Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Gina Murrell

KEW @kidadaewilliams.com · 1d

John Wilson was an influential lithographer, sculptor, painter, muralist, and art teacher. He became a powerful voice for social justice and equality in a world wrought with struggle and injustice. His artistic work is on display at the Met Museum in NYC. fineartglobe.com/artists/john...

John Wilson at The Met: A Landmark Exhibition of an American Visionary - Fine Art Globe

The Met presents the largest John Wilson exhibition, showcasing over 100 works that illuminate Black life, social justice, and the power of art.

fineartglobe.com

1 27 85

Reposted by Gina Murrell

Lit Hub @literaryhub.bsky.social · 4d

Pat Lipsky remembers the alliances, rivalries, and New York art world clout at Max’s Kansas City in the 70’s.

A Night at Max’s Kansas City: Seeing and Being Seen in the 1970s NYC Art World

There were two choices for dinner at Max’s Kansas City: lobster or steak. I always ordered steak. My boyfriend favored lobster. He never paid the tab. After a year or so he gave the owner a sculptu…

buff.ly

2 8

Reposted by Gina Murrell

Sheli Wellington, MEd @sheliwaili.blacksky.app · 2d

A turkey club?

ᴾᵃᵖⁱ ᴄʜɪᴄʜᴏꜱ ᴬᵏᵃ ꜱʜᴀᴍɪʀ ᴍᴏᴏʀᴇ 🥷⃤ @igotyoedges.blacksky.app · 2d

Yall hitting the club tonight??

1 8 17

Gina Murrell @ginamurrell1.bsky.social · 18h

Though the Club Shelter crowd was older, like 30s and 40s. Whereas Motherf💋cker generally was under 35. I also went to Opaline, on Ave A and 6th St. That was a lot of FUN. Danced to punk and pop music. Another wonderfully mixed crowd. And there were a couple of go-go dancers. yelp.to/wIDXvBHPVv #NYC

Opaline - New York, NY

3 reviews of OPALINE - CLOSED "This party used to rule. Used to rule cause it used to exist. It is no longer open, and hasn't been since like 2005? It is dearly missed now that it has moved to its vile midtown location."

yelp.to

2

Gina Murrell @ginamurrell1.bsky.social · 18h

From what I recall, Motherf💋cker DJs played glam rock, punk, and new wave, and maybe some garage rock. I also remember Club Shelter, which played 1970s and ‘80s funk, soul, and R&B. Both Motherf💋cker and Club Shelter drew a mixed crowd, racially and ethically, and were very queer-friendly. #NYC

1 2

Gina Murrell @ginamurrell1.bsky.social · 18h

I’ve never considered myself a club person, but in the early 2000s in #NYC, I enjoyed dancing at a few clubs. So I’d say 2004-05 was my last time. And I enjoy dancing!

I liked Motherf💋cker, a dance party that was on holidays (July 4, NYE, etc.) at Manhattan venues. www.instagram.com/motherfucker...

Club card, from my personal collection, promoting a New Year’s Eve 2004 edition of the dance party Motherfucker. The visual is a glossy pair of slightly parted red lips against a black background.

1 2 5

Reposted by Gina Murrell

Ricardo Levins Morales Art Studio @rlmartstudio.bsky.social · 1d

This week in 1988: 1,000+ ACT UP demonstrators shut down the FDA headquarters, demanding (and eventually winning) action on developing HIV/AIDS treatments. ACT UP's militant and creative actions always included powerful visual artwork, and paved the way for movements in the decades to come.

A photograph from the 1988 ACT UP demonstration outside the FDA. Many people are participating in a die-in on the front steps, holding mock tombstones with messages like "RIP - killed by the FDA" and "Dead from lack of drugs." A line of police officers (some with classic 80s mustaches) wearing riot helmets stands between them and the building; one cop wearing white gloves is walking through the demonstrators. Affixed to the 2nd story windows of the building is a series of posters and a large blank banner reading Silence = Death.

