Brian Behnken

Thanks as always old friend!

Color photo of an advertisement poster and the uncorrected page proofs of Brian Behnken's book Brown and Blue.

Got to spend some time in Albuquerque, a truly amazing city, at the annual meeting of the Western History Association, and I got to see...

This story came right out of my book Borders of Violence and Justice, a work I am still immensely proud of. The follow-up story comes out in about a month, wink wink
uncpress.org/978146969070...

Cortéz, https://www.lavacacountytoday.com/index.php/lifestyle/story-gregorio-Cortéz

On June 12, 1901 Gregorio Cortéz killed 2 Texas law officers in self-defense and led Texas Rangers on a nearly 10 day chase through south central Texas. Cortez was regarded as a "bandit” by the law but became a hero to many Mexican Americans. /1

I'll have a double.

Brown and Blue | Brian D. Behnken | University of North Carolina Press This sweeping history tells a story of fits and starts of Mexican Americans' interactions with law enforcement and the criminal justice system in the US Sout...

@historybrian.bsky.social sequel to Borders of Violence & Justice, BROWN AND BLUE not only foreshadows today's policing of the border but also shows us how the southwest's Mexican/Mexican American community responded to & resisted this policing.
uncpress.org/book/9781469...

"Ranchman Killed," Fort Worth Sat Telegram, May 5, 1909

#OTD on May 3, 1909 Ranger Levi Davis killed Severo Lopez in Rio Grande City. Lopez and several friends had been enjoying a festive dinner when Davis and 2 other Rangers ended the festivities with gunfire. /1

Photo of Profs. Best and Behnken standing in front of descriptive blocks at the CJM.

Me and my boy @besthistories.bsky.social at the Capitol Jewish Museum in DC.

Heading with my man @historybrian.bsky.social to DC with our great students in HIST 4690x: History of Racial Violence!
@iowastatehistory.bsky.social

short version of Hellward by Hemp, Santa Fe New Mexican

#OTD in 1881 the Texas Rangers crossed the border into Mexico to illegally apprehend Onofrio Baca on a charge of murder. They delivered Baca to authorities in New Mexico. He was lynched shortly thereafter. /1

https://texasranger.pastperfectonline.com/byperson?keyword=Allee%2C%20A.%20Y.%2C%20Sr.

#OTD in 1963, Texas Gov. John Connally dispatched Ranger Captain Alfred Young "A. Y." Allee to Crystal City. Connally did so to "keep the peace" during the local election cycle for city and county offices. Instead Allee would go on to brutalize several Mexican Americans. /1

Brown and Blue: Mexican Americans, Law Enforcement, and Civil Rights in the Southwest, 1935–2025 Amazon.com: Brown and Blue: Mexican Americans, Law Enforcement, and Civil Rights in the Southwest, 1935–2025: 9781469690704: Behnken, Brian D.: Books

So cool when a book drops on Amazon.

Austin Weekly Statesman, March 25, 1875

#OTD in 1875 the Nuecestown Raid occurred. In the 1870s and 1880s across the Southwest, a number of raids by Mexican outlaws into the US, as well as Anglo raids into Mexico, took place. The raid on Nuecestown provoked lynching and large-scale massacres of Mexican people. /1

Man just saw George Foreman died. What a life.

Super expensive if you have to pay for permissions.

Been wondering this myself.

this is the pdf, p 608, https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/Housejournals/36/H_36_0.pdf

this is the pdf, p 608, https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/Housejournals/36/H_36_0.pdf

#OTD on March 17, 1919 the Texas Legislature significantly restructured the Texas Rangers by passing House Bill No. 5, originally authored by Rep. J. T. Canales. This was one of the most important outcomes of Canales’ activism. /1

Great and timely work by @historybrian.bsky.social on this thread.

The cover of a new book with the words "Brown and Blue" in large yellow print and a background picture of a woman running in front of a crowd.

UNC Press has done it yet again! I'm very proud of this cover. The book should be out in November:)

a man with the word blasphemy written above his head Alt: a man with the word blasphemy written above his head

Potatoes in gumbo???!!!!

This skeet is badass.

A white beehive on a gray beehive stand. The beehive has many bees flying out front. A small chicken feeder with a yellow base sits to the left of the beehive.

#beebit "Move Jessica, I gotta poop!" In winter, when the weather warms to around 45, bees leave their hives to poop. We call these "cleansing flights." Bees hold off defecating for months when it's too cold to fly. Extra #beebit, their feces are a yellowish semi-liquid that smells like honey:)

Facts! Where would I be without UNC Press and the other academic presses I've had the pleasure of working with.

I got new ones a week ago and I'm still having to do that weird thing where I move my head all around to try to find that sweet spot for reading.

I dropped my AHA membership years ago after I racked up over $3K in debt to attend a conference for an interview for a job ofc I did not get. Not only did I not feel bad about it, now I feel kinda good about it.

Ffs.

Looking forward to this one!

Man just heard José Cha Cha Jiménez died. What a life, what a legacy. Rest in power sir.

Nice!

thread on a key scholar of the borderlands and Latinx life