Marcelius Braxton

You can't convince me that Obama saying "Israeli families" as opposed to "the people of Gaza" wasn't intentional and a reflection of his shift from being an advocate for Palestinian rights (engaging with scholars like Edward Said and Rashid Khalidi) to largely ignoring Palestine and favoring Israel.

Selective outrage: The York County shooting involved suspected stalking, gun violence, and killing police officers. Barely a word from major politicians because the shooter didn't fit their agenda. But ICE shooting can and will be used to push a political agenda. That's all most of them care about.

Sending you all the positive thoughts/vibes.

Some news.

Bothers me when people discuss Left movements in the U.S. w/out underscoring the GENERATIONS of repression, surveillance, violence directed at movements. The "Left" is so disorganized is used as a joke but I hardly ever see those same people saying 'THE LEFT WAS TARGETED & DISORGANIZED by the STATE'

Just a note that “Judeo-Christian” is a false construct, exclusionary, and a dog whistle. It’s also incongruent with theology and history. It is predominantly used to center Christianity under the guise of inclusivity. Just because someone uses the concept doesn’t mean you need to accept/adopt it.

In graduate school (for philosophy), there was often a specific tell that a bad, flawed, or biased argument was coming. It was when people would begin with things like “Consider a simple analogy” and then proceeded to use a bunch of words that try to sound smart without good arguments or accuracy.

In my AfAm course, only if they specifically say they were caught up in the rapture.

And yes I recognize this is probably a “Two Americas” moment, and I don’t care.

If you are a P4 college program and you consistently say yes to this hypothetical, time to fire the coach:

If the team swapped coaching staffs with the other side (exception if it’s an all-time great like Saban), would the team be much better and/or would the team the coach went to be much worse?

Karen Attiah made critical comments about *men who are white supremacists* and @washingtonpost.com said that they are a protected class

Be clear about what they were saying

That white supremacists are a protected class

The existence and conduct of ICE is also political violence.

I keep getting asked if I’m worried about my job because I often speak up about issues. The answer is no.

I’ve learned over the years that if employers want to hire you or if they want to fire you, they can always find a reason.

It’s not worth compromising your morals or values for anyone.

The fact that we have to endure so many spaces where people calling out racism, sexism, and homophobia face more consequences than the people actually being racist, sexist, and homophobic tells much of what you need to know about how far away we are from being a truly functional, equitable society.

What we're seeing in the "don't sign up for protests" discourse is what Paulo Freire described as the convert's failure to trust the knowledge of the oppressed. As the convert tries to stand in solidarity with the oppressed, they refuse to let go of a world where they were the authority by default.

The Civil Rights era can be a valuable tool for understanding protest, grassroots and large scale organizing, communication, etc. However, to utilize it effectively requires examination, scrutinizing, and figuring out what still applies today and how. So many reference it without doing work needed.

You’re absolutely right AND the example given isn’t even “civil disobedience” as claimed.

bsky.app/profile/marc...

Civil disobedience is refusing to obey laws/demands/orders/commands of the gov. RSVPing to a protest and potentially being a target isn’t an example. It’s just a bad tactic. And telling targeted populations to become more of one without a clear long term vision or ways to protect them is a bad idea.

Primary them all. The messaging will happen (and is happening) no matter what! You honor people you admire or have esteem for. You can condemn murder without honoring him! If they’re worried about messages, worry about the one it sends to those they rely on for votes, who CK said awful things about.

Many in higher ed are showing us who they are. So, we should believe them.

They say “free speech” for racism/sexism/homophobia but now punish comments they see as “insensitive”, “disruptive”, etc.

And then give speeches or write op-eds decrying the lack of “free speech” or “viewpoint diversity”.

Going to be sharing a lot of what @elizabethrb.bsky.social has written because she has been warning us for years about what we’re seeing now.

Suzanne Swierc Let me be clear: if you think Charlie Kirk was a wonderful person, we can't be friends. His death is a tragedy, and I can and do feel for his wife and children. I believe in the Resurrection, and while it's difficult, I can and do pray for his soul. Charlie Kirk's death is a reflection of the violence, fear, and hatred he sowed. It does not excuse his death, AND it's a sad truth. The shooting is a tragedy, and I can and do feel for a college campus experiencing an active shooter situation. The deaths of Melissa and Mark Hortman, the children shot and killed in Minneapolis last month, and the children shot in Colorado today are all tragedies that also deserve your attention. Charlie Kirk excused the deaths of children in the name of the second amendment.

Here’s what a Ball State University employee said that led to their termination:

With all this talk of terrorism laws and terrorism designations, you should really follow Professor Beavers. She’s an expert on these things.

Wilson Pickett - "Hey Jude"

Joe Cocker - “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window”

Easy one is Joe Cocker's "With A Little Help From My Friends"

Siouxsie And The Banshees - "Dear Prudence"

Earth, Wind & Fire - "Got to Get You Into My Life"

So many more.

If people keep waiting for permission, waiting for others, waiting for the “right time”, or waiting for it to be “really bad” to stand up or pushback, there will be little left to fight for. The work is difficult, messy, and imperfect, but it’s best to
start now and join others already in the fight.

Push back*. Really need an edit button.

If people keep waiting for permission, waiting for others, waiting for the “right time”, or waiting for it to be “really bad” to stand up or pushback, there will be little left to fight for. The work is difficult, messy, and imperfect, but it’s best to
start now and join others already in the fight.

Sotomayor rebukes calls to ‘criminalize free speech’ in apparent swipe at Pam Bondi The justice, in public remarks, didn’t name the attorney general, who has come under fire for comments to target people over “hate speech.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor appeared to rebuke calls to target “hate speech” in an apparent swipe at Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“Every time I listen to a lawyer-trained representative saying we should criminalize free speech in some way, I think to myself, that law school failed,” said Sotomayor.

BREAKING: The terrorism counts against Luigi Mangione have been dismissed as "legally insufficient" by a New York judge.

Mr. Mangione, 27, is still charged with second-degree murder and that case is expected to proceed.

All this to say that people are throwing out "first amendment", "hate speech", and "inciting violence", but they don't actually understand the applications and how narrow the interpretations of those things are. /14