18 980 2.3K

Reposted by Gina Murrell

Steven W. Thrasher is finishing The Overseer Class @thrasherxy.bsky.social · 23h

Pro tip to reporters and protesters: always have swim goggles in your pockets or bags. They’re small, $10 and if tear gas is used, slip them on & no matter how much you cough, you’ll still be able to SEE without burning eyes.

20 32 120

Reposted by Gina Murrell

Rise Up for Justice @riseupforjustice.bsky.social · 1d

#Respect #RestInPower
Jesse L. Douglas, Aide to King in Marches From Selma, Is Dead at 90.

A lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. and a fellow preacher, he played a vital role in organizing voting-rights protests in 1965 that began with “Bloody Sunday.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...

Jesse L. Douglas, Aide to King in Marches From Selma, Is Dead at 90

www.nytimes.com

1 44 76

Reposted by Gina Murrell

100 years ago news @100yearsagonews.bsky.social · 19h

Oct. 12, 1925: Essie Mae Washington-Williams, the secret daughter of 22-year-old Strom Thurmond with the 16-year-old Black maid who worked for his parents, is born (as Butler) in Edgefield, S.C. She pursued a career in education and came forward as his child after his death.

Her memoir, "Dear Senator," was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize

10 21

Gina Murrell @ginamurrell1.bsky.social · 19h

The person should try CVS. I scheduled an appointment online, and when I arrived I was boosted without anyone asking about a prescription.

1

Gina Murrell @ginamurrell1.bsky.social · 1d

Ugh, that’s unfortunate 😣 But thanks for telling us about this documentary! Might check it out today.

1

Reposted by Gina Murrell

Zinn Education Project @zinnedproject.bsky.social · 1d

#tdih 1972 DC prisoners led jail uprising.

Demanded:
-- juveniles be housed separately from adults
-- decent food
-- overcrowding addressed.

At their request, U.S. Rep Shirley Chisholm, D.C. School Board Pres. Marion Barry, & others met with them.

See ⬇️
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/dc...

Oct. 11, 1972: D.C. Jail Uprising

An uprising took place at a Washington, D.C. jail to protest conditions.

www.zinnedproject.org

35 100

Reposted by Gina Murrell

Chantal James @chantalalive.blacksky.app · 1d

People need to stop the thinking that’s like “well when things get back to normal we’ll do this.” Remember how we said that about COVID years ago & we’re still in a pandemic? The United States is not coming back to glory & that shouldn’t be the goal. But WE can try to survive if we get together.

14 110 430

Reposted by Gina Murrell

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 1d

“ICE kidnapped a community member here,” reads one. “Never forget/no nos olvidamos,” says another.

The signs have appeared across some of D.C.’s heavily immigrant neighborhoods where federal immigration arrests have escalated.

Signs popping up around D.C. note: ‘ICE kidnapping happened here’

The signs range in style and mark numerous locations where people have been taken by federal agents.

www.washingtonpost.com

10 150 470

Reposted by Gina Murrell

Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 1d

This Is Fascism

680 12K 29K

Gina Murrell @ginamurrell1.bsky.social · 1d

“Step nine is… you normalize violence. You militarize law enforcement. You kidnap people off of the streets.”

Abrams urges us to vote, which I believe is important, but that can’t be the only thing, especially if you’re systematically prevented from voting.

Still, this ep is necessary listening.

1 3

Gina Murrell @ginamurrell1.bsky.social · 1d

This evening, I listened to this 15-minute bonus episode of NPR #podcast Code Switch in which Stacey Abrams discusses voting rights. What’s stayed with me: Abrams breaking down the “10 steps from democracy to autocracy.” Because we are IN IT. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c... #fascism #CivilRights

Stacey Abrams on how voter suppression threatens democracy

Podcast Episode · Code Switch · 10/11/2025 · Bonus · 15m

podcasts.apple.com

1 3 10

Reposted by Gina Murrell

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 2d

Remembering hard bop jazz drummer and bandleader Art Blakey, born October 11, 1919, in Pittsburgh, PA (d. October 16, 1990). He led the influential Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers for over 35 years, a group famous for nurturing and launching the careers of many young jazz talents. More: alt text

Art Blakey was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he briefly converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s, after a trip to West Africa in the late 1940s. Though he eventually stopped practicing the religion, he continued to use the nickname "Bu" and sometimes performed with a turbaned, Quran-reading jazz band.

