Stephen Pitti

"We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent." —Justice Sonia Sotomayor

From Washington to Westminster, the populist right needs to erase history to succeed. It’s up to us to resist | Kojo Koram Removing ‘divisive’ Smithsonian exhibits, Farage’s ‘patriotic’ curriculum: this is where the unpicking of the 20th century liberal order begins, says academic Kojo Koram

"...these attacks are not just distractions from the major issues; they provide the ideological justification for real material and legislative changes that will impact people’s day-to-day lives."

Contributor: Jim Crow meets ICE at 'Alligator Alcatraz' 'Alligator Alcatraz' is a rebrand of an age-old threat and a euphemism for cruelty wrapped in a bad joke.

"...the Florida detention center name “Alligator Alcatraz” serves multiple ends: It provokes sadistic yuks. It mocks. It threatens. But most crucially, it dehumanizes. “Alligator Bait” suggests that Black people are worthless."

Trump administration moves to narrow protections for endangered species Environmentalists warn new proposal from US wildlife agencies could lead to habitat destruction and extinction

The US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service said ... that habitat modification and destruction should not be considered “harm” .... Challenges to the legalese could... free industry to continue or begin activities that would impact habitat.

Trump halts millions in funds for Texas libraries, museums Texas libraries and museums are bracing for cuts to services and programs after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to eliminate the IMLS.

"In Texas, 20 institutions received funding from the IMLS in the 2024 fiscal year, including the Houston Public Library ($100,000), the Harris County Public Library ($10,000), and the Children's Museum Houston ($10,000)..."

Texas prison staff falsified records about temperatures behind bars, internal investigation finds The investigation was triggered by a federal judge, who questioned the state’s recordkeeping. Inmates are suing the state, alleging the heat inside the state’s dozens of un-air conditioned prisons is ...

"...prison staff “recreated” logs that were missing ....Two-thirds of the state’s roughly 100 jails and prisons in Texas are not fully air conditioned in inmate housing areas. Indoor temperatures over the summer can regularly top 95 to 100 degrees for days on end, the agency’s records show."

David Montgomery’s Rank-and-File History Last summer, the University of Illinois Press published A David Montgomery Reader: Essays on Capitalism and Worker Resistance, a collection of essays, some of them previously unpublished, by the late ...

The University of Illinois Press published A David Montgomery Reader: Essays on Capitalism and Worker Resistance, a collection of essays, some of them previously unpublished, by the late historian & UE member. You can read the UE NEWS review of it here: www.ueunion.org/ue-news-feat...

Flor Martínez, la activista que emergió de los cultivos agrícolas para defender inmigrantes La influencer y activista mexicana ha utilizado su plataforma para liderar múltiples marchas en el centro de Los Ángeles, y manifestar su descontento por los planes de las deportaciones masivas, ademá...

"Las raíces de esta joven jalisciense tienen un prolongado historial en suelo estadounidense. Uno de sus abuelos cruzó la frontera gracias al Programa Bracero.... 'Nuestros ancestros han estado aquí por mucho tiempo y es donde pertenecemos., señaló la joven...."

✊🏼 Thank you for the shout-out, @msmagazine.com!!!!

Opinion: Yes, the Panama Canal was built at a dear price — paid in Black lives Trump is right to lament the lives lost for the creation of the canal. They were mostly Black Caribbean migrant workers, living and dying under Jim Crow conditions that the U.S. imposed in Panama.

Joan Flores-Villalobos: "They came from the islands of Barbados, Jamaica, Martinique and others, then plantation economies and colonies of European nations. It was these migrants who paid for the construction of the canal with their lives."

Tomorrow Trump will become President of the United States and we are promised to get one of the busiest immigration policy days in a long time.

To provide a one-stop-shop of announcements and an historical record of the day...

The Spirit of Simplicity in Uncertain Times On Inauguration Eve, a personal post about the importance of ritual and focus during times of political uncertainty.

On Inauguration Eve, a personal post about the importance of ritual and focus during times of political uncertainty.

austinkocher.substack.com/p/the-spirit...

Conn. muralist earns accolade from Mexican consulate in Boston Carlos Hernández Chávez's active involvement in the arts scene earned him the 2024 Distinguished Mexicans Recognition award from the Consulate General of Mexico in Boston. “Somebody’s paying attention...

