L Bates
theafricanus.bsky.social
L Bates
@theafricanus.bsky.social
Pan African Scholar, historian of the US urban environment, Army brat, US Army vet, master electrician, social & environmental justice activist, Life Long Learner

“…ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”
James Baldwin
Reposted by L Bates
#DYK that Josiah Henson defended Amherstburg during the 1837-1838 Upper Canada Rebellion? As Captain of the 2nd Essex Company of Coloured Volunteers which defended Fort Malden from December 1837 through May 1838, Henson participated in the capture of the rebel schooner Anne. #BlackHistoryMonth
February 9, 2026 at 11:09 PM
Reposted by L Bates
Crockett: "The US is falling apart, partially bc he's allowing for killings in the street, but also bc we have a 34 count convicted felon being shielded from any type of accountability as it relates to a child sex trafficking ring. I don't understand why we're pretending any of this is normal."
February 9, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Reposted by L Bates
Time to ditch Discord. I refuse to give any more to the surveillance state and their corporate collaborators than I already have.
February 9, 2026 at 2:30 PM
FBI concluded Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t running a sex trafficking ring for powerful men, files show

apnews.com/article/jeff...
FBI concluded Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t running a sex trafficking ring for powerful men, files show
The FBI pored over Jeffrey Epstein’s bank records and emails. It searched his homes. It spent years interviewing his victims and examining his connections to some of the world’s most influential peopl...
apnews.com
February 8, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Reposted by L Bates
Carter G. Woodson understood perfectly well what the Trump administration is attempting to do with its censorship of American history and why it is so important to fight back. #BlackHistoryMonth open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...
Carter G. Woodson and the Politics of Civil War Memory
His scholarship and understanding of the connection between history and politics has never been more important.
open.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by L Bates
Carter G. Woodson and the Politics of Civil War Memory #BlackHistoryMonth 🗃️ open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...
Carter G. Woodson and the Politics of Civil War Memory
His scholarship and understanding of the connection between history and politics has never been more important.
open.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by L Bates
A federal judge in Oregon issued a sweeping rebuke of the Justice Department’s nationwide push to seize state voter rolls, ruling that the department can no longer be presumed to be acting in good faith and warning that its conduct threatens voters and states’ rights.
Federal judge rules DOJ can ‘no longer’ be trusted in voter roll crusade
The judge pointed to a letter from Bondi to Minnesota that tied federal immigration enforcement to demands for voter data as the smoking gun.
www.democracydocket.com
February 7, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Neo-conservatives and the 2nd amendment, watching this unfold could get interesting.

First, They Came for Your Elections. Then, Your Guns. newrepublic.com/article/2061... via @newrepublic.com
First, They Came for Your Elections. Then, Your Guns.
Trump’s fascist regime is running roughshod over states’ rights, obliterating one of the Republican Party’s supposedly most sacred principles.
newrepublic.com
February 7, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by L Bates
Some thoughts about one of the most remarkable witnesses to the violence of Reconstruction and the defiance of African Americans. #BlackHistoryMonth 🗃️ open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...
Henry Adams, the Collapse of Reconstruction, and the Determined Resistance of African Americans
According to historian Steven Hahn, “Among the voices of America’s past, few are as arresting and distinctive as that of the freedman Henry Adams.”
open.substack.com
February 7, 2026 at 2:51 PM
When folk on the political right pine for the “good ole days” this is what they mean.

This is the U.S. history that makes conservative white parents uncomfortable.

To overcome racial inequality, we must confront our history. (@eji.org)
calendar.eji.org/racial-injus...
Feb. 7, 1904 | Black Man and Woman Brutally Tortured and Lynched in Doddsville, Mississippi
Learn more about our history of racial injustice.
calendar.eji.org
February 7, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Tim Scott Has All-Time Pathetic Reaction to Trump’s Racist Obama Video

newrepublic.com/post/206248/... via @newrepublic.com
Tim Scott Has All-Time Pathetic Reaction to Trump’s Racist Obama Video
Someone please tell Senator Tim Scott the White House has already defended the video.
newrepublic.com
February 7, 2026 at 9:31 AM
Reposted by L Bates
Pour one out for every professional political pundit, writer, consultant whatever that has spent the last decade trying to pretend that the Trump phenomenon was about trade or opiates and not a big chunk of white america losing its mind over having a black president bsky.app/profile/kyle...
A screenshot from a video posted on Trump's Truth Social account: truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT...
February 6, 2026 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by L Bates
The entire anti wokeness nonsense of the past decade was about making this kind of gutter racism broadly acceptable again bsky.app/profile/adam...
Pour one out for every professional political pundit, writer, consultant whatever that has spent the last decade trying to pretend that the Trump phenomenon was about trade or opiates and not a big chunk of white america losing its mind over having a black president bsky.app/profile/kyle...
A screenshot from a video posted on Trump's Truth Social account: truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT...
February 6, 2026 at 10:09 AM
Trump administration launches TrumpRx website for discounted drugs

apnews.com/article/trum...
Trump administration launches TrumpRx website for discounted drugs
The Trump administration has launched TrumpRx, a website it says will help patients buy prescription drugs directly at a discounted rate.
apnews.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by L Bates
Here is the latest on the story about the visitor brochures at Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument in Jackson, Mississippi. www.mississippifreepress.org/brochures-ca...
Brochures Calling Medgar Evers’ Killer ‘Racist’ Still Available at Evers Home
Brochures detailing the true history of the racist who killed Medgar Evers are available at his memorialized home in Jackson, Mississippi.
www.mississippifreepress.org
February 6, 2026 at 1:23 AM
Reposted by L Bates
#OTD February 4th, 1964, Leonard Brathwaite, MPP for Etobicoke, used his first speech at Queen's Park to address segregated schooling in Ontario. Braithwaite worked with the South Essex Citizens' Advancement Association who sought to close S.S. #11 in Colchester South in favour of full integration.
February 4, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter crash kills pilot and trooper during shooter response

apnews.com/article/heli...
Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter crash kills pilot and trooper during shooter response
An Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter responding to an active shooter situation has crashed, killing both the pilot and a trooper who was a paramedic.
apnews.com
February 5, 2026 at 1:58 PM
UK leader Starmer apologizes to victims of Epstein for giving Mandelson an ambassador job

apnews.com/article/uk-s...
UK leader Starmer apologizes to victims of Epstein for giving Mandelson an ambassador job
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has apologized to victims of Jeffrey Epstein for appointing Peter Mandelson as the U.K.'s ambassador to Washington.
apnews.com
February 5, 2026 at 1:47 PM