Jeanne Theoharis
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jeannetheoharis.bsky.social
Jeanne Theoharis
@jeannetheoharis.bsky.social
Distinguished Professor at Brooklyn College, Author of The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks and King of the North: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Life of Struggle Outside the South
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
This is a wonderful article, it inspires and keeps things real at the same time. I also found it quite moving:

What we get wrong about the Montgomery bus boycott – and what we can learn from it | Jeanne Theoharis | The Guardian www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
December 7, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
Really good, timely article by one of our most thoughtful historians of the Civil Rights movement: What we get wrong about the Montgomery bus boycott – and what we can learn from it | Jeanne Theoharis www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What we get wrong about the Montgomery bus boycott – and what we can learn from it | Jeanne Theoharis
The movement’s success was never a given. It took much longer and required tremendous sacrifice without certainty it would work
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
An amazing piece by the fabulous Jeanne Theoharis!
While her scholarship uncovers the untold histories, she also shows us why these stories matter today
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

#protest #activism #therebelliousrosaparks #untoldhistory
What we get wrong about the Montgomery bus boycott – and what we can learn from it | Jeanne Theoharis
The movement’s success was never a given. It took much longer and required tremendous sacrifice without certainty it would work
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
This article is such a good reminder that it's understandable to be tired. Change takes time. But you shouldn't let that stop you.

You can't do everything but you should do everything you can. You never know which action will be the spark that's needed.
Like @prisonculture.bsky.social, I've been worried about the ways popular myths of the civil rights movement make it hard to see how to struggle today. On the 70th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, the things we get wrong & what a fuller history shows us: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What we get wrong about the Montgomery bus boycott – and what we can learn from it | Jeanne Theoharis
The movement’s success was never a given. It took much longer and required tremendous sacrifice without certainty it would work
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
I think all the time about how much work went into keeping a bus boycott going. Organizing rides, organizing meals, helping ppl who lost their jobs, ppl in other places raising money to support the work... what ppl saw was the tip of the iceberg.
Like @prisonculture.bsky.social, I've been worried about the ways popular myths of the civil rights movement make it hard to see how to struggle today. On the 70th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, the things we get wrong & what a fuller history shows us: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What we get wrong about the Montgomery bus boycott – and what we can learn from it | Jeanne Theoharis
The movement’s success was never a given. It took much longer and required tremendous sacrifice without certainty it would work
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
Read this and the thread please:
Like @prisonculture.bsky.social, I've been worried about the ways popular myths of the civil rights movement make it hard to see how to struggle today. On the 70th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, the things we get wrong & what a fuller history shows us: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What we get wrong about the Montgomery bus boycott – and what we can learn from it | Jeanne Theoharis
The movement’s success was never a given. It took much longer and required tremendous sacrifice without certainty it would work
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
A must-read!
Like @prisonculture.bsky.social, I've been worried about the ways popular myths of the civil rights movement make it hard to see how to struggle today. On the 70th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, the things we get wrong & what a fuller history shows us: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What we get wrong about the Montgomery bus boycott – and what we can learn from it | Jeanne Theoharis
The movement’s success was never a given. It took much longer and required tremendous sacrifice without certainty it would work
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
From the classroom perspective, it's pretty easy to get students to understand good v evil; simple heroism and simple villainy.

