will tchakirides
@willtchak.bsky.social
public historian amplifying HBCU radio voices // HTX
willtchakirides.com
willtchakirides.com
Reposted by will tchakirides
Again it’s not good that the most prominent leaders of the party keep insisting it’s a trap to talk about “identity” when the Trump administration is pushing white supremacy.
Speaking at a Texas Tribune Festival on Friday, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg criticized the Democratic Party for failing to reach everyday Americans, arguing that it “got sucked in” to a conversation about identity. #TribFest25
Pete Buttigieg critiques Democrats for focus on identity
The former U.S. transportation secretary said the Democratic Party should focus more on issues gripping the country, such as health care and housing affordability.
www.texastribune.org
November 14, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Again it’s not good that the most prominent leaders of the party keep insisting it’s a trap to talk about “identity” when the Trump administration is pushing white supremacy.
Reposted by will tchakirides
Tomorrow. D.C. The National Mall. Sunup to sundown.
October 26, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Tomorrow. D.C. The National Mall. Sunup to sundown.
Reposted by will tchakirides
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!!
The University of Texas-Austin is beginning a process to eliminate the Black Studies, Latino Studies, and Gender Studies departments in the College of Liberal Arts. This is a grave threat to the educational liberty of students, faculty, staff, and the people of Texas. 1/
The University of Texas-Austin is beginning a process to eliminate the Black Studies, Latino Studies, and Gender Studies departments in the College of Liberal Arts. This is a grave threat to the educational liberty of students, faculty, staff, and the people of Texas. 1/
October 13, 2025 at 4:37 PM
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!!
The University of Texas-Austin is beginning a process to eliminate the Black Studies, Latino Studies, and Gender Studies departments in the College of Liberal Arts. This is a grave threat to the educational liberty of students, faculty, staff, and the people of Texas. 1/
The University of Texas-Austin is beginning a process to eliminate the Black Studies, Latino Studies, and Gender Studies departments in the College of Liberal Arts. This is a grave threat to the educational liberty of students, faculty, staff, and the people of Texas. 1/
Reposted by will tchakirides
This is structurally similar to the critique of Zionism as “a machine for the conversion of grief into power.” This is why you see ethnonationalist regimes instantly exploit martyrs to erode norms and increase their power. Victims “on their side” aren’t tragedies—they are fuel.
On Mourning and Statehood: A Response to Joshua Leifer - Dissent Magazine
How to grieve, what meaning to give those tears, is cruelly a political question whether we like it or not.
www.dissentmagazine.org
September 14, 2025 at 3:06 PM
This is structurally similar to the critique of Zionism as “a machine for the conversion of grief into power.” This is why you see ethnonationalist regimes instantly exploit martyrs to erode norms and increase their power. Victims “on their side” aren’t tragedies—they are fuel.
Reposted by will tchakirides
I said something last week that is more broadly applicable today:
Calling for empathy is not neutral or apolitical when only one group of people have been socialized and brutalized into having empathy.
Calling for empathy is not neutral or apolitical when only one group of people have been socialized and brutalized into having empathy.
September 11, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I said something last week that is more broadly applicable today:
Calling for empathy is not neutral or apolitical when only one group of people have been socialized and brutalized into having empathy.
Calling for empathy is not neutral or apolitical when only one group of people have been socialized and brutalized into having empathy.
Reposted by will tchakirides
“Kirk & I were on different sides of most political arguments. We were on the same side of the continued possibility of American politics.”
So it’s personal? B/c if you were a Black woman or transgender, Kirk would not imagine you having any role in the future of American politics.
So it’s personal? B/c if you were a Black woman or transgender, Kirk would not imagine you having any role in the future of American politics.
September 11, 2025 at 3:04 PM
“Kirk & I were on different sides of most political arguments. We were on the same side of the continued possibility of American politics.”
So it’s personal? B/c if you were a Black woman or transgender, Kirk would not imagine you having any role in the future of American politics.
So it’s personal? B/c if you were a Black woman or transgender, Kirk would not imagine you having any role in the future of American politics.
