I have bad news for all of yโall over 40.
Or not independently wealthy.
Or not highly educated with extremely marketable skills.
Or not bi- and/or trilingual.
Labor historian here:
Papers not reporting but the US is in the midst of biggest general strike since 1863/4.
service industry gutted. If itโs not yet in your city/town, it soon will be
Pplโre not gonna work for $7/hr in a pandemic & still be in debt w no healthcare. Fuck that.
Saturday marks the first time America has ever gone 12 years without a minimum wage increase.
It was $7.25 on July 24, 2009.
But with inflation, it is now worth $5.76.
Stop asking if businesses can afford it and start asking why workers got an effective pay cut for 12 years.
Goodbye, kind soul. You were the closest thing to a father I had. And you fought death almost as hard as you fought both the Nazis AND the Soviets. One day I will tell your story. Rest well.๐๐๐
Yโall - this has MADE my day.
If I do end up securing funding for a new Civil War doc, youโre *definitely* in, my dude.
(Still crackinโ up over the Mississippi boy with the low country accent comment ๐คฃ๐๐คฃ).
Rando guy on LinkedIn: can you send me a PDF of your book?
Me: Sorry, I don't have one. But you can purchase the ebook from Cambridge or even Amazon!
Him (huffily): I don't PAY for knowledge.
Me: Well good luck with that, motherf****r.
Psychologically itโs easier for Americans to scapegoat southerners than it is for them to *really* examine how deeply entrenched this dysfunction is throughout the *entire* country.
To everyone out here blaming the people of Alabama and Georgia for these monstrous abortion laws and saying we deserve it for voting these people into office - yโall have a lot to learn about gerrymandering and voter suppression
This is some antebellum shit right here.
(*whispers*: guess what the next move will be? Making loads of petty crimes felonies before the next election...)
Florida legislators advanced a bill that is expected to limit the number of former felons who can vote, in part by requiring former felons to pay back all court fees and fines before they can register.
Retuning home and reality sinking in. My boysโ sports cancelled for the foreseeable future, tons of neighbors sick, & school closings TBD bc thereโs literally not enough staff.
Again, remember that this country - under both Rs & Ds - left you alone in a DIY-pandemic, to die.
it's been a bad day but in a Zoom parent-teacher conference I learned my 8yo - upon hearing another child say "ew" at someone being gay - not only lectured the entire class on how LGBTQ rights don't infringe on any of their personal rights, so why care?...
Remember what happened when we didnโt hold the leaders of the 1861 insurrection accountable???
They & their heirs were back in *complete* political power within about a decade.
Stop saying Amy Coney Barrett was โtaught,โ โbrainwashed,โ โtrained,โ โindoctrinated,โ etc.
Sheโs a grown-ass woman and *everything* sheโs doing is in calculated self-interest.
During early
#Reconstruction
it was common for Black politicians to be expelled from state legislatures.
Aaron Alpeoria Bradley was expelled from GAโs Senate bc he grinned with โfull teethโ at a white senator while winning a debateโฆ
#tennessee
As someone whoโs read an awful lot of Jim Crow era court records and newspapers, I can tell you with absolute, complete certainty that the lynchings we know about far, far underrepresent the sheer violence & bloodshed throughout America for so many generations.
I'm seeing some misinformation here re: non-slaveholding southerners fighting in the
#CivilWar
since
@TheTattooedProf
's
#RobertELee
thread went viral. So let's get a few things right:
Fewer than 5,000 African Americans gained land. Instead, the
#HomesteadAct
was a huge wealth transfer from Native Americans to white Americans & white immigrants. See my essay:
In addition to Emancipation Proclamation, the Homestead Act went into effect
#OnThisDay
in 1863. Turned 270 million acres in 30 states from federal to private ownership, including to women & African Americans. Check out our
@NatlParkService
colleagues at
@HomesteadNM
for more!
but also then told the kid that the kid might grow up to be gay so stop the negative talk. And then ended the diatribe telling them they all should worry about climate change instead.๐นโ
Ppl donโt realize but this was actually based on the work of Lost Cause historians writing all the way into the 1980s (e.g. Grady McWhiney).
They held that the Civil War was NOT over slavery but rather a clash bw two white cultures: the Anglo-Saxon North & Scotch-Irish South.
Does anyone remember that part in Hillbilly Elegy where Vance is like โthe reason my community was broken was because they were descended from the barbarian Scots-Irish.โ
As someone born in Mississippi, I cannot emphasize enough how ***extra brave*** these U Mississippi kids are.
In case you donโt know, โOle Missโ is a play on words for โOld Missus,โ just like โOld Master.โ
Plantation slaveryโs literally enshrined in their chosen nickname.
This is why i get upset when folks discredit activist work in the South. You gotta have extra smarts, optimism, & conviction because you have structural powers & old-fashion cultural weight against you.
My activism was stronger when I lived in Mississippi than anywhere else.
We live in one of the richest nations in the history of the world and Iโm currently texting friends in one of its biggest cities to see if they need to come over to shower or bathe because they havenโt had CLEAN WATER in four days.
