Professor and Chair of University of Michigan's Joint Program in English & Education. Author, The Dark Fantastic & more. Made in Detroit. FAMU 🐍. 1913 ❤️. August ♌️. She/her. Forthcoming: Shifter and Dreamer (YA novel, Tu Books). Linktree: Ebonyteach.
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Statement tonight from Alan Garber, 31st president of Harvard. Good for him. Good for Harvard. Good for standing up to defend "core values of American higher education." And (again) what about all those "Harvard about to cave" stories? Main point: Worth reading what Garber says.
"Go to an old cemetery. See all the baby graves from before the 1950s & 60s? After that, hardly any. That's when people started vaccinating their children. If you're unsure what to do to protect your kids, the answer is literally written in stone." — Michael Okuda How quick we forget.
oh hey it's pre-order sale time again at @barnesandnoble.com which makes it a great time to pre-order WE WILL RISE AGAIN, an anthology of speculative fiction, essays, interviews about activism, protest, and collective action, edited by @drkarenlord.bsky.social @annaleen.bsky.social & yours truly
Reminder that things are in fact worse quality for more money, that no, Elder Gen Z/millennials/gen x, you're not imagining it, nor should you accept it as "the way things are." Shirts I've had 30 fucking yrs are still wearable, but a shirt I've had 2 months & worn MAYBE twice is already unraveling
They keep losing in court because everything they’re doing is illegal
My mother always told me that if I was feeling bad about myself, I should go help somebody. I’ll have to tell her about these findings.
The President is begging me to call him to bring in the National Guard. I’m not going to beg him for something we don’t want.
enshittification | noun | when a digital platform is made worse for users, in order to increase profits
Just a reminder that Chicago is a beautiful, wonderful, SAFE city filled with friendly people and unmatched cultural experiences and phenomenal food. I love Chicago. I love Chicagoans.
Pritzker: "When did we become a country where it's ok for the US president to insist on national television that a state should call him to beg for anything? Especially something we don't want. Have we truly lost all sense of sanity in this nation that we treat this as normal?"
This is Gouda, Ru, and Rigby. They are three pretty best friends. Despite what you may have heard, this is possible. 12/10 for all (IG: andreaardendogtraining)
We’re back in session after Speaker Johnson let us out early at the end of July, feeling the pressure from our subpoenas for the Epstein files. Today, @oversightdemocrats.house.gov sat down with survivors who endured horrific abuse. What we heard was beyond disturbing. (1/2)
It’s time for these victims receive justice. It’s time for Trump to stop protecting the rich & powerful & to start telling the truth. It’s also time for Republicans in Congress to find the courage to sign the discharge petition that would force a vote to release the Epstein files. (2/2)
From my latest. open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...
Something @graay.bsky.social said the other day has stuck with me-- the panic over trans ppl reached a fever pitch at around the time trans kids afab started to come out in the same numbers as trans kids amab Combined with the fixation on (white) birth rates, it tells an obvious but terrible story
This country had the boomers working two jobs on a grind to educate our kids so we only had two because any more than that was impossible. We were a generation of latchkey kids in the 70s and childcare was $1200.00 a month for two kids thirty years ago. The Brady Bunch was bullshit.
Running daycare centers let me know that it is just not feasible in this economy...yet, they don't do anything about it
That’s enough Internet for now. Let me go over my class notes again & log off for the day 🤦🏾♀️
reposted with alt text
bluesky hasn’t become massive but it’s not because we’re an echo chamber, it’s because we’re annoying in a ton of other ways and i think that’s beautiful
Congratulations!
I can get with this but I really think that these people are bored and also their ideas suck.
For women who came of age in the 70s, it wasn’t much better. Women could choose between their jobs (and careers) or they could have children. No parental leave (paid or unpaid). No credit on your own name until 1974. Some employers fired women who became pregnant. The list went on and on.
They have not incentivized these young people to have kids and they know it. They neglected us Xers, snatched the rug out from under the Millennials’ finances, traumatized Gen Z… now they want the birth rate to go up?! Give folks single payer healthcare, UBI, housing & a year or two off. Or STFU!
I believe it. They refuse accountability.
No one gave a damn about our birth rates then *or* now. They are not angry that we didn’t have kids; quite the contrary. If they’d ever stop waging this nonsensical eternal war *against people in their own country,* we’d have a healthier, safer, and more sustainable society. With *wanted* babies!
