Chinemelu Okafor
@chinemeluokafor.bsky.social
Fourth-year PhD Candidate at Harvard University studying politics and economics🧚🏿♀️
www.chinemeluokafor.com
www.chinemeluokafor.com
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
The hepatitis B vaccination is an essential safety net for newborns.
Without vaccination, as many as 9 in 10 infants infected with hepatitis B in their first year of life will develop chronic infection that can lead to liver failure and death.
publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/why-hep...
Without vaccination, as many as 9 in 10 infants infected with hepatitis B in their first year of life will develop chronic infection that can lead to liver failure and death.
publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/why-hep...
October 15, 2025 at 2:42 PM
The hepatitis B vaccination is an essential safety net for newborns.
Without vaccination, as many as 9 in 10 infants infected with hepatitis B in their first year of life will develop chronic infection that can lead to liver failure and death.
publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/why-hep...
Without vaccination, as many as 9 in 10 infants infected with hepatitis B in their first year of life will develop chronic infection that can lead to liver failure and death.
publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/why-hep...
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
After becoming a congressional leader, a politician’s stock portfolio beats out those of peers by 47 (!!!) percentage points a year through trades timed around bills and firms that later get government contracts
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
December 3, 2025 at 1:42 AM
After becoming a congressional leader, a politician’s stock portfolio beats out those of peers by 47 (!!!) percentage points a year through trades timed around bills and firms that later get government contracts
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
🌟🇬🇳 New MPP scholarship for Guinean Students
We are pleased to share that a new scholarship is being funded to support one student from Guinea to study for the Master of Public Policy.
Apply by 2 December 25!👇
https://ow.ly/Um8p50Xy1tg
We are pleased to share that a new scholarship is being funded to support one student from Guinea to study for the Master of Public Policy.
Apply by 2 December 25!👇
https://ow.ly/Um8p50Xy1tg
New MPP scholarship for Guinean students
We are delighted to announce that the Simandou Academy will fund a new scholarship supporting one student from Guinea to pursue the Master of Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government.
ow.ly
November 26, 2025 at 2:02 PM
🌟🇬🇳 New MPP scholarship for Guinean Students
We are pleased to share that a new scholarship is being funded to support one student from Guinea to study for the Master of Public Policy.
Apply by 2 December 25!👇
https://ow.ly/Um8p50Xy1tg
We are pleased to share that a new scholarship is being funded to support one student from Guinea to study for the Master of Public Policy.
Apply by 2 December 25!👇
https://ow.ly/Um8p50Xy1tg
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
Stephen Miller’s ancestors were Jewish refugees from the pogroms in czarist Russia. They came to the U.S. in the early twentieth century, even as racists said this same stuff about them.
Stephen Miller is now arguing that assimilation is fundamentally impossible and that certain cultures are not compatible with Western civilization
November 28, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Stephen Miller’s ancestors were Jewish refugees from the pogroms in czarist Russia. They came to the U.S. in the early twentieth century, even as racists said this same stuff about them.
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
For millions of Indigenous Americans, Thanksgiving is tied to a history of invasion, displacement, and devastation as settlers took over the land that is now the US aje.io/bb1ezw
Thanksgiving: A story of celebration and pain, in maps
It's a day to give thanks. But for millions of Indigenous Americans, it also serves as a reminder of loss.
aje.io
November 27, 2025 at 8:23 PM
For millions of Indigenous Americans, Thanksgiving is tied to a history of invasion, displacement, and devastation as settlers took over the land that is now the US aje.io/bb1ezw
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
Join me at @propublica.org in one of the most rewarding jobs in journalism, guiding collaborative investigative projects in local newsrooms around the country as a senior editor with our Local Reporting Network!
We’d love to see your application by Dec 8.
We’d love to see your application by Dec 8.
Senior Editor, Local Reporting Network
Remote, United States
job-boards.greenhouse.io
November 26, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Join me at @propublica.org in one of the most rewarding jobs in journalism, guiding collaborative investigative projects in local newsrooms around the country as a senior editor with our Local Reporting Network!
