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Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst

@profirmf.bsky.social

2.3K followers 1.5K following 620 posts

tired Islam, South Asia, race, & religion professor. podcaster. parent. enthusiastic killjoy. drama & drag & bad movie fan. adoptee. occasional TikTokker. she/her. (specifics @ profirmf.com)

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Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst @profirmf.bsky.social · Jul 3

our book is about systems of power—& especially religion

we say repeatedly that religion is what people do

the good & bad & everything

enough white Christian Americans are doing fascism that that is the whole game now

so study up

www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/757650...

Religion Is Not Done with You by Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst, Megan Goodwin: 9780807012758 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

A smart, irreverent, and accessible guide to thinking more deeply about how religion permeates and shapes the world around us –and why you need to understand the work it's doing Religion lurks...

www.penguinrandomhouse.com

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Nina Metz @ninametz.bsky.social · 21h

Facebook removes Chicago-area page dedicated to ICE sightings after Justice Department intervenes

Gift 🔗

Facebook removes Chicago-area page dedicated to ICE sightings after Justice Department intervenes

The Facebook page ICE Sighting-Chicagoland amassed over 70,000 members in recent weeks as the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz” has ramped up in Chicago and the suburbs.

www.chicagotribune.com

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TrumpsTaxes @trumpstaxes.com · 22h

Here is GOP Rep. Mike Lawler, all smiles with the Chair of the NY State Young Republicans Peter Giunta who:

*Said ‘I love Hitler’

*Referred to blacks as ‘the watermelon people’

*Said ‘if your pilot is a she and she looks ten shades darker than someone from Sicily, just end it there.’

#NY17

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 1d

tangentially: can we be done with the fantasy that progress is inevitable and young people are proof of this?

Jared Holt @jaredlholt.bsky.social · 1d

One of the craziest stories I've seen in a long time. If you think Trump and his administration are extreme and depraved, just wait until you learn about the young guns who are positioning themselves to take over the reigns in the next few decades

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

www.politico.com

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 2d

This is correct, in part - as the grim, military historian in me feels the need to note - it is psychologically much harder to get soldiers to open fire on people they view as 'respectable.'

And I dread, with grim increasingly certainty, that we are headed to a point where that matters.

WhatSaraSaid @whatsarasaid.bsky.social · 2d

protests against this government should include white Boomer grandmothers who meet for pilates class, get a pitcher of mimosas & walk together to the public space

we need people in the street who think everyone can talk their way out of a speeding ticket, they're key to winning

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Meredith Shiner @meredithshiner.com · 2d

It’s impossible to overstate how much “abolish ice” is the normie position now here in chicago — just countless random moms at toddler soccer on a park district field asking me where I bought my anti-ice t-shirt. average people don’t like our neighborhoods being terrorized.

laura olin @lauraolin.bsky.social · 3d

A friend ran the Chicago marathon today and said he couldn’t count the number of FUCK ICE signs along the way.

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Dr. Damien P. Williams Wants A Better Sociotechnical Paradigm @wolvendamien.bsky.social · 5d

*Lil Jon Voice* States' Rights to What

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 4d

“need not accept federal funding” is Orwell-speak for we will not give federal funding. But this means government and the public will have no share of research advances. I hope someone soon lists the biggest ones that came out of partnership abt to be destroyed by these latest “tariffs”..conditions

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 4d

If your university will not remake itself in Marc Rowan & May Mailman's preferred image, it can expect a complete shutoff of "federal funds."

To emphasize the point Rowan says it again: "THEY NEED NOT ACCEPT FEDERAL FUNDING"

I hope this will put to rest the credulous "carrot not stick" narrative.

No school will be forced to adhere to the compact’s principles of fairness, civility, neutrality and transparency. If schools do not want to be accountable to these requirements, they need not accept federal funding.

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🎃 a frightful hoxgoblin 🎃 @kellenhoxworth.bsky.social · 5d

Higher Ed in 2025 is opening your mailbox to see that your institution has sent you:

1. A Center for Teaching and Learning call to integrate AI into your classroom; and

2. An Office of Academic Integrity email encouraging you to crack down on students who use AI to cheat.

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Charles Richter, in my Crypt Keeper SCARE-a! @richterscale.bsky.social · 5d

"Mark Bray was teaching courses on the early modern witch craze. Turning Point USA accused him of being a witch, which he denies."

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 6d

you'd think a prominent news outlet like the New York Times might mention that "antifa" isn't an actual organization in a long story about antifa, but nope!

and the subhead helps props up a false claim this professor was up to something seedy as something up for debate

NYT headline: "Rutgers Expert on Antifa Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats"

subheadline: "Mark Bray was teaching courses on antifascism. Turning Point USA accused him of belonging to antifa, which he denies. His flight to Spain was canceled abruptly on Wednesday night."

