Journalist – Historian – Speaker
Vilissa Thompson, one of the most important writers on race, gender, and disability, has written a powerful and moving piece on Korryn Gaines, the black disabled woman killed in Baltimore County recently. Thompson writes: To be Black, disabled, and female means that you always have eyes on you. You must be “on” at all times; …
This is a particular bad version of the kind of story we see far too often. LA law enforcement was pursuing a carjacker, found a different black man in a yard, and ordered him to comply. He didn’t comply. So they killed him. The armored vehicles — and the heavily armed deputies inside them — …
Some researchers asked folks who didn’t have specific disabilities whether said disabilities would be worse than death and you know what, those folks said yes! Then journalists write it up as a major clickbaity sciencey news story. It’s got tons of coverage, but in not one case can I find someone who actually talked to …
I’m on vacation. Last week I wrote blog posts and a CNN essay arguing that the urge to characterize Donald Trump as “crazy” relies on stigma around mental illness. I was extremely shocked by the venom in the responses. I never expect to persuade everyone, but if I move the needle a bit and push people to …
First, disclaimers: No academic who doesn’t study social media should have to spend one second of time on social media. No academic using social media for fun and personal contacts should have to promote their work in any way on social media. Institutions that push academics to go public, moreover, as Tressie McMillan Cottom wrote …
Stranger Things is on my TV and it’s totally creepy. Last year, I wrote an essay on Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell for Vice, but it ended up never getting published. I thought The Gentleman was nicely creepy, and enjoyed the openings of The Whispers and Wayward Pines – both of which aimed at creepy, but missed. …
Erik Loomis over at Lawyers, Guns, and Money recently emailed me this pdf of a 1975 article in which Garry Wills, the famous author, argued that George Wallace should be disqualified from running for president due to his “infirmity.” [Update: The great Rick Perlstein gave me the link to the Google News archive of the column, …
The shooting of Charles Kinsey and the subsequent disclosure that his client, Arnold Rios Soto, was being kept in a psychiatric ward in the hospital, sparked some very good writing. Here’s four related pieces by people of color that should get more attention. First, Finn Gardiner, Manuel Díaz, and Lydia X. Z. Brown wrote: “Charles Kinsey’s Story Is About …
I will be writing more fully on this elsewhere, but here’s a storify of Dr. Jill Stein’s tweets about autism and vaccines. I was initially very pleased, but have been convinced that “I’m not aware” is still trying to walk the lines between anti-science conspiracy mongers and the rest of the electorate. Worse, Stein allegedly …
Ever since “political correctness” jumped into mainstream public discourse as first a threat against higher education, then against free speech everywhere, and – with Trump’s campaign – a threat against the very security of our nation, I’ve been making one argument: Power matters. Mostly, it’s not a problem when marginalized people ask for others to …