Reposted by will tchakirides
Some of us have studied and understand regeneration through violence as a real rich historical phenomenon; its roots, which run deep and wide, are integral to US national identity, ideology, and mythology.
September 11, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Some of us have studied and understand regeneration through violence as a real rich historical phenomenon; its roots, which run deep and wide, are integral to US national identity, ideology, and mythology.
Reposted by will tchakirides
Which work? Calling for gay people to be stoned to death? Blaming airplane crashes on black pilots? Anti-vax bullshit? Election denialism? Pushing Great Replacement Theory?
Kirk’s murder is awful and ominous for this country. But no, we don’t need to honor him or “continue his work.”
Kirk’s murder is awful and ominous for this country. But no, we don’t need to honor him or “continue his work.”
September 11, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Which work? Calling for gay people to be stoned to death? Blaming airplane crashes on black pilots? Anti-vax bullshit? Election denialism? Pushing Great Replacement Theory?
Kirk’s murder is awful and ominous for this country. But no, we don’t need to honor him or “continue his work.”
Kirk’s murder is awful and ominous for this country. But no, we don’t need to honor him or “continue his work.”
Reposted by will tchakirides
Dems don't want a platform, they want a vocabulary, and that is the fundamental problem
August 26, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Dems don't want a platform, they want a vocabulary, and that is the fundamental problem
Reposted by will tchakirides
Just going to say that there is no need to exceptionalize immigrant jails because every US jail and prison is like this. All of them without exception.
A United States Senate investigation has identified more than 500 credible reports of human rights abuses in US immigration detention since January, including alarming allegations of mistreatment of pregnant women and children.
Senate Probe Uncovers Allegations of Widespread Abuse in ICE Custody
Led by US senator Jon Ossoff, the investigation cites hundreds of reports since January, including accounts of miscarriages, child neglect, and sexual abuse at ICE detention centers in dozens of state...
www.wired.com
August 19, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Just going to say that there is no need to exceptionalize immigrant jails because every US jail and prison is like this. All of them without exception.
glen helen nature preserve
August 13, 2025 at 8:53 PM
glen helen nature preserve
Reposted by will tchakirides
"We’re creating something even more dangerous to the country: A masked monster of a law enforcement agency, one uniquely unsuited for its new power, authority, reach, and funding levels."
Spending $200 billion on ICE is a terrible idea
I've covered federal law enforcement for two decades. Here are the things that worry me most.
www.motherjones.com
August 12, 2025 at 7:25 PM
"We’re creating something even more dangerous to the country: A masked monster of a law enforcement agency, one uniquely unsuited for its new power, authority, reach, and funding levels."
Reposted by will tchakirides
I don't get it. Some of you accuse abolitionists of pipe dreams. The biggest pipe dreams are the ones that insist on prosecutions of the powerful. THIS IS NOT WHAT THE CURRENT CRIMINAL PUNISHMENT SYSTEM EXISTS TO DO. THE PURPOSE OF A SYSTEM IS WHAT IT DOES.
August 1, 2025 at 8:29 PM
I don't get it. Some of you accuse abolitionists of pipe dreams. The biggest pipe dreams are the ones that insist on prosecutions of the powerful. THIS IS NOT WHAT THE CURRENT CRIMINAL PUNISHMENT SYSTEM EXISTS TO DO. THE PURPOSE OF A SYSTEM IS WHAT IT DOES.
Reposted by will tchakirides
It's a weird day for those of us who were only allowed to watch PBS as kids.
August 2, 2025 at 2:19 AM
It's a weird day for those of us who were only allowed to watch PBS as kids.
Reposted by will tchakirides
It's really weird to demand accountability from a NYC mayoral candidate for a deadly NYC shooting rather than the current NYC mayor, an ex-cop who campaigned on a "tough on crime" platform and promptly got indicted for crimes
July 31, 2025 at 4:53 PM
It's really weird to demand accountability from a NYC mayoral candidate for a deadly NYC shooting rather than the current NYC mayor, an ex-cop who campaigned on a "tough on crime" platform and promptly got indicted for crimes
Reposted by will tchakirides
For the second year in a row, Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair is wearing cleats in solidarity Palestine. My coworker @michaelshapiro.bsky.social talked to Azeez last year about them: "The biggest thing I can attest to is just being steadfast in my beliefs."
www.chron.com/sports/texan...
www.chron.com/sports/texan...