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Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst @profirmf.bsky.social · 5d

oh thank goodness

Mark Bray @mark-bray.bsky.social · 5d

Our plane to Spain is in the air!

🙌🙌

Thank you so much to the countless people supporting us in every way and in particular all of the Rutgers students and faculty who have supported us every step of the way.

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Mark Bray @mark-bray.bsky.social · 6d

Spoke with cnn while sitting on the floor of my hotel room hallway bc my family were asleep in the other room.

6a E Mark.mp4 - 6a E Mark - Frame.io

next.frame.io

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 5d

Are we great yet?

Mark Bray, a Rutgers University professor and expert on anti-fascist groups, is fleeing to Spain with his family due to death threats that stem from a campaign by Turning Point USA and other conservative groups to get him fired, falsely labeling him as an antifa member.

Antifa expert at Rutgers University says he is moving to Spain because of death threats

An expert on anti-fascist groups who teaches at New Jersey’s flagship state university is moving his family overseas.

apnews.com

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Ruth Zakarin @ruthz.bsky.social · 6d

For those who think this could never happen, I implore you to look up the MOVE bombing in Philly.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 6d

Schiff: "You begin to wonder -- do they believe they have the authority by putting some groups on a list, even domestic groups, to use lethal force against them, with no trial, no due process, no nothing? The reality is we can't rule that out."

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Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst @profirmf.bsky.social · 6d

👇

Mark Bray @mark-bray.bsky.social · 6d

“Someone” cancelled my family’s flight out of the country at the last second.

We got our boarding passes. We checked our bags. Went through security. Then at our gate our reservation ‘disappeared.’

Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst @profirmf.bsky.social · 6d

this is what unions are for

solidarity

RutgersAAUP-AFT @ruaaup-aft.bsky.social · 7d

This week, our colleague Dr. Mark Bray came under attack by Turning Point USA’s Rutgers chapter for his public scholarship. Rutgers AAUP-AFT and the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union condemn this campaign and stand in solidarity with our colleagues. Read our full statement here: https://loom.ly/BDXasRY

Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst @profirmf.bsky.social · 6d

I forgot that happened and now I’m irate all over again

a little girl in a red and purple dress is making an angry face .

ALT: a little girl in a red and purple dress is making an angry face .

media.tenor.com

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 7d

It's easy to say white supremacy is guys burning crosses or going to college campuses and saying that Black gang members are the primary problem with gun violence in the United States

It's harder to admit that it's in all the small ways folks allow people to devalue Black life on a daily basis

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carwil.bsky.social @carwil.bsky.social · 8d

Vanderbilt AAUP: "The Compact is a threat. It aims to control nearly every aspect of university operations. Reject this Trump loyalty oath."

vanderbiltaaup.org/2025/10/06/s...

Statement by the Vanderbilt AAUP Executive Committee on the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”

Vanderbilt’s AAUP chapter stands firmly against Trump’s “Compact,” which aims to control nearly every aspect of university operations. The compact contravenes federal law an…

vanderbiltaaup.org

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Anodyne @anodynesix.bsky.social · 9d

"If [Israel] is treating Greta Thunberg this way, imagine how they are treating [Palestinian] women and children."

Harms Committed @harmscommitted.com · 9d

"Turkish activist Ersin Çelik, who also participated in the Sumud flotilla, told Anadolu that Israeli authorities 'dragged little Greta by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag.'"
#Gaza #Palestine #Israel #California #USA #Turkey #Sweden #Incarceration #Genocide

Israel Condemned as Sumud Flotilla Organizers Report 'Harsh Treatment' in Detention | Common Dreams

US Congressman Ro Khanna demands the release of US citizen David Adler, mistreated in Israeli detention. Will Israel ensure his safety? Greta Thunberg subjected to harsh treatment. Protests worldwide…

www.commondreams.org

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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 9d

Counterpoint: they voted for exactly this.
They might be occasionally uncomfortable with the openly sadistic violent aesthetic of fascism this administration takes such glee in (only aesthetically, mind) but this is what they voted for/what they want.
Rogan especially can stfu forever.

Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 9d

“I voted for none of this."

Prominent influencers, including Theo Von, Joe Rogan, and Andrew Schulz, are starting to distance themselves from the president they helped propel to the White House.

Story: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

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chip goines @chip.bsky.social · 10d

If you're as disgusted by ICE & US Border Patrol's brutality as I am, please remember that is why Sen. Elizabeth Warren & Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley pushed to abolish Qualified Immunity for police officers 5 years ago. It's time.

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Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst @profirmf.bsky.social · 9d

my semi regular reminder to all of us who love to cite Mr Roger’s “look for the helpers” in times of stress

like when folks are being abducted by secret police

that that was advice for children to feel safe in times of crisis or need or fear

YOU are not the looker now

YOU are the helper