Courtney Gildersleeve

Anti-Fascism Scholar Flees U.S. Fearing for His Family’s Safety Amid Trump’s “Antifa” Fearmongering We speak with Rutgers University professor Mark Bray, who fled from the U.S. to Spain with his family after receiving death threats over his scholarship. He is the author of the 2017 book Antifa: The ...

A very important and sobering listen.

www.democracynow.org/2025/10/15/m...

Opinion | The West Is Lost

An insightful article by Andreas Reckwitz on facing the limits of the ideology of "modernity and/as progress" in our current era: "If we once dreamed of abolishing loss, we must now learn how to live with it..." This helped me work through some things.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/05/o...

Opinion | What Happened to Human Rights for Palestinians?

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...

In this campaign, we have knocked on over 12,000 doors. These conversations are where my campaign priorities come from. I have heard from you about the need for an effective and compassionate response to homelessness, addressing climate change, and building a comprehensive public safety system. That is what is driving me. In these conversations, another issue has come up again and again. That issue is the genocide in Gaza. Ward 8 neighbor Zahra Gaal said, “It's important for me that Soren talks about Gaza because I need all candidates to support ending the genocide. I also believe that candidates should speak on our tax dollars that are funding and arming the IDF. I want all candidates, including local politicians, to take meaningful action to stop the genocide, support a ceasefire, and cut our tax dollars that are funding militaries/war.” As someone who has faced state-sanctioned violence, I can not be silent as the Israeli state, aided by the United States, commits genocide in Gaza. The war must come to an immediate end, and food and aid must be allowed unfettered access to Gaza. We here in Minneapolis have little control over what happens in Gaza, but we do have control over what we do. The City of Minneapolis contracts with a company called Zen City, which is an Israeli security company. We must end this contract and refrain from contracting with Israeli security companies. That is what Ward 8 neighbors are asking of me, and it is the right thing to do.

Statement on what I'm hearing on the doors about Gaza:

I am keeping my eyes on what happens at the U.N. this week, though!

Horrifying. We have to shut down this cruel, racist system.

Apparently none of this has actually happened, right...? It feels like so few entities that actual have governance power are doing anything to stop the genocide.

Hard-Fought Treaty to Protect Ocean Life Clears a Final Hurdle

Some good news in the midst of everything...here's to the well-being of our beautiful oceans and all the creatures who call them home 💙

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/c...

“Uniting for Peace”: How U.N. Could Override U.S. Veto, Send Peacekeepers to Gaza, Block Arms & More The Trump administration is facing growing criticism for suspending visas for Palestinian passport holders, including for Palestinian officials set to attend the annual U.N. General Assembly this mont...

www.democracynow.org/2025/9/4/un_...

YouTube video by TeleSUR English Global Empire - A Conversation With Edward Said

youtu.be/YvR3qeroQ2M?...

Heartbreak for the loss of young lives here in Minneapolis. Thinking about all the children and so many others whose lives have been stolen in Gaza. None of this horror should be happening.

My sweet friend Awdah Hathaleen was murdered by a West Bank settler. May his memory be a revolution | Emily Glick A Palestinian activist, he helped his community resist Israel’s attempts to erase it. On Thursday, they buried him.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

From the article above, by Mehdi Hasan: "[T]o the Biden and Trump administrations, to Democrats and Republicans in Congress, to the US media, I say this: history will judge you. For the bombs you sent, the votes you cast, the lies you told."

The US is complicit in genocide. Let’s stop pretending otherwise | Mehdi Hasan The US government, enabled by the media, is an active participant in Israel’s atrocities in Gaza

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

As scholars of genocide, we demand an end to Israel’s atrocities | Open letter Within weeks, 400 colleagues joined our organization. We say: it is not too late to save lives. End the genocide now

I wish more public statements like this had come out much sooner--and more needs to be done to stop the atrocities--but I am glad to see these scholars who I respect standing up. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I’m witnessing the deliberate starvation of Gaza’s children – why is the world letting it happen? | Nick Maynard A permanent ceasefire, the free and safe flow of aid, and the lifting of the blockade are needed now – all could be achieved with political will, says UK surgeon Nick Maynard

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Opinion | Why American Jews No Longer Understand One Another

Ezra Klein: "For decades, American Judaism, built on the liberalism of the diaspora, has been interwoven with Zionism. What happens when the ideals of the one become incompatible with the reality of the other?"
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/20/o...

Brilliant video! Safe and happy travels!

Opinion | I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/o...

😥

The destruction of Palestine is breaking the world | Moustafa Bayoumi The rules of the institutions that define our lives bend like reeds when it comes to Israel – so much that the whole global order is on the verge of collapse

www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

EPNI met with the city to talk about the $5.7 mil pledged then lost by the State, and to repeat that we have the plans & partners to build this project

The city will continue negotiating with EPNI in the coming weeks, help keep the pressure on using the document linked here: linktr.ee/epnifarm ❤️‍🔥

My (still & always) favorite teacher ever, who taught English and German at our high school, had us read this book...I remember it being a really formative experience, too. I appreciate your highlighting this book; I agree that it's something super important to teach now.

How the Hottest Place in India Survives

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/w...

Opinion | The Judgment of History Won’t Save Gaza

Stark if illuminating analysis by David Wallace-Wells: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/o...

Acclaimed poet Arthur Sze on bridging Western and Chinese traditions Arthur Sze, one of the most acclaimed poets of our time, is celebrated for exploring the natural world, the human condition and connections between cultures. A second-generation Chinese American based...

❤️
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Israel, please let aid organisations do our jobs in Gaza | James Elder Four hundred distribution points have dwindled to four under this private and militarised ‘aid’ system. This is not how to avert a famine, says Unicef’s global spokesperson James Elder

Let the people of Gaza live!!
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

YouTube video by Social Emotional Learning with Dr Donny Aime Cesaire-poet, politician activist, 1913-2008

youtu.be/dG8rvp0BmOg?...

Full citation: From *Notebook of a Return to the Native Land* (Cahier d'un retour au pays natal); 1939. Trans. Clayton Eshleman/Ed. Annette Smith, Wesleyan UP, 2001. Césaire was a prominent anti-colonial thinker, writer, poet, and politician... from Martinique.

Aimé Césaire, *Notebook...*:
"for it is not true that the work of man is done
that we have no business being on earth
that we parasite the world
that it is enough for us to heel to the world whereas the work
of man has only begun...
and no race has a monopoly on beauty, on intelligence, on strength"