Texans star uses 'Free Palestine' cleats to support voiceless
Houston's linebacker is taking a stand.
www.chron.com
July 29, 2025 at 11:52 AM
For the second year in a row, Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair is wearing cleats in solidarity Palestine. My coworker @michaelshapiro.bsky.social talked to Azeez last year about them: "The biggest thing I can attest to is just being steadfast in my beliefs."
www.chron.com/sports/texan...
www.chron.com/sports/texan...
Reposted by will tchakirides
One fascinating thing about the most self-serious newspaper in America with its staff of the winning journalistic meritocrats is that it routinely, institutionally publishes completely made-up bullshit speculation about pure abstractions, based on zero reporting, written as if it were plain facts
![Screenshot of text:
[Highlighting begins] But the shooting may put concerns over gun violence back on voters’ minds, and may lead some to further scrutinize Mr. Mamdani, [Highlighting ends] who has relatively limited experience in government and has not handled a high-profile crisis while in office.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:lyspo2bgxpznqtug5ir2q33g/bafkreihpibcyvb46urauouq4b3futsmsttqayuzk5op6jxvvoeyc7p7mha@jpeg)
July 29, 2025 at 7:23 PM
One fascinating thing about the most self-serious newspaper in America with its staff of the winning journalistic meritocrats is that it routinely, institutionally publishes completely made-up bullshit speculation about pure abstractions, based on zero reporting, written as if it were plain facts
Reposted by will tchakirides
The way that I was raised, being Jewish meant believing that every human life was sacred; to save a single human life meant saving all of humanity. That no law or ritual was more important than saving a single human life.
It's unfathomable that any Jew can accept what Israel is doing in Gaza.
It's unfathomable that any Jew can accept what Israel is doing in Gaza.
July 25, 2025 at 3:15 AM
The way that I was raised, being Jewish meant believing that every human life was sacred; to save a single human life meant saving all of humanity. That no law or ritual was more important than saving a single human life.
It's unfathomable that any Jew can accept what Israel is doing in Gaza.
It's unfathomable that any Jew can accept what Israel is doing in Gaza.
Reposted by will tchakirides
Have you heard the good news?
A forthcoming conference will launch the The Association of Law and Political Economy: a membership organization with a regular annual conference, elected leadership, and an architecture for open participation and collaboration.
A forthcoming conference will launch the The Association of Law and Political Economy: a membership organization with a regular annual conference, elected leadership, and an architecture for open participation and collaboration.
CFP: Inaugural Association of Law and Political Economy Conference
A forthcoming conference will launch the The Association of Law and Political Economy (ALPE): a membership organization with a regular annual conference, elected leadership, and an architecture for…
lpeproject.org
July 17, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Have you heard the good news?
A forthcoming conference will launch the The Association of Law and Political Economy: a membership organization with a regular annual conference, elected leadership, and an architecture for open participation and collaboration.
A forthcoming conference will launch the The Association of Law and Political Economy: a membership organization with a regular annual conference, elected leadership, and an architecture for open participation and collaboration.
Excited to announce the HBCU Radio Preservation Project is hiring a FT Public Historian! As this field goes, the job is multifaceted. You'll work collaboratively, record oral histories, tell stories digitally, help plan symposia, write publicly, and more. Happy to answer any questions bit.ly/4eWchjZ
Job Posting: Public Historian, HBCU Radio Preservation Project
The HBCU Radio Preservation Project seeks a public historian.
www.wyso.org
July 17, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Excited to announce the HBCU Radio Preservation Project is hiring a FT Public Historian! As this field goes, the job is multifaceted. You'll work collaboratively, record oral histories, tell stories digitally, help plan symposia, write publicly, and more. Happy to answer any questions bit.ly/4eWchjZ
Reposted by will tchakirides
I so appreciate this piece by Antonio Ramirez about the history of convict leasing in Florida's swamplands, and the effort by Marjory Stoneman Douglas and others, to end it. In violent and brutal places, there are always people resisting, affirming life, imagining freedom.
time.com/7302799/dark...
time.com/7302799/dark...
