Austin Channing Brown

Substack ended its purported commitment to small writers with small audiences a long time ago.

Black archivists have been open abt the emotional toll of the work. I experienced that today going through newspaper articles about police brutality in ‘66 in Akron, OH.

My blood was boiling. But I knew what was happening in my body because of yall. And that’s not nothing even if it’s still hard.

Sure!

It’s that time of the year! Tell me about the most beautiful essay/article you read this year. The one you can’t shake. The one we all missed because *gestures wildly*. The one you printed out. Tell me what moved you.

Live updates: US voters head to the polls in first general election since Trump's return to power One year after Donald Trump retook the presidency, 2025 Election Day includes closely watched races for New York City mayor, New Jersey governor and California's Proposition 50.

BREAKING: Colorado voters approved a ballot measure that would raise state income taxes on higher-earning households to fund free meals for all public school students.

Follow AP for live updates.

And while those reactions are understandable- there is time to do all of that later. You lose nothing by taking a moment to celebrate the change you were a part of.

If the Dems results are encouraging to you, take a moment to celebrate. Often in our work toward progress the wins are so few that we become suspicious of them. We jump right to all the work left undone or where we lost or the ways we are bracing for disappointment.

My sons teacher dressed as 6 7 and I hope I never have to leave this school district 😂

Well done, Friend!

Hi Omar, I thank you for this offer (and for sharing my work with your community!) but I’m not doing most podcasts right now. With the holidays coming I’m trying to mostly wind down. I expect they will be harder this year than any other in my life. But thanks for thinking of me.

KZOO, I’m coming on Saturday!

Is Mussab Ali Jersey City's Answer to Zohran Mamdani? Only Tuesday's Election Will Tell “Politicians are the OG influencers,” Ali, the youngest candidate in Jersey City, New Jersey’s mayoral race, told Teen Vogue.

welcome to @teenvogue.com new series Challengers: talking to candidates either challenging an incumbent candidate who isn't meeting the moment—or challenging the political system's expectations of what a candidate can look like

up first @mussabali.bsky.social, 28, who might be Jersey City's Zohran

a man is sitting on a couch holding a pair of keys ALT: a man is sitting on a couch holding a pair of keys

Sweet baby brown Jesus, please send me someone willing to pay for my research into race riots. It’s so much fun but it would be the cherry on top to get paid for it. Surely someone’s university, institute, fellowship or foundation needs this info

Oh Martin! It’s so lovely to hear from you! I confess I haven’t preached in a long time, but if they ever want a Q&A, workshop, teach-in situation, I’m all in! I think my email is in my bio but if not it’s definitely on my website

We Have to Move "There are living, breathing people all around you who need your sense of decency to be made material. Don’t give up on them, or on you."

My latest. "Do not allow your values to be captured and contained behind a screen in a cycle of inactive reaction. Jailbreak your cynicism and isolation, and escape your devices. Bring your hope, rage, and potential into the world."

I’ve been doing a deep dive into researching so-called race riots from the 40s-60s… and my oh my are the conditions being set.

Over and over again.

Going to the archives tomorrow for the first time! So excited. I’m leveling up on my commitment to history.

When books were being pulled from Iowa classrooms, these teens started an after-school club to read them Three Iowa City West high schoolers founded a book club that reads some of the country's most frequently banned books after a state law removing books with sexual content was signed in 2023. Two years later, many of the books have been reshelved and parts of the law can't be enforced.

Three high schoolers founded a book club that reads some of the country's most frequently banned books after a state law removing books with sexual content was signed in 2023. Two years later, many of the books have been reshelved and parts of the law can't be enforced.

Keep your coffee dates. Anti-racism is not about friendship.

“While friendships are nice, and can often become a significant part of our racial justice journey, to frame our work in this way is deeply problematic.

The work we have been called to is to correct systems of injustice.”

austinchanning.kit.com/posts/keep-y...

I just booked my first appointment to do some archival research. As someone who loves studying history, this is very exciting. But also- this research is for my first attempt at a fiction project! Finally getting started on this idea makes me feel like I could fly.

The "anti-woke" backlash was always about white collar labor competition from nonwhites, not hr bullshit. bsky.app/profile/phil...

All that to say. If you are still fighting for DEI. If you are still fighting against banned books. If you are still fighting for budgets and programs and funding and centers… it matters. And I beg you to hire academics, of course, but don’t forget about those of us outside the academy.

I hate to come in here and be all woe is me… my family is fine (for the moment). But I need everyone to understand that this is worse than the 300,000 black women being fired- bc their programs, services and networks were propping up another level of black women who are being erased right now.

And once upon a time, if we experienced a lull, we could move into consultation or write a book or apply for a grant/fellowship, or go work in those DEI offices. But now. We are both being our purged from salaried jobs and unable to get ourselves even temporarily hired for a single program.

Our network of building community, pushing forward change, relying on one another, and being in community has been dismantled at a rate that is hard to explain. We spent so many years building/sustaining these programs, depts, committees, conferences… and now so many have vanished.

Many of my favs are surviving this moment only because of tenureship or some degree of academic celebrity- which means a steady paycheck. But those of us who relied on 3rd spaces or shared spaces… we are in economic trouble.

I’m pretty sure Black women are being purged of our influence and power.

Kicked out of jobs. Depts closed. Books quietly banned. Speaking gigs gone. Budgets erased. we (the country) are in real trouble if socials, tenure, or elected office are our only paths for speaking/writing/creating change.

💜