The birth rate discourse makes me snark in Black Gen X… they criminalized Black parents (teen & single) back when we were growing up. Reagan literally made our reproduction a campaign issue! (Read Professor Dorothy E. Roberts’ work!) Many of us Black late 1970s babies had kids late or not at all… 🤷🏾♀️
Happy to take the birthrate people seriously the second one of them is like omg, have you seen the black infant mortality death rate? We’re losing out on so many lovely black babies!
If we can't touch and agree on this you are in the wrong space. Please find the nearest exit.
Gonna be banging this fucking sign for the next three years.
Congratulations!
A friend snapped this pic and sent it to me yesterday. It's from yesterday's large march in Chicago. Thank to the protester for bringing me along :)
Being on social media is fine but if it’s getting in the way of you doing deep reading and deep thinking, then your balance of how you spend your time is off Lots of interesting threads here and none of them are a substitute for reading a good book or essay
Reposting for those who start today:
What’s funny is this article was preceded by six months of “ok, white nationalism doesn’t make any sense, but there must be something in there that’s good for the economy.”
Ohio State has not beaten Michigan in football for 2100 days. #GoBlue #Michigan #BeatOhio
Go blue.
This seems weirdly unsustainable at first, but it's OK because we're building a Dyson sphere around the solar system to host it.
Exactly! General parenting isn’t permissive parenting.
GO BLUE!!! 💛💙Game time is 1 hour away! 🏈
Completely agree.
I think the healthiest households for kids are the ones where they know they will never be without love or care…but they also know there are lines and two-way respect. Or as James Brown said…”don’t start none, won’t be none.”
It reminds me of the difference between unschooling and just neglecting to educate your kids.
We are *all* special and important (running errands error)
Gentle parenting can be good when done well. Permissive parenting is… generally not very good. We are are special and important. We also all share this world with others. Just this educator aunt’s unsolicited opinion 🤷🏾♀️
Lost her virginity on her mother’s grave, kept her husband’s calcified heart on her. Goths wish they could.
"It took her nearly two decades to find a permanent academic position. She found occasional work as a visiting professor, filling in for someone on leave for a year or two. She earned grants to fund her research... but she was often living on unemployment benefits" www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/s...
the horrors persist and so do my deadlines
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
Honestly, even if you are under 45, ask your doctor if you have any indication whatsoever to get a #colonoscopy now because a) I have seen metastatic #colorectal cancer in some very young patients (20s-30s) b) RFK Jr = "if you get cancer, you deserve to die, no cancer screening for you"
Generally, indications for someone to get screened before age 45 (I had several of these, hence being approved at age 38): - #anemia (Hemoglobin less than normal for your gender) - #irondeficiency (low iron, ferritin levels) - family history of either GI cancer or pre-cancerous colon polyps
Sounds good! I was afraid to take that stuff too, but I feel like I’ve gotten my life back! Have a great holiday weekend… I’ll be thinking of you!
I’m truly, truly sorry about that.
Ouch! Yeah... my podiatrist told me "about your flip flops..." 😭
How lovely! Thank you so much. :)
Literally that's what they told me!!! "Well, you're looking at 50!" 😂😭 I was like, "Wait, that's a thing?"
Sis, go and ask your doc about hormone replacement. The new advice is that it doesn't cause cancer or other issues... it may actually prevent early onset dementia! HRT this summer has given me my brain back... I wish I'd started sooner! thepauselife.com
Sending love to all my Gen Xers, Millennials, Gen Z, and our elder Boomer sibs. We're all going through this thing called life together. ☔ Hope you get moments of rest and reflection this Labor Day weekend. Don't forget to breathe!
Thankfully, I didn't hurt myself badly. It was just that, as my physical therapist said this morning, the muscles in my foot and ankle are weak and stiff. Overall strength training is the goal when I get out of PT around Halloween. 🏃🏾♀️
For me, getting older hasn't been about the loss of youthful beauty. I've always had an elite fan club 😎; I was never the kind of girl who stopped traffic. For me, it's been the slow loss of overall vitality. The brain fog of my mid-to-late 40s has been the *worst.* HRT has given me my mind back.
I don't have back pain or knee pain (yet)... ...but my feet and ankles are starting to give out. I had plantar fasciitis in my right foot last year. Did PT. This year, my left ankle kept going out. Fell down the stairs in November, and then again in June. So I'm back in physical therapy. Again.
Also keep an eye on thyroid ❤️🩹
LOL! '74 is alright with me... you were seniors when we were freshmen!
This is why we don't need that man in charge of our health for much longer. Too much is at stake.
