In November 2019, as stories of the latest school shooting crossed my feed, I dashed off this opening to my most hastily composed @SatEvePost column ever: "One morning early last spring, my younger son & I were in an argument as I drove the boys to their respective schools.+
The subject was entirely silly & unnecessary, but we both felt passionately & weren’t backing down. The argument continued up until he got out of the car, which meant that for the only time during that entire school year, we didn’t say “I love you” to each other as he got out.+
I spent the remainder of the day paralyzed, unable to think about anything other than the possibility of a school shooting and of that angry drop-off being our last interaction." Over 2 years later, the only thing that's changed is I never miss the chance to tell 'em I love them.
Here's that column. Fuck guns, & to hell with those who value them above the lives of our children & us all.
saturdayeveningpost.com/2019/11/consid…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Ben Railton

Ben Railton Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @AmericanStudier

29 Nov
The vital @gutenberg_org turns 50 this year! So to celebrate that bday, I wanted to share 5 books you can read for free thanks to that amazing collection. Starting w/Zitkala-Ŝa’s American Indian Stories for #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth. #twitterstorians

americanstudier.blogspot.com/2021/11/novemb…
I'd love to share lots more online reading recommendations, on Project Gutenberg & beyond, in the crowd-sourced weekend post! What digitally available works or online collections/resources would you highlight, all? @PedagogyAmLitSt
The next free online read in my @gutenberg_org bday series is Helen Hunt Jackson's Ramona (1884), a blend of romance & realism that has inspired generations (not always in the ways she intended) & still has a great deal more to teach us. #twitterstorians

americanstudier.blogspot.com/2021/11/novemb…
Read 5 tweets
28 Nov
My #ScholarSunday threads are taking a holiday weekend & will return next week. Keep up the great writing & work, all!

Today, in honor of my newest blog Guest Post, I wanted to share all of this year’s great Guest Posts (the most in one year ever!). #twitterstorians
In January, following up a New Year’s blog series on hope-full texts, I was honored to share a similar such reading list from @HermioneClone:

americanstudier.blogspot.com/2021/01/januar…
In February, I finally got to share a Guest Post from one of my very first Twitter connections & one of my AmericanStudying models, @adamgolub on creativity:

americanstudier.blogspot.com/2021/02/februa…
Read 18 tweets
11 Nov
Apropos of this earlier mini-thread on Rittenhouse & exclusion/inclusion, wanted to share a few #VeteransDay thoughts on US military service & those competing visions of America. #twitterstorians

At one of my book talks for We the People back in 2019, an audience member asked a challenging, excellent question about how many of my examples of an inclusive America seem to come from wars & military service.
rowman.com/ISBN/978153812…
They had a point: in that talk alone I focused at length on Japanese American soldiers in WWII, the US Colored Troops during the Civil War, & the “Manilamen,” the Filipino Americans who played such a vital role in the War of 1812's culminating Battle of New Orleans.
Read 19 tweets
11 Nov
I'm not alone in noticing this, but struck by how Vance et al defend Rittenhouse w/phrases like "defending his community." He crossed a state line & drove hours to get there, & killed at least 1 person born & raised in that community. But for white supremacists, it's all theirs.
That's the essence of the exclusionary definition of America I traced in We the People. Anglos arrive in California c.1849, a California where Native & Mexican & Chinese communities have all long been there already, & right away white supremacists pass a "Foreign Miners Tax."
Fighting these narratives & white supremacists requires all sorts of actions, but high among them is consistently redefining the American "we," how we see our communities & identities (throughout history as well as today) & who's at their core. For more:
rowman.com/ISBN/978153812…
Read 5 tweets
26 Sep
On this chilly Fall morning, here’s my 47th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work from the past week! Enjoy & share more, por favor! #twitterstorians
So, so much great work happening around issues of immigration, refugees, & deportation. Like this upcoming convo w/@adamsigoodman & @prof_erikalee for @UMN_IHRC:
& this from @UnlawfulEntries for @madebyhistory on state laws & policies before the evolution of federal control:
washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/0…
Read 25 tweets
11 Jul
As my hometown of #Charlottesville completes a weekend of overdue statue removals w/UVa’s Clark statue this morning, wanted to make this week’s #ScholarSunday thread a bit different: pieces & voices to help contextualize this moment! #twitterstorians
Gotta preface the thread by shouting out the amazing young scholar & activist (and fellow Charlottesville High School alum) most responsible for getting us to this moment, @ZyahnaB (& all those @TakeEmDownCVL):

zyahnabryant.com
First, a handful of the many scholars who’ve been doing the work for years. @HilaryGreen77 has created an excellent database of statue & monument histories & removals:

hgreen.people.ua.edu/csa-monument-m…
Read 30 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(