a genocide

Large margins in favour of:
- trade embargoes (48% to 20%)
- financial sanctions on individuals (52% to 19%)
- suspending arms exports to Israel (57% to 18%)

‘We faced hunger before, but never like this’: skeletal children fill hospital wards as starvation grips Gaza For months Israel kept food shipments to Gaza far below starvation rations. Now the death toll is rising rapidly * Starvation in Gaza is destroying communities – and will leave generational scars Mohammed’s skeletal arms stick out of a romper with a grinning emoji-face and the slogan “smiley boy”, which in a Gaza hospital reads as a cruel joke. He spends much of the day crying from hunger, or gnawing at his own emaciated fingers. At seven months old, he weighs barely 4kg (9lbs) and this is the second time he has been admitted for treatment. His face is gaunt, his limbs little more than bones covered in baggy skin and his ribs protrude painfully from his chest. Continue reading...

‘We faced hunger before, but never like this’: skeletal children fill hospital wards as starvation grips Gaza

FINAL PROJECT CONFERENCE! Register to attend Medicine, Slavery, and Race in the Atlantic World, bringing together longstanding project collaborators and exciting, new interlocutors. Spaces are *extremely* limited, so do sign up... see the programme at www.mmor.co.uk/events/confe...

#EarlyModern 🗃️

thank you so much for your generous reading and these kind words. and please keep me updated on your research—it sounds fascinating!

what a pleasure to know that you’ve read and enjoyed it!! esp since you heard early drafts of these thoughts at the pity workshop many moons ago

thank you so much, Brandi! hoping that you’re well too :)

ohh, thank you Eleanor! so lovely to hear from you 💛

www.journals.uchicago.edu/eprint/IIVBN...

The first page of a journal article, with black text on a white background. The first line of text says “Eli Cumings”. The second line of text gives the title “Famine in Faeryland”. Beneath this, the following abstract is presented in a block: Emaciated bodies appear frequently in Edmund Spenser’s Legend of Holiness, and indeed throughout The Faerie Queene (1590, 1596). This tendency is typically attributed to the poet’s traumatic memories of the Munster famine, vividly memorialized in A View of the Present State of Ireland (ca. 1598). This article instead proposes reading Spenser’s allegorical engagement with emaciation in the context of broader textual traditions that interpreted starvation as a providential punishment, a just outcome of legitimate warfare, and a laudable expression of piety. Both within and beyond the poem world, I argue, starvation—often violently enforced—is presented as both consequence of and remedy for moral inadequacy. Crucially, the alleged pedagogic and spiritual value of starvation determines not only how human affliction and suffering are interpreted and responded to but also how violence itself is understood and justified.

a little piece of my phd project has found a home in one of my favourite journals! it’s the product of long, sad thinking about some perennial research interests: providential punishment, bodily legibility, and the limits of empathy. link below if you care to read :)

you’re too too kind! thanks for this and for your help with the article 💞💞

Early Modern War Narratives - Annual CEMS Colloquium — CEMS KCL Blog Join CEMS for our annual colloquium. This year's theme is early modern war narratives. CfP deadline: 11th April.

What ethical responsibilities do we bear when we write about war? This is one of the questions we’re posing in our June colloquium on early modern war narratives. CFP here and the deadline is 11th April! Please share widely and consider submitting an abstract!
kingsearlymodern.co.uk/events/lamen...

4. With her consent, the University can confirm that Ms. Oztürk is a third-year doctoral student in good academic and administrative standing. Her research focuses on how young adults can use social media in positive, prosocial ways and she is described by her faculty as a hard-working student dedicated to her studies and the Tufts community. The University has no information to support the allegations that she was engaged in activities at Tufts that warrant her arrest and detention. The University has seen an outpouring of support for Ms. Öztürk over the last week from Tufts students, faculty and staff. These individuals have described Ms. Öztürk as a valued member of the community, dedicated to her academic pursuits and committed to her colleagues.

NEW: Tufts files a declaration in support of Rümeysa Öztürk: "The University has no information to support the allegations that she was engaged in activities at Tufts that warrant her arrest and detention." www.tufts.edu/president/sp...

on thursday I counted 9 nypd vans on my 3 min walk to campus. yesterday I read about govt plans to use AI to identify students to expel/deport and heard ICE were raiding Columbia residences (inc. my own building). and admin’s response is to reiterate its compliance w govts bad faith directives :)

DOJ, HHS, ED, and GSA Announce Initial Cancellation of Grants and Contracts to Columbia University Worth $400 Million Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Education (ED), and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced that through their coordinated efforts they would i...

The choice of Columbia in particular shows that there's *no* amount of suppression of pro-Palestinian speech a university can engage in that will insulate and protect it; so might as well try to do the right thing, which Columbia has determinedly avoided since October 7.

www.gsa.gov/about-us/new...