"Chávez created his first mural in Hartford in 1974.... his latest mural, “Sugar Beet Workers”, in 2009.... depicts migrant workers supplying food for the American Table.... The mural highlights his own migrant experience, showcasing his family through the generations...."

Texas An exploration of the multifaceted characters and complex events that have defined the Lone Star State from its inception through today   When Americans tur...

On February 25, my book “Texas: An American History” will be published, in hard copy and as an audiobook. Why would any sane person write another take on Texas history from the dinosaurs to the 21st century? /1 yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

Attorney who fought for farm worker rights in Valley pens memoir For anyone who has familiarized themselves with the fight for Civil Rights for farm workers throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the name Jim Harrington is one that is often repeated as a central force for...

“​​Saturday mornings, I used to get up every morning and watch ‘Underdog,’” he recalled. “And I set up one Saturday morning, just sat straight up and said, ‘No, you need to be a lawyer.’

Los Gatos resident aims to erase racist language in property deeds - San José Spotlight Santa Clara County is full of hotspots with hundreds of racially discriminatory covenants in property deeds from the early 20th century. An effort is underway to identify and remove them.

"Santa Clara County is full of hotspots with hundreds of racially discriminatory covenants .... Oak Hill Cemetery has 41 covenants stating only a white person can be buried in certain plots."

How the ‘Tokyo of the West’ disappeared in Vacaville, CA – AsAmNews For Japanese and Japanese Americans living in Vacaville prior to World War II, their lives changed almost overnight.

"“Vacaville was one of the earliest agricultural communities. In 1895 it was the third-largest Japanese community in the U.S. after San Francisco and Sacramento,” said Shimomura, who also served as national president of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) from 1982-1984..."

Review: “De Generación En Generación” | Glasstire Christopher Karr reviews a show of three generations of Mexican-American artists on view at the Weil Gallery at Texas A&M - Corpus Christi.

"The threads of generational memory and cultural resilience weave powerfully through De Generación En Generación, reminding us how art preserves the stories of communities over time."

More flow upstream and less flow downstream: The changing form and function of global rivers We mapped daily streamflow from 1984 to 2018 in approximately 2.9 million rivers to assess recent changes to global river systems. We found that river outlets were dominated by significant decreases i...

Wild #river news—a global survey looking at 3 million rivers over the past 35 years shows the annual flow of water dropped in 44% of the world’s largest downstream rivers while many headwater streams grew. The impact on everything from sediment to irrigation are vast

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The Centuries of History Behind a Key Trump Strategy The 18th and 19th century origins of the appeal to white victimhood.

Historian Gunther Peck: "the belief that white people suffer because of their race.... first emerged during the late 18th century, a byproduct of opportunism and the print revolution colliding with the material struggles of workers...."

“The best time to prepare”: Migrant rights group warns undocumented Texans to plan for deportations Groups are urging the state’s estimated 1.6 million undocumented migrants to prepare financially and make plans for their loved ones if they’re detained.

“Who’s going to pick up the kids from school?” Garcia asked. "Payments on the house, car payments, house bills, the property title –– all of that has to be in your plan."

Dolores Madrigal, Plaintiff in Landmark Sterilization Case, Dies at 90 She was among hundreds of women who said they were coerced into sterilization at a California hospital in the 1970s. The lawsuit led to state and national reforms.

RIP.

Good that the NYT wrote about this important person.

But a better obit would highlight the obvious and longstanding racism and sexism behind forced sterilizations -- and not say only that they "occurred amid political hysteria about overpopulation" in the 1970s. What???

Renowned poet and Black arts movement icon Nikki Giovanni dies at 81 The poet and activist was a leading figure of the Black Arts Movement. Giovanni was working on her upcoming book of poetry, set to publish in the fall.

"We will forever be grateful for the unconditional time she gave to us, to all her literary children across the writerly world," said Kwame Alexander in the statement on the renowned Nikki Giovanni’s death

"police-made crack"

SEPARATED screens tonight in Toronto followed by a Q+A. Heading to Mexico City and New Haven for screenings later in the week. Grateful for this journey and to work with the legend Errol Morris. Especially at a moment when, as Captain Jonathan White says in the film, “it could happen again.”

Tepoztlán Institute 2025: Authoritarianisms and Crises of Authority: Alliances, Challenges, Futures.

It's like summer camp, a grad school seminar, and Burning Man for nerds.

Please consider applying.

www.tepoztlaninstitute.org/2025-theme