I'm so sorry about your Mom... and perpetually angry that we don't have single payer / Medicare for all. Depending on the state, some places offer free or discounted screenings. Truly hoping you're able to access the healthcare that you need. www.cancercare.org/questions/354
😂😂😂
😂... that's me too! I've got 'em all except shingles, and that's due to my darn insurance! I'm considering just paying out of pocket.
Last year when I turned 50, I started collecting vaxes like they're Pokemons. Covid, flu, shingles, pneumonia, MMR, TDAP. I've got a CVS appointment in two weeks for RSV, latest covid, and flu. My collection is almost complete.
Boosting your advice! Thinking of you as you undergo treatment.
My thing is cancer screenings. I've been fighting multiple unrelated fairly advanced cancers because I didn't know to ask for tests early enough. In particular, if you have a Y chromosome, a PSA test is a simple blood test, no excuse for putting it off.
And keep an eye on your iron levels! Low iron can cause sooooo many issues.
I'm anxious about it too. They really should make the age 45 already... just like they pushed down the age colon screenings a few years ago.
This is why we don't need that man in charge of our health for much longer. Too much is at stake.
Oh, wait, one more midlife thing: keep an eye on your blood pressure and cholesterol, especially if you don't or can't go to annual checkups. It's heart disease and high blood pressure that takes my family members out of here. Both of my parents have had heart attacks - Mom survived, Dad didn't.
My stepdad died of colorectal cancer. He was 65 but he also didn't like or trust doctors. By the time he went in, he was Stage 4 and there wasn't much they could do. I guess that's why I'm passionate about it.
People hate the prep. Honestly it’s not as bad as it sounds and the advantage is you don’t die of cancer. Family history so had a few. Book your appointment.
And my PCP and I keep bothering my insurance company for it before RFK Jr throws all the shingrix into a wormhole or the vortex or something 😂
77 babies are automatic follows for me... best year ever! 😆
Yes! You can get pneumonia vax @ 50, and if you have pre-existing conditions like asthma!
The advice I've heard is that the colonoscopy is best for most... if you get Cologuard approved by your doctor and it flags something, sometimes you have to pay for the full colonoscopy out of pocket. Definitely ask your doctor about your best options!
Yep, for me, it's been early mammograms - which aren't as bad, granted. Colonoscopy prep really is getting better and better, isn't it? I've only ever had one in my mid-20s (to determine if I had UC) and I was determined not to repeat the experience back then 😭
Speaking as a Milennial who's been having them since I was 15 (family history woooo.) They are REALLY not bad. The prep is shitty (lol), but way better than it used to be 20 years ago. (Still can't drink apple juice, thanks mom.)
Whoops, wrong post! I'm glad they found it.
💜💜💜
Very important PSA! (really, no one wants to think about them - but you need one - and it's a very easy way to catch a kind of cancer that's totally preventable - and the prep sucks - but it's way better than dying of something preventable!)
So so glad you went in! Truly...
I'm a '78. Docs found a tumor during my colonoscopy. I hadn't felt any symptoms. Was a lifesaver!!
Prevention is the name of the game in midlife. Let's GO! (This rant was inspired by my utter exhaustion and sadness over seeing so many Gen Xers and elder Millennials gone too soon... long before retirement age... and our parents before us.)
Love my bicentennial babies! The cohort born in '76! One year before my own. We grew up together! Along with your 50th birthday plans, don't forget to put on your calendar or planner "schedule shingles vax" (yes, I get it, RFK Jr, whatevs, we're getting it). You too, 1975! What y'all waiting on?!
1980 is the very last Gen X birth year. '80 babies, if you haven't scheduled your colonoscopy yet, it's time! Next year, the 1981 babies turn 45. Which means it's time for Millennials to join in the fun! If you haven't already, put on your digital calendar for January to schedule your colonoscopy.
If you were born in 1985 or earlier, and you have breasts, and you haven't had your first mammogram, here's a gentle nudge to get on that ASAP. If you were born in 1986, make it one of your New Year's Resolutions.
💗... so very glad that you did! Thanks for the shout! (If you're seeing this post, here's your reminder to schedule your mammogram!)
Yeah, the Dems bear blame here, too. We gave them the government back between 2006 (Congress wins) through 2012... and they chose to lean into the neoliberal project.
Thank you so much!
I was so angry. So damn angry.
I took a group of ss down for the spring break after Katrina working with Mennonite Disaster Services—we went to the Huma area but driving through NO was crazy—blacked out areas, streetlights still down, Superdome damage unrepaired—unbelievable…
Barbara Gordon 