Blakey made a name for himself in the '40s in the big bands of Fletcher Henderson and Billy Eckstine. He then worked with bebop musicians Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie.

In the mid-1950s, Horace Silver and Blakey formed The Jazz Messengers, a group which he led for the next 35 years. The group was formed as a collective of contemporaries, but over the years the band became known as an incubator for young talent, including Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd, Jackie McLean, Johnny Griffin, Curtis Fuller, Chuck Mangione, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Cedar Walton, Woody Shaw, Terence Blanchard, and Wynton Marsalis.

Blakey started as a pianist. As a teenager playing in Pittsburgh nightclubs, Blakey played piano until a club owner forced him to switch to drums at gunpoint so that a more talented young pianist, Erroll Garner, could play.

A police beating led to a steel plate in his head. While touring with the Fletcher Henderson band in the early 1940s, Blakey suffered a brutal beating by police in the South that required a metal plate to be surgically implanted in his head. The attack may have been one of the reasons for his later conversion to Islam, which he felt made him "really free."

Blakey helped develop the "hard bop" sound. Along with pianist Horace Silver, he founded the Jazz Messengers in the mid-1950s. The group's aggressive, blues-inflected, and soulful sound was a key development in the sub-genre known as hard bop, and it helped keep mainstream jazz alive during the rise of rock and roll.

4 1 12

Reposted by Gina Murrell

UyenThi Tran Myhre @utranmyhre.bsky.social · 3d

what are your best tips/ideas to keep in mind when caregiving for elderly parents?

21 10 41

Reposted by Gina Murrell

Trevon Logan @trevondlogan.bsky.social · 3d

Black families tend to have strong preferences against nursing homes, usually driven by concerns of inadequate care. Seeing that Black nursing home patients have significantly worse outcomes, and that they are driven by *within-nursing home* differences in care, confirms this suspicion.

NBER @nber.org · 3d

Nursing home value-added for black patients is 30 percent lower than for white patients, with most of the gap reflecting differences within, rather than across, nursing homes, from Liran Einav, Amy Finkelstein, @nealemahoney.bsky.social, and James C. Okun www.nber.org/papers/w34324

1 68 190

Reposted by Gina Murrell

Michael W. Twitty @koshersoul.bsky.social · 2d

Hi everyone! #RecipesfromtheAmericanSouth is here. Please support by spreading the word! www.phaidon.com/en-us/produc...

7 120 190

Reposted by Gina Murrell

Bench Ansfield @benchansfield.bsky.social · 4d

NYC come thru!! I'll be doing two BORN IN FLAMES launch events next week 10/16 and 10/18. Plz spread the word!

(links to follow)

Two posters for the Born in Flames launch.

OCTOBER 16 // 7pm // $7-15
Maysles Documentary Center
Screening of Decade of Fire + Book Panel with organizer and writer Shellyne Rodriguez, director Vivian Vázquez, and Elliot Liu of Take Back the Bronx

OCTOBER 18 // 2:30pm // $15-20
Museum of the City of New York
In Conversation with Ritti Singh (Housing Justice for All and NYS Tenant Bloc) and curator of social activism Sarah Seidman

1 15 21

Reposted by Gina Murrell

Dean Frey @dean.bsky.social · 2d

Inge Morath
Arthur Miller & Pablo Neruda at a bookshop in Greenwich Village, 1966

#BookshopDay

The two writers look at a book, Neruda wearing a soft white hat, Miller smoking a pipe

1 12 54

Gina Murrell @ginamurrell1.bsky.social · 1d

Early in college, as a journalism major, I took a class where we were instructed to think critically about the news.

When I was a kid, my mother asked me: “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump, too?”

Not sure if parents still say that. And broadly, deep thinking is discouraged.

1