Jacquelyn Kim

All historians know the sinking feeling of tracking an "authoritative" reference back through several generations of writers to an unsourced assertion by someone nobody's ever heard of.

Now AI can make up new ones in no time at all.

The Pentagon just announced a no-bid contract that will be awarded to Palantir for "the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the field of geospatial intelligence."

This means Palantir will have unprecedented access to maps, satellite imagery, GPS data, and more.

Flock Removes States From National Lookup Tool After ICE and Abortion Searches Revealed Following 404 Media’s reporting and in light of new legislation, automatic license plate reader (ALPR) company Flock has stopped agencies reaching into cameras in California, Illinois, and Virginia.

New from 404 Media: Flock has cut off cameras in California, Illinois, and Virginia from national lookups after our investigations and others based on our reporting. Comes after we revealed cops doing lookups for ICE and an abortion case. Massive changes to this tech www.404media.co/flock-remove...

A page from one of Ernie’s journals featuring a love poem.

Born in Chicago's South Side, Ernie McClintock (1937-2003) was an American director, actor, teacher, and major force behind the scenes of the #BlackArtsMovement. In Chicago in 1962, Ernie met his long-time partner Ronald “Ronn” Tyrone Walker (1936-1999)—an award-winning scenic artist. #QueerHistory

Juneteenth in Virginia: Keeping the Celebration Going Visit the post for more.

Happy Juneteenth! Here in Virginia we traditionally celebrate Emancipation Day in April, on the 3, the day Richmond fell, & on the 9, the day Lee surrendered at Appomattox. Check out my short piece here. @rareuva.bsky.social

Juneteenth in Virginia: Keeping the Celebration Going

Pencil and white gouache portrait of a young man, bordered in red and silver and initialed at lower right.

Dedication written in green ink: "For my Julian — without whom there would have been no White Fire: but with whom, all things are possible — from the author. ‘Oh boy whom I love, I will carry you with me in my flight!’ — Gide. Richmond Hill 25/viii/49.”

One of just eight known copies in the world, this lovingly adorned copy of White Fire, a story about gay male love, was gifted by its author Michael Laurie (likely a pseudonym) to his lover, Julian—whose likeness is captured in an intimate pencil and white gouache portrait drawn by Michael.

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY School of Law barred 31 pro-Palestine law school students from campus facilities and demanded that they sign away their right to protest in exchange for being allowed to return. If the students — deemed “personae non grata,” or PNG — don’t renounce their right to protest on campus, they will be unable to sit for final exams. “You may not participate in any protest activity or disruptive activity on Law School property,” says the so-called “Use of Space Agreement” sent to the students, which explicitly lays out conditions for being allowed to return to key campus buildings during the school’s “exam period.”

NYU School of Law has told 31 pro-Palestine students they must sign away their right to protest if they want to return to campus and sit exams.

theintercept.com/2025/05/03/n...

Congratulations to the Julian Bond Papers Project on a Mellon grant to accelerate digitization, annotation and publication of his vast archive!

Learn more about Julian Bond's collection, open for research here in the Small Special Collections Library:
ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view...

JUST A FEW SPOTS REMAIN for Spheres of Anne Spencer: A Symposium TOMORROW, Friday, March 21 (10 a.m.-1 p.m.) in Shannon Library Seminar Rm 330.
Free, and there will be brunch!
Let us know you're coming via Eventbrite: at.virginia.edu/event/AS-sph...

Charlie Webb using an XRF spectrometer on a green bodice.

Three bodices of various shades of green laid in boxes on a table.

#ErinGoBragh! With the Special Collections Conservation Lab’s work identifying bookcloth containing arsenic in the collections, we’ve been seeing green everywhere—but it’s not the kind of green you want to put in your beer or your river! #StPatricksDay

A section of a poem by Anne Spencer that reads: Here canopied reaches of dogwood and hazel, Beech tree and redbud fine-laced in vines, Fleet clapping rills by lush fern and basil, Drain blue hills to lowlands scented with pines... Think you he meets in this tense green sweetness Shade that was Elizabeth... immortal completeness!

My work changed after I noticed how green a burst of kudzu looked next to streaks of wisteria. The scene made me more sensitive. Now, I look for Black authors who have elemental styles. Last night, I heard this part of an Anne Spencer poem and asked the reader to recite it again after the talk.

Event flyer featuring photos of MaKshya Tolbert and Josef Beery and floral illustrations. Text reads: "Letterpress printing with Josef Beery. Exploring Anne Spencer's Poetics with MaKshya Tolbert. Plus raffles, refreshments, and more! Final Friday @ Special Collections! February 28, 2025 @ 5-7PM. 170 McCormick Rd, Charlottesville, VA, 22902."