We’d love to see your application by Dec 8.
We’d love to see your application by Dec 8.
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
🆕 Cash transfers & agency: What Nigerian couples reveal about household power
Mehrab Bakhtiar @ifpri.org, Marcel Fafchamps, @markusgold.bsky.social @cgdev.org, Kenneth Leonard & Sreelakshmi Papineni on the interplay between empowerment & norms ⤵️ voxdev.org/topic/social...
Mehrab Bakhtiar @ifpri.org, Marcel Fafchamps, @markusgold.bsky.social @cgdev.org, Kenneth Leonard & Sreelakshmi Papineni on the interplay between empowerment & norms ⤵️ voxdev.org/topic/social...
Cash transfers and agency: What Nigerian couples reveal about household power
In Nigeria, cash transfers to women increase their desire for agency but only when husbands can't see it – revealing the complex interplay between economic empowerment and social norms.
voxdev.org
November 25, 2025 at 8:38 AM
🆕 Cash transfers & agency: What Nigerian couples reveal about household power
Mehrab Bakhtiar @ifpri.org, Marcel Fafchamps, @markusgold.bsky.social @cgdev.org, Kenneth Leonard & Sreelakshmi Papineni on the interplay between empowerment & norms ⤵️ voxdev.org/topic/social...
Mehrab Bakhtiar @ifpri.org, Marcel Fafchamps, @markusgold.bsky.social @cgdev.org, Kenneth Leonard & Sreelakshmi Papineni on the interplay between empowerment & norms ⤵️ voxdev.org/topic/social...
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
From North Carolina to Mississippi, Black-owned farms are filling the gaps left by SNAP funding delays
Black-Owned Farms Fill Gaps Left by SNAP Funding Delays
From North Carolina to Mississippi, small businesses work to feed their communities while benefits are paused.
capitalbnews.org
November 9, 2025 at 2:25 PM
From North Carolina to Mississippi, Black-owned farms are filling the gaps left by SNAP funding delays
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
In light of recent events, it seems like a good time to reup this.
“The way out isn't about left versus right; it's about clean versus corrupt, reform versus a rigged system, the people versus oligarchs.”
“The way out isn't about left versus right; it's about clean versus corrupt, reform versus a rigged system, the people versus oligarchs.”
The Democrats' Path Forward: Become the Anti-Corruption Party
But to reform the system they first need to reform the Democratic Party.
open.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:59 PM
In light of recent events, it seems like a good time to reup this.
“The way out isn't about left versus right; it's about clean versus corrupt, reform versus a rigged system, the people versus oligarchs.”
“The way out isn't about left versus right; it's about clean versus corrupt, reform versus a rigged system, the people versus oligarchs.”
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
CNBC - US job cuts last month surged 183% from September and went up 175% from than the same month a year ago. This is now the worst year for layoffs since 2009. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/06/job-c...
Job cuts in October hit highest level for the month in 22 years, Challenger says
Job cuts for October totaled 153,074, a 183% surge from September.
www.cnbc.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:02 PM
CNBC - US job cuts last month surged 183% from September and went up 175% from than the same month a year ago. This is now the worst year for layoffs since 2009. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/06/job-c...
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
Doing a PhD can be lonely, but it doesn’t have to be.
At the 4th ACES Political Economy Summer School in Zanzibar, 23 young researchers came together to learn, & build the future of economic research📊.
Read more 👇
theigc.org/blogs/reflec...
#PoliticalEconomy @comparativeecon.bsky.social
At the 4th ACES Political Economy Summer School in Zanzibar, 23 young researchers came together to learn, & build the future of economic research📊.
Read more 👇
theigc.org/blogs/reflec...
#PoliticalEconomy @comparativeecon.bsky.social
Building research communities: Reflections from the 4th ACES Summer School
What ACES learned about supporting early-career researchers from hosting a summer school with the African School of Economics
theigc.org
November 6, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Doing a PhD can be lonely, but it doesn’t have to be.
