Since ‘16 I have had @smccurry3’s Masters of Small Worlds on my mind. It asks the ? (among others)- why did poor white farmers in SC, most of whom would NEVER have the $$ to own slaves— fight and die to preserve slavery? Why were the poor men fighting the rich men’s war? Her thesis— basically— was rich men sold war to poor as a fight to preserve white man’s mastery over Black people & women. While slavery existed, poor white men could remain masters of their small worlds, lording over women & children at home & Black neighbors (enslaved or free)

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I worked w/ Alison when I taught HS. Her sister, Taylor, is a teacher in South Texas. Taylor was placed on administrative leave b/c of the design of her virtual classroom, inc a BLM poster. Taylor's goal was to create a safe, supportive, & inclusive space for all of her kids. This isn't about politics-- it's about making kids feel safe and welcome no matter their race, sexual orientation, or citizenship status. Please sign this petition to support Taylor and her students.

I am in favor of defunding police: disaggregating the huge amount of $ & reappropriating to better serve communities.

One area: domestic violence. Police stations for women seem to be working. Staffed by mostly female officers, they also have psychologists and financial advisors and babysitters on staff. They are in residential neighborhoods.

Lots of talk about statues coming down (agreed they should) and I wanted to share a story about a statue women couldn’t get erected. (A thread) In 1891, 3 women formed the Spinner Memorial Ass'n to raise funds to commission & erect a statue of Gen Francis E Spinner at the Treasury Dept. Women credited Spinner for creating space for them in fed jobs. (Spinner origin story is complicated & problematic, but they believed).

In case I haven’t been crystal clear on this— if you agree with this administration’s immigration policies (yes I saw his BS EO) or are silent about what is currently happening— GO FUCK YOURSELF Unfriend me. I don’t want to be your friend.
Argue with me. I will destroy you.
There is no argument to support what is going on without you ultimately ending up suffering for eternity in whatever hell you believe in.

What is going on is not grey.

Fight stigmas against mental health. Stop using suicide as a lazy punch line (“My date was so bad I wanted to kill myself.”) VOTE for candidates and measures that will fund & support mental health programs of all kinds— school social workers, medications, therapy, hospitalization Love your family and friends. Be nice to strangers. Love yourself. Work out. Do things you enjoy. If you need help, ask. People will help you. No ones lives are better without you. Your chemically imbalanced brain is lying to you.

In honor of #EqualPayDay I am going to share some quotes from the equal pay debates of the late 1860s & early 1870s. #ThisGrandExperiment During these debates, Congress came shockingly close to passing an #EqualPay bill for federal employees. In fact, they did pass them, but multiple times the provision was lost in committee.

A Zane Story (thread). “Upon waking I discovered to my horror and sorrow that while my pants had an adequate number of fire trucks on them, my shirt had NARY A FIRE TRUCK. Being the resourceful and quick thinking toddler I am, I emptied my pajama drawer and found these feetie PJs Mom stopped dressing me in bc I would somehow wake up naked (#zippers).

In my article for HNN I wrote about sexually harassing letters sent by a Reverend to a young… instagram.com/p/BdyJxyUnpD3/ Transcribed text of the letter in pic below. (apologies for the "illeg" sections). Remember, he sent these letters to her at her work (this wasn't only one). This wasn't illegal, but the War Department investigator declared him insane and kicked him out of DC.