But what @jeannetheoharis.bsky.social points out here is so important: students need to understand what it means to fight an evil SYSTEM, an "accumulation of injustice."
Like @prisonculture.bsky.social, I've been worried about the ways popular myths of the civil rights movement make it hard to see how to struggle today. On the 70th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, the things we get wrong & what a fuller history shows us: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What we get wrong about the Montgomery bus boycott – and what we can learn from it | Jeanne Theoharis
The movement’s success was never a given. It took much longer and required tremendous sacrifice without certainty it would work
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
oh man this was excellent, i learned a lot. so much that's useful for the times we're living through!
Like @prisonculture.bsky.social, I've been worried about the ways popular myths of the civil rights movement make it hard to see how to struggle today. On the 70th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, the things we get wrong & what a fuller history shows us: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What we get wrong about the Montgomery bus boycott – and what we can learn from it | Jeanne Theoharis
The movement’s success was never a given. It took much longer and required tremendous sacrifice without certainty it would work
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
Do something. Maybe it won’t work. Do it anyway. Maybe it will or maybe it will inspire someone else to do something that will.
People today get mired in 'the right action.' Many criticize current actions as being disruptive or improbable. But the biggest lesson of the boycott is that wewill not know what will work—you have to take step after step, it will be lonely, people will call it disruptive, but you must do it anyway.
December 7, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Like @prisonculture.bsky.social, I've been worried about the ways popular myths of the civil rights movement make it hard to see how to struggle today. On the 70th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, the things we get wrong & what a fuller history shows us: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What we get wrong about the Montgomery bus boycott – and what we can learn from it | Jeanne Theoharis
The movement’s success was never a given. It took much longer and required tremendous sacrifice without certainty it would work
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
We restored the zip ties on baby Jesus. The #Christmas story is literally about an authoritarian ruler using violence, causing fear, and eventually driving the holy family to become refugees in Egypt. The parallels couldn't be more clear between scripture and our nativity. We're not going anywhere.
December 6, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
What to get for the teacher who's furious about book bans
December 5, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Starting in 10 minutes!
Tonight! 6:30 EST online, the Schomburg's Conversations in Black Freedom Studies is having a special program on the 30th anniversary of Charles Payne's I've Got the Light of Freedom with @profjeffries.bsky.social, Emilye Crosby, Tess Raser, Charlie Cobb & Charles Payne! youtube.com/live/8IZksfH...
Reflections on SNCC History: 30 Years of I've Got The Light of Freedom
YouTube video by Schomburg Center
youtube.com
December 4, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Tonight! 6:30 EST online, the Schomburg's Conversations in Black Freedom Studies is having a special program on the 30th anniversary of Charles Payne's I've Got the Light of Freedom with @profjeffries.bsky.social, Emilye Crosby, Tess Raser, Charlie Cobb & Charles Payne! youtube.com/live/8IZksfH...
Reflections on SNCC History: 30 Years of I've Got The Light of Freedom
YouTube video by Schomburg Center
youtube.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month.

This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!

Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
December 3, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
"A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History" by @jeannetheoharis.bsky.social #booksky #bookchallenge
December 2, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
Thread. Also, Theoharis' bio of Parks is fire.
Today is the 70th anniversary of Rosa Parks' arrest. Six myths: 1) She wasn't old or tired. 42 years old that day, she had a "life history of being rebellious" & had spent two decades helping to turn the Montgomery NAACP into a more activist branch alongside ED Nixon and Johnnie Carr.
December 1, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
1/ For six months, I've been traveling the world on Pulitzer Ctr & Fund For Investigative Journalism grants investigating Trump's effect on HIV & LGBTQ health. On World AIDS Day, @theintercept.com is publishing an overview essay of Afeef Nessouli & my findings. theintercept.com/2025/12/01/w...
Trump Gutted AIDS Health Care at the Worst Possible Time
By the first World AIDS Day of his second term, Trump gutted LGBTQ+ employment globally and put humanity at greater risk of AIDS.
theintercept.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Today is World AIDS Day and the 70th anniversary of Rosa Parks’ bus stand A lifelong activist, Parks was also a lifelong quilter and contributed her talents to sew squares for the AIDS quilt: www.changethepattern.org/stories/rp?r...
www.changethepattern.org
December 1, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
Incredible thread - remember the real Rosa Parks, not the watered down, convenient myth Rosa Parks.
Today is the 70th anniversary of Rosa Parks' arrest. Six myths: 1) She wasn't old or tired. 42 years old that day, she had a "life history of being rebellious" & had spent two decades helping to turn the Montgomery NAACP into a more activist branch alongside ED Nixon and Johnnie Carr.
December 1, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
Thread of the Day:
Today is the 70th anniversary of Rosa Parks' arrest. Six myths: 1) She wasn't old or tired. 42 years old that day, she had a "life history of being rebellious" & had spent two decades helping to turn the Montgomery NAACP into a more activist branch alongside ED Nixon and Johnnie Carr.
December 1, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
Debunking myths about Mother Rosa Parks, an icon of the Civil Rights Movement and (as we knew her growing up) a great Detroiter. 💐
Today is the 70th anniversary of Rosa Parks' arrest. Six myths: 1) She wasn't old or tired. 42 years old that day, she had a "life history of being rebellious" & had spent two decades helping to turn the Montgomery NAACP into a more activist branch alongside ED Nixon and Johnnie Carr.
December 1, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
The most important part here, for me, is how nothing about her action that day indicated it would be impactful.

That’s should be a strong lesson for all the doomers in your life.
Today is the 70th anniversary of Rosa Parks' arrest. Six myths: 1) She wasn't old or tired. 42 years old that day, she had a "life history of being rebellious" & had spent two decades helping to turn the Montgomery NAACP into a more activist branch alongside ED Nixon and Johnnie Carr.
December 1, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Reposted by Jeanne Theoharis
Thread.

And The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis is a great and informative read.
Today is the 70th anniversary of Rosa Parks' arrest. Six myths: 1) She wasn't old or tired. 42 years old that day, she had a "life history of being rebellious" & had spent two decades helping to turn the Montgomery NAACP into a more activist branch alongside ED Nixon and Johnnie Carr.
December 1, 2025 at 3:56 PM