At the 4th ACES Political Economy Summer School in Zanzibar, 23 young researchers came together to learn, & build the future of economic research📊.
Read more 👇
theigc.org/blogs/reflec...
#PoliticalEconomy @comparativeecon.bsky.social
At the 4th ACES Political Economy Summer School in Zanzibar, 23 young researchers came together to learn, & build the future of economic research📊.
Read more 👇
theigc.org/blogs/reflec...
#PoliticalEconomy @comparativeecon.bsky.social
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
JUST IN: Mamdani, a democratic socialist and state assemblymember, will make history as the first Muslim and South Asian person — as well as the youngest in over a century — to serve as New York City mayor.
Mamdani wins New York City mayoral race, in a historic victory for progressives
Mamdani, a democratic socialist and state assemblymember, will make history as the first Muslim and South Asian person — as well as the youngest in over a century — to serve as New York City mayor.
n.pr
November 5, 2025 at 2:39 AM
JUST IN: Mamdani, a democratic socialist and state assemblymember, will make history as the first Muslim and South Asian person — as well as the youngest in over a century — to serve as New York City mayor.
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Zohran Mamdani wins New York City mayor’s race.
November 5, 2025 at 2:38 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Zohran Mamdani wins New York City mayor’s race.
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
Decision Desk HQ has declared Democrat Zohran Mamdani the winner of the NYC mayoral race, currently the only US outlet to do so.
🟠 LIVE updates: aje.io/c1ytm0
🟠 LIVE updates: aje.io/c1ytm0
High turnout as polls set to close in NYC’s Mamdani-Cuomo mayoral race
Results expected shortly after polling stations close at 9pm on Tuesday (02:00 GMT on Wednesday).
aje.io
November 5, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Decision Desk HQ has declared Democrat Zohran Mamdani the winner of the NYC mayoral race, currently the only US outlet to do so.
🟠 LIVE updates: aje.io/c1ytm0
🟠 LIVE updates: aje.io/c1ytm0
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
This is a lie: www.propublica.org/article/immi...
October 30, 2025 at 5:25 PM
This is a lie: www.propublica.org/article/immi...
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
The government shutdown has put SNAP benefits at risk for millions of Americans. Travis Peters, an urban farmer in Detroit, is giving out free produce tomorrow
'If it's getting tight, my food is free. Don’t even sweat that'
'If it's getting tight, my food is free. Don’t even sweat that'
As SNAP benefits come under threat, a Detroit farmer is stepping up to help fill the void
The federal shutdown has put SNAP benefits at risk for millions of Americans. Urban farmers like Travis Peters are stepping up to ensure their communities can eat.
www.whatimreading.net
October 27, 2025 at 11:06 PM
The government shutdown has put SNAP benefits at risk for millions of Americans. Travis Peters, an urban farmer in Detroit, is giving out free produce tomorrow
'If it's getting tight, my food is free. Don’t even sweat that'
'If it's getting tight, my food is free. Don’t even sweat that'
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
Look. It would be great if there was one simple trick for winning elections. But 'just be more moderate' isn't it.
In fact, you can use the NYT's exact method to 'prove' a 'Progressive Advantage' of +1.4 pts.
This piece shows what's really going on: funded candidates do better than unfunded ones.
In fact, you can use the NYT's exact method to 'prove' a 'Progressive Advantage' of +1.4 pts.
This piece shows what's really going on: funded candidates do better than unfunded ones.
The New York Times’ “Moderation Advantage” Is a Statistical Illusion
After accounting for money and incumbency the supposed electoral bonus for moderate candidates vanishes entirely.
open.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Look. It would be great if there was one simple trick for winning elections. But 'just be more moderate' isn't it.
In fact, you can use the NYT's exact method to 'prove' a 'Progressive Advantage' of +1.4 pts.
This piece shows what's really going on: funded candidates do better than unfunded ones.