This Final Friday, we’re excited to host Josef Beery for letterpress printing demos and MaKshya Tolbert for an interactive workshop exploring Anne Spencer's symbiosis of people, poetics, and flowers-by spending time with people, poems, and flowers. Join us for raffles, refreshments, and more!

Front cover of The First Cities by Audre Lorde and back cover of book with photo portrait of Audre Lorde.

Lorde’s first volume of poems, The First Cities, was published in 1968. In a new biography, Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde (2024), Alexis Pauline Gumbs shares her findings as the first researcher to explore the full depths of Lorde’s manuscript archives.

#BlackHistoryMonth

Covers of three books by Toni and Slade Morrison: The Big Box, The Book of Mean People, and Who’s Got Game: The Lion or the Mouse.

🎂 Happy birthday to #ToniMorrison and #AudreLorde!

Did you know that Toni Morrison co-authored a series of children’s books with her son, Slade Morrison? Their first book, The Big Box, was released in 1999, and their books engaged themes such as imagination, freedom, and self-empowerment.

Celebrating the birthday of Anne Spencer: Harlem Renaissance poet, civil rights activist, librarian and educator, avid reader and prolific writer.

Array of black-and-white photographs featuring Martin Luther King Jr. Center: solo shot of Dr. King seated with hands gesturing while speaking.

#DYK that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once visited the home of Anne Spencer (whose life and work are featured in our current exhibition “Anne Spencer: I Am Here!”)?

Martin Luther King Jr. Press Photographs, 1963-65. (MSS 16096)

#MLKDay

UCWVA hosts Lobby Day: Advocating for workers’ rights at Virginia universities A key focus is reinstating collective bargaining rights for public sector workers.

Great coverage of what our United Campus Workers union is doing, and fantastic interview of my VT chapter chair Nick Warren Ruktanonchai! Do you work at a Virginia state university (faculty and staff), or know someone who does? Please pass the word. Join UCW-Virginia at ucwva.org. CWA local 2265.

“We’re Hiring. Reparative Collections Conservator. 2-Year Term. For more information, search R0068758 on Careers at UVA.” QR code and UVA Library logo below text.

We're hiring a Reparative Collections Conservator in the Preservation Services department of Special Collections and Preservation Unit for a two-year term beginning in Sep. 2025! Aimed at early career conservators, especially those entering the job market for the first time in fall/summer 2025.

Only $17,493 until $2M CAD! We are $12K in the red right now, help us reach this goal in a week or so!

e-transfer to avoid fees for folks in 'canada':

cripsforesimsforgaza[at]gmail[dot]com (autodeposit on)

bit.ly/eSimsRUs

#ConnectingGaza

every so often I feel compelled to point out that interlibrary loan is a goddamn miracle. If you have a library card and can wait a little while, you can have in your hands just about any book you want.* just because there’s going to be another library out there that says “Sure, we’ll send it.” 📚

ENDING THE KOREAN WAR: a virtual symposium with the Ending the Korean War Collective, February 6-7, 2025

Feb 6-7: ENDING THE KOREAN WAR, a virtual symposium with the 'Ending the Korean War Teaching Collective,' sponsored by Yale AMST, HIST, EALL, FMS, WGSS, ERM, RITM, & @yalewhc.bsky.social

In California, Incarcerated Teenagers Help Fight Wildfires "You’re put in danger every time you’re on the fire line.”

These teenagers and young men — 95% of whom are Black, Latinx, or Filipino — earn between $2.20 and $4 per hour, plus an additional $1 an hour when they’re actively fighting fires, according to the DJJ. ⤵️

Broad Rock Library 4820 Old Warwick Road West End Library 5420 Patterson Avenue Hickory Hill Community Center 3000 Belt Boulevard Bellemeade Community Center 1800 Lynhaven Avenue Midtown Green 2401 W Leigh Street Annie Giles Community Center 1400 Oliver Hill Way Pine Camp Community Center 4901 Old Brook Road Randolph Community Center 1415 Grayland Avenue Westover Hills Community Center 1301 Jahnke Road East End District Initiative (EDI) 701 North 25th Street Southside Plaza 4100 Hull Street Road

RICHMOND WATER CRISIS DAY 3: Many residents are still without water and all of the city is on a boil water advisory. Do not drink the tap water. Here are water distribution sites in the city:

#RVA

Seoul is silent. There are no cheers to celebrate the coming of a new year. It is solemn. The bosingak bell rings into the darkness, in remembrance, to mourn the victims who lost their lives in the tragic plane crash and to wish their souls find peace