Public Books
@publicbooks.bsky.social
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Public Books is an online magazine of ideas, arts, and scholarship. www.publicbooks.org
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publicbooks.bsky.social
“HBCUs must reject narratives—rooted in white supremacy—that cast queerness as deviant or divisive. Far-right movements are weaponizing misinformation to erase queer and trans* lives, especially those of color.”
This Is Not a Choice—It Is a Charge: How HBCUs Must Embrace Black Radical Love & Empower Queer and Trans* Students - Public Books
This essay calls in HBCUs to recommit to Black queer and trans* inclusion.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
The Gates Foundation’s bias toward assessable skills, mass testing, and “workforce training” virtually ensured that Common Core standards would give short shrift to any academic discipline not grounded in quantitative learning.
Toward the Higher- and Secondary-Ed Alliance! - Public Books
The influence of K-12 policy and pedagogy on higher ed can perhaps be seen best in the trickle-up effect of the standards of the Common Core.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
“Black queer & trans* students often face a painful contradiction at HBCUs: embraced for being Black but pushed to the margins for their gender and sexual identities.”

New at PB: Jarrel T. Johnson on the ways HBCUs can better support queer & trans* students.
This Is Not a Choice—It Is a Charge: How HBCUs Must Embrace Black Radical Love & Empower Queer and Trans* Students - Public Books
This essay calls in HBCUs to recommit to Black queer and trans* inclusion.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
“Many Americans may not want to stop institutional racism. However, part of why the right’s campaign against affirmative action was so successful is that admissions criteria at selective universities, including public flagships, seem nebulous and arbitrary.”
To Save Public Higher Ed, Stop Revering California’s Tiered System - Public Books
Open admissions to all state-funded public universities could break the competitive concentration of prestige, increase affordability through more egalitarian institutional funding, and restore…
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
New at PB: As part of a series exploring higher ed under Trump, curated by @dennismhogan.bsky.social, @annaeclark.bsky.social discusses the way the Common Core failed us—and opened doors for Trump’s direct attack on academic freedom and funding sources.
Toward the Higher- and Secondary-Ed Alliance! - Public Books
The influence of K-12 policy and pedagogy on higher ed can perhaps be seen best in the trickle-up effect of the standards of the Common Core.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
When colleges take steps to ensure the success of Black and Hispanic men, they run the risk of retaliation from conservatives who would resegregate education.

“But the alternative won’t guarantee being spared from hostile policymakers.”
To Save Higher Ed, Seek Our Black and Hispanic Men - Public Books
Policymakers and institutional leaders seeking to preserve higher education’s functionality should consider the enrollment and completion rates of Black and Hispanic men.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
“Taken together, our roundtable contributors present a suite of ideas that, if enacted, just might make higher education more livable for us all.”
The full series “Higher Ed Under Trump” is live at Public Books. Read all the contributions here:
Toward the Next American University: A Roundtable Discussion on the Future of Higher Ed - Public Books
The path higher education was on before Trump’s reelection was neither certain nor stable. There is not much to go back to now.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
“We must work step by step, in an organizational way, toward direct control of universities. If we do, we’ll be of real use to our knowledge allies in building the self-governing knowledge systems we need to block authoritarian implosion and get a future we want.”
Academics Must Seize the Means of Knowledge Production - Public Books
Trumpism has canceled the knowledge society.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
“This essay calls in HBCUs to recommit to Black queer and trans* inclusion: lifting recent progress and offering strategies rooted in radical love, grassroots leadership, and collective (un)learning.”
This Is Not a Choice—It Is a Charge: How HBCUs Must Embrace Black Radical Love & Empower Queer and Trans* Students - Public Books
This essay calls in HBCUs to recommit to Black queer and trans* inclusion.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
“While we can indeed blame Reagan and the new right for laying the groundwork for public universities’ dependence on tuition, the antidemocratic structure of the California Master Plan laid the groundwork for public education as individual, private good.”
To Save Public Higher Ed, Stop Revering California’s Tiered System - Public Books
Open admissions to all state-funded public universities could break the competitive concentration of prestige, increase affordability through more egalitarian institutional funding, and restore…
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
The first step is for educational institutions to lead and organize open dialogue—with other institutions, local K–12 schools, and community members—about how best to support Black and Hispanic men at every educational step.
To Save Higher Ed, Seek Our Black and Hispanic Men - Public Books
Policymakers and institutional leaders seeking to preserve higher education’s functionality should consider the enrollment and completion rates of Black and Hispanic men.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
New at PB: Jarrel T. Johnson addresses three steps HBCUs can take to empower queer and trans* students in the Trump era: 1) embody a radical love and care ethic. 2) commit to (un)learning. And 3) lead and transform from where you are.
This Is Not a Choice—It Is a Charge: How HBCUs Must Embrace Black Radical Love & Empower Queer and Trans* Students - Public Books
This essay calls in HBCUs to recommit to Black queer and trans* inclusion.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
In a new piece at PB, Christopher Newfield explains how even some of the professoriat exists to serve capital. And those who resist are targeted by Trumpism for obliteration.
Academics Must Seize the Means of Knowledge Production - Public Books
Trumpism has canceled the knowledge society.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
“If graduate student workers were defined as employees under state labor law, our right to unionize would continue to exist.”

New at PB: Jasper Cattell discusses how victories at the state level are a model for student unions.
Our Right to Our Union: Graduate Student Workers Under Threat - Public Books
University leaders may make a show of opposing Trump when funding is under threat, but they will happily align themselves with him in confronting graduate student workers.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
“The CSUs have turned to open admissions. Simplifying access for low income, nontraditional, and Black and brown students through direct admissions is an admirable goal, but the desire to increase enrollment is really a desire to increase tuition receipts.”
To Save Public Higher Ed, Stop Revering California’s Tiered System - Public Books
Open admissions to all state-funded public universities could break the competitive concentration of prestige, increase affordability through more egalitarian institutional funding, and restore…
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
New at PB: Stephanie Reist explains how open admissions to all state-funded public universities could break the competitive concentration of prestige, increase affordability, and restore Americans’ faith in higher education as a public.
To Save Public Higher Ed, Stop Revering California’s Tiered System - Public Books
Open admissions to all state-funded public universities could break the competitive concentration of prestige, increase affordability through more egalitarian institutional funding, and restore…
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
In 2016, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that graduate student workers at private universities are employees, and, therefore, eligible to be represented by unions.

In Trump’s second term, that decision is under threat. What paths forward are there?
Our Right to Our Union: Graduate Student Workers Under Threat - Public Books
University leaders may make a show of opposing Trump when funding is under threat, but they will happily align themselves with him in confronting graduate student workers.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
“Limited victories within the liberal constitutional framework might lull the center and the Left into trying to wait Trump out. This strategy will fail.”

Christopher Newfield explains why the courts won’t save us from Trump’s destruction of the university.
Academics Must Seize the Means of Knowledge Production - Public Books
Trumpism has canceled the knowledge society.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
New at PB: As part of a series exploring higher ed under Trump, curated by @dennismhogan, @ccollins330.bsky.social argues that institutions should lead and organize dialogue about how to support the enrollment and success of Black and Hispanic men.
To Save Higher Ed, Seek Our Black and Hispanic Men - Public Books
Policymakers and institutional leaders seeking to preserve higher education’s functionality should consider the enrollment and completion rates of Black and Hispanic men.
www.publicbooks.org