Wow - this has blown up, thank you.
(And many thanks to
@TheTattooedProf
&
@PatrickIber
for the shout-outs).
For those who are asking, yes, this is pretty much all from my book:
This is not about babies.
Not about fetuses.
Itโs about complete & total control over women & girls.
Not just sexually.
Not just bodily.
But *complete* control over every aspect of our lives.
I can tell Iโm gonna need to translate the ways JD Vanceโll pretend heโs not an Ivy Leaguer hired to demagogically drum up the younger white working class vote. (Bad hire btw)
Itโs a poor white thing - esp in Appalachia - to drink sodas like Mountain Dew instead of water.
My thoughts on the Kevin Kruse plagiarism allegations:
The silence re: this story has been astounding. There are two main reasons for the silence:
๐งต/1
Dick CHENEY tells PENCE at closed-door retreat in Ga โ โWeโre getting into a situation when our friends and allies around the world that we depend upon are going to lack confidence in us.โ via
@costareports
@AshleyRParker
Yeah...conflicted about this.
Aren't women academics nearly *always* shamed for their personal lives if they've been productive?
Furthermore, if I don't "boast" about my own work, believe me:
Ain't no man gonna do it for me.
Proposal: any academics boasting on social media about how productive they've been in 2018 to be required to add a report on the state of their personal life.
Introvert confession: sometimes in between conference sessions I sneak back up to my hotel room for 10-20 mins of decompression - silence & alone time.๐ค
@FromPhDtoLife
Iโm 110% extrovert, but even for me conferences are exhausting! I always have bittersweet feelings after itโs done. Happy to have some physical rest, but missing the social interaction.
One thing Iโve not seen on national news re: climate change is that in the Deep South right now, weโre having days each week when the heat advisory is so high kids canโt go out side for recess and all sports are cancelled.
18 (FIN). The slave regime of the South - the
#Confederacy
- needs to be remembered for what it was. In 1867 Union General John Pope wrote a letter to Ulysses Grant, expressing his concerns about how the Civil Warโand the causes of the Confederacyโwould be remembered in history:
Whenever I give โhistoryโ talks, a big part is making sure ppl understand WHY they donโt know certain things, or why they learned outright lies.
History IS political, & ppl understand that.
But most importantly, historiography gives ppl reasons to change their erroneous beliefs
Also, I hardly ever talk about this here, but I actually DID adopt one of my sons, & I can tell you Amy Coney Barrett is undoubtedly a *profoundly* shitty mother to have adopted children & not recognize the pain inherent in ALL ADOPTIONS, no matter how idyllic.
I still don't understand why Dems (particularly in these states) haven't organized massive "drive/bus people to the polls" programs - not just in cities but *especially* rural areas!
Now 11 days into taking care of kids w COVID. Iโll write something up about our experiences after we are though this, but itโs gonna be longer bc now my husband has a bad breakthrough case.
Iโm completely exhausted. Stressed to the max. So worn down.
Sending โฅ๏ธ to all yโall.
I thought I'd have a nice, quiet
#ValentinesDay
tomorrow, but now it's ON.๐ฅ
Was asked to testify before the
#Georgia
#Senate
Oversight Committee tomorrow about why
#ConfederateMonuments
need to be removed.
Please send me good wishes for a sharp mind & sharper tongue.โ
All the rich ass people saying โjust take the busโ have
A) never taken a bus & have NO IDEA how unreliable they are & how many hours waiting for/changing buses adds to ur day
B) believe America is only major cities- discarding rural, suburban, & even small city ppl yet AGAIN.
Yesterday was a supremely horrible day for America and Iโm still reeling.
But I wanted to share good news: I did get the call that my baby boyโs (the one w the horrible accident this year) biopsies came back negative for everything bad and Iโm so damn gratefulโฆโฅ๏ธ๐โฅ๏ธ
A WH official says President Biden's COVID speech is now Thursday & that he will speak about his plan to stop the spread of the Delta variant & boost vaccinations & "lay out a six pronged strategy that will help us do just that, working across the public & private sectors."
Thread as promised on the Solid White (
#Confederate
) South thesis, including the "herding thesis," culture of honor, "Cracker culture" tropes, & why overturning these rids us (false) history written by white supremacists.
Any good 19th c historian will tell you to stop making Civil War comparisons.
The real comparison is Reconstruction, with pockets of racist terrorism & massacres, & (increasing) political assassinations & insurrections.
BREAKING: A militia member is suspected of having just shot and killed a former judge in Juneau County, WI. Sources say the suspect was carrying a hit list that includes other politically-motivated targets including Governor Evers.
PLEASE stop getting history from people who are not historians.
Industrialization didn't "make slavery redundant," in fact, the 2 worked well together in certain circumstances.
Slavery ended bc the enslaved fought for freedom, over & over. Won by rebellions & labor stoppages.
i guess it was only a matter of time after taking care of sick people for the last 3weeks.
I've been feeling bad & finally took a test. I have a breakthrough case of COVID.
And my husband is still really sick, day 6 of running a fever.