The Dark History That Predates Trump's 'Alligator Alcatraz'
The location of Trump's immigrant detention center has a painful history of incarceration, abuse, and private interests.
time.com
July 17, 2025 at 5:52 PM
I so appreciate this piece by Antonio Ramirez about the history of convict leasing in Florida's swamplands, and the effort by Marjory Stoneman Douglas and others, to end it. In violent and brutal places, there are always people resisting, affirming life, imagining freedom.
time.com/7302799/dark...
time.com/7302799/dark...
Reposted by will tchakirides
This is unreal: Houston just made it illegal "for any person to sit or lie down on a sidewalk or on a blanket, stool, or any other object placed upon a sidewalk."
Being unhoused in public is now a criminal offense.
Being unhoused in public is now a criminal offense.
NEW: Houston has made it illegal to sit or lie down on a sidewalk at any time. This is a 24/7 ban on trying to survive in public. It's not camping ban; it's a pure homeless ban.
We will never arrest our way out of homelessness. buff.ly/nH2VUqt
We will never arrest our way out of homelessness. buff.ly/nH2VUqt
§ 40-352. Sitting and lying down on sidewalks., Article XVI. SITTING AND LYING UPON PUBLIC SIDEWALKS, Chapter 40. STREETS AND SIDEWALKS, Code of Ordinances, Houston
(a)
houston-tx.elaws.us
July 16, 2025 at 11:26 PM
This is unreal: Houston just made it illegal "for any person to sit or lie down on a sidewalk or on a blanket, stool, or any other object placed upon a sidewalk."
Being unhoused in public is now a criminal offense.
Being unhoused in public is now a criminal offense.
Reposted by will tchakirides
Prison labor exists but prisons are better characterized as warehouses for the reserve army of labor.
very weird headline when we have had labor camps (prisons) forever newrepublic.com/article/1976...
Are We About to Have Labor Camps in the United States of America?
If you think that’s far-fetched, then you really haven’t been paying attention to what the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have been up to lately.
newrepublic.com
July 7, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Prison labor exists but prisons are better characterized as warehouses for the reserve army of labor.
Reposted by will tchakirides
If you missed this discussion with our co-founder @dreanyc123.bsky.social, @tamikamiddleton.bsky.social, @dnbrgr.bsky.social + @kenyonfarrow.bsky.social
on the importance of interrupting criminalization and abolitionist organizing to fight against fascism/authoritarianism, check out the recording:
on the importance of interrupting criminalization and abolitionist organizing to fight against fascism/authoritarianism, check out the recording:
July 3, 2025 at 3:51 AM
If you missed this discussion with our co-founder @dreanyc123.bsky.social, @tamikamiddleton.bsky.social, @dnbrgr.bsky.social + @kenyonfarrow.bsky.social
on the importance of interrupting criminalization and abolitionist organizing to fight against fascism/authoritarianism, check out the recording:
on the importance of interrupting criminalization and abolitionist organizing to fight against fascism/authoritarianism, check out the recording:
Reposted by will tchakirides
people: mamdani is going to turn NYC into a theocracy!!!!
SCOTUS: it's ok if ur religion thinks being gay is evil and don't want ur kids to read about it in school
SCOTUS: it's ok if ur religion thinks being gay is evil and don't want ur kids to read about it in school
June 27, 2025 at 4:02 PM
people: mamdani is going to turn NYC into a theocracy!!!!
SCOTUS: it's ok if ur religion thinks being gay is evil and don't want ur kids to read about it in school
SCOTUS: it's ok if ur religion thinks being gay is evil and don't want ur kids to read about it in school