In fact, you can use the NYT's exact method to 'prove' a 'Progressive Advantage' of +1.4 pts.
This piece shows what's really going on: funded candidates do better than unfunded ones.
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
One tactic these data guys use online is to dismiss academic work they don’t like by calling it “overly complex” or “disconnected from reality.” I call this anti-rigor propaganda. It’s a move to sour people on serious scholarship when you don’t have better evidence.
Adam addresses it in the piece.
Adam addresses it in the piece.
October 24, 2025 at 3:01 PM
One tactic these data guys use online is to dismiss academic work they don’t like by calling it “overly complex” or “disconnected from reality.” I call this anti-rigor propaganda. It’s a move to sour people on serious scholarship when you don’t have better evidence.
Adam addresses it in the piece.
Adam addresses it in the piece.
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
Awful finding in a new study: airborne mercury from gold mining is contaminating food in Nigeria.
Reminds me of when I went to the Brazilian Amazon in 2019 and found that mercury miners were dumping in river tributaries was making Indigenous villagers sick.
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Reminds me of when I went to the Brazilian Amazon in 2019 and found that mercury miners were dumping in river tributaries was making Indigenous villagers sick.
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Invisible poison: Airborne mercury from gold mining is contaminating African food crops, new study warns
New research reveals airborne mercury from unregulated gold mining is contaminating African food crops directly through the leaves, not the soil, as previously thought. This urgent finding shows plant...
www.eurekalert.org
October 21, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Awful finding in a new study: airborne mercury from gold mining is contaminating food in Nigeria.
Reminds me of when I went to the Brazilian Amazon in 2019 and found that mercury miners were dumping in river tributaries was making Indigenous villagers sick.
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Reminds me of when I went to the Brazilian Amazon in 2019 and found that mercury miners were dumping in river tributaries was making Indigenous villagers sick.
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
The Supreme Court's conservative justices appeared likely to gut Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a decision that would have massive consequences for the future of Black political representation in the South
The Supreme Court Seems Ready To Hand Trump His Dream Of One-Party Rule
The conservative justices appear ready to gut Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The only question is how.
www.huffpost.com
October 15, 2025 at 8:57 PM
The Supreme Court's conservative justices appeared likely to gut Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a decision that would have massive consequences for the future of Black political representation in the South
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
Political scientist colleagues, what is this called, especially in African countries, when the federal government acts in this way?: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Trump Halts Billions in Grants for Democratic Districts During Shutdown
The Trump administration has frozen or canceled nearly $28 billion primarily located in Democratic-led districts, according to an analysis by The New York Times.
www.nytimes.com
October 15, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Political scientist colleagues, what is this called, especially in African countries, when the federal government acts in this way?: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
It’s hard to put into words what it means to lose D’Angelo. Not just the man, but the sound, the feeling, the very essence of soul that he embodied.
Remembering D’Angelo and the Eternal Rhythm of Neo-Soul | Black Girl Nerds
It’s hard to put into words what it means to lose D’Angelo. Not just the man, but the sound, the feeling, the very essence of the man
blackgirlnerds.com
October 14, 2025 at 6:02 PM
It’s hard to put into words what it means to lose D’Angelo. Not just the man, but the sound, the feeling, the very essence of soul that he embodied.
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
This is a breaking news story.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado wins Nobel Peace Prize
This is a breaking news story.
bit.ly
October 10, 2025 at 9:30 AM
This is a breaking news story.
Reposted by Chinemelu Okafor
Good history helps us avoid nostalgia. The great article “Economic History and the Historians” (2020) by Anne McCants reminds me why nostalgia can get us in trouble. Two of her examples are very relevant to today: vaccinations and the popular narrative of some economic “good old days.”
September 29, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Good history helps us avoid nostalgia. The great article “Economic History and the Historians” (2020) by Anne McCants reminds me why nostalgia can get us in trouble. Two of her examples are very relevant to today: vaccinations and the popular narrative of some economic “good old days.”