I don't know what to do at this point.๐ญ
I got shingles in my early 30s, while trying to write my dissertation & raise an infant and a toddler (neither of whom ever slept!๐ซ).
It was horribly painful, & stress *totally* brings it on. And rn, some of y'all are the most stressed you've ever been.
Get the shot.
Yesterday was Mr. Rogers' birthday.
I recently watched the doc on his life & ugly-cried my whole way thru.
It was this scene, tho -filmed in 1968 -a time of great racial strife, when white supremacists were pouring acid in pools where Black children were swimming - THIS scene...
How do ppl not know many of the OG country โญs were progressives??
Cash:
"I wear the black for the poor & the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times."
FANS TURN ON WILLIE: Country singer
@WillieNelson
was called just about every name in the book after announcing he's playing during an upcoming rally for Texas Democratic Senate candidate
@BetoORourke
.
And due to our history of slavery without reparations, & the subsequent ravages of racism, it also means that the vast majority of that wealth is inherited by WHITES.
Iโm abt to break. After 3 weeks in the hospital starting in August, my father-in-law has been in hospice w 24/7 care dying a slow, horrible, agitated death.
Now my mother-in-lawโs in the ICU.
They are our only family, & us theirs.
Comforting my emotional sons tonight.๐
Iโm starting to realize that the events of the past month have really triggered my PTSD over almost losing my child in a horrific accident in April.
Imma log off this site for a while.
Love to all yโall. Please be kind to each other.โฅ๏ธ
Really struggling to not become completely depressed by the state of my chosen industry, and by extension, the state of the country.
The subject of history is dying - being actively killed off; and nonfiction book sales have plummeted - ppl just arenโt reading.
The old forms
Almost a week into breakthrough COVID & I am only getting worse - have completely lost my voice.
Luckily got a teledoc appt this morning & have to get on steroids & antibiotics.
Telling yโall this is no joke. *Nothing* is worth getting this.
I know Iโve been quiet but Iโve been hard at work grant writing & script writing.
Thrilled to announce that
@TheCivilWarDoc1
is now fiscally sponsored by The Southern Documentary Fund.
We have some big grant applications ready to go & are ready to get this film made!
Sarah Sanders, we hardly knew ya. Actually thatโs not really true. Your tenure serving this administration will now be in the hands of historians to judge.
Happy
#Juneteenth
#Juneteenth2018
. If you don't know about the holiday, do yourself a favor and read up today.
#twitterstorians
THREAD (1) In my many years as a historian of the 19th c. South, I've read well over 4,000 interviews with/narratives of the formerly enslaved.
Pres
#Carter
used to speak to every freshman class
@emory
. For mine, he was asked abt the 1st time he met
#RosalynnCarter
.
I remember vividly: he choked up, tears rolling down his cheeks as he recalled the movie lights flickering across her beautiful face. What a rare, true love
Congratulations to Brazilโs new President Bolsonaro. Itโs great to have another U.S.-friendly leader in South America, who will join the fight against dictatorships in Venezuela and Cuba, and who clearly understands the danger of Chinaโs expanding influence in the region.
Shame on
@politico
's all-white historian list. So patently racist.
I publicly vow that if I'm ever included in something re: historians, I'll inquire about who else is included & if there are no Black scholars, I'm OUT.
And I'm calling on other white historians to do the same.
Thanks,
@politico
, for your all-white list of
#historians
offering insights on 2018! Here's a thread of some other historians in the United States who you did not know existed. I'll start with a few & others will contribute to the thread to help you out.
Just sent my favorite email reply (bc it reminds me of the absolute absurdity of academe *every* single time):
"Sorry, but I'm not taking on non-paying work at the moment."
People telling women to โact civillyโ and not protest at someoneโs home whoโs attempting to take away our rights to control OUR OWN BODIES is so ridiculously absurd and hypocritical I canโt evenโฆ
Iโm furious today:
1) one son was asked by a stranger -a GROWN ASS ADULT- his โadoption story.โ (Donโt EVER do this, none yo fucking business)
2) other son got laughed at by a teacher when he said his grandfather survived the Germans in WWII. (He did.)
WTH is wrong w ppl???
Well, youโre looking at the newest member of the Board of the Friends of the Georgia Archives and History.
Many thanks to
@sdpatenaude
for recommending me.
Power over archives = power over the narrative of REAL history.
Y'all do realize that both his anger & his privileged-little-white-boy tears are ONLY because he truly thinks that the world OWES him this job...
Ain't no entitlement like prep-school white boy entitlement.
Always goes back to that
@ADtheBand
lyric, one of my fave lyrics ever:
โRaise your fist but also
Raise your children
So when you die
the movement moves onโฆโ
As a woman w several years more life experience than AOC, I wish I could tell her one thing:
Stop responding to EVERY single personal attack.
They're trying to wear you down - mentally & emotionally.
Save your energy to defend others.
โค๏ธ, your older sisters in the struggle
If y'all only knew a fraction of what Kemp's done to suppress Black & Brown voters down here...
This is an illegitimate election. Period.
@staceyabrams
*should* fight. Give ppl time to expose all of Kemp's dirty work.