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Josephine Baker First American, Black Woman, and Performer Inducted to French Pantheon

"in 1963, Baker addressed the crowd at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. She wore her French Resistance uniform with the string of medals across her breast."

Conservatives Today Carry on Buckley's Legacy of Being Mad at Higher Ed – But Not His Motivation

William F. Buckley warned in 1951 that Yale professors were too heterodox. Today's academic culture warriors are worried that faculty are inculcating an orthodoxy other than their own, argues Virginia Heffernan.

Mississippi Judge Refuses to be Gaslit about State's History in Abortion Rights Case

Judge Carlton Reeves rejected Mississippi's cynical argument, now before the Supreme Court, that its new abortion ban seeks to protect women and African Americans, calling the law a revival of the "old Mississippi" that sought above all to control them. 

An Unknown Supreme Court Clerk Created the "Viability" Standard in Roe v. Wade

by James Robenalt

An improbable series of events brought Larry Hammond to clerk for Justice Lewis Powell, and to devise the principle that abortion should be legal before the viability of the fetus. 

A New Force in American Labor: Academics

A member referendum in the United Auto Workers could make the union more amenable to direct democracy, and potentially make academic workers a major power bloc in the union. 

Barbados Declares Republic, Rejects Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State

Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced last year that the nation of 300,000 would become a republic by Tuesday, the 55th anniversary of its independence.

Are Native Land Acknowledgments Empty Gestures?

by Graeme Wood

Too often, says Atlantic writer Graeme Wood, the rote ackowledgment by a speaker that an event is taking place on land historically occupied by an indigenous people is an empty gesture that short-circuits discussion of Native demands.

Carrie Meek, Trailblazing Black Congresswoman, Dies at 95

Carrie Meek was the daughter of sharecroppers and the granddaughter of a slave; she was elected to Congress from Florida in 1992 as one of the first Black representatives since Reconstruction. 

Virginia's Universities are Part of a Long Racial Reckoning

Virginia was at the center of the American slave trade, the Confederacy, and Jim Crow. It's not surprising that its colleges and universities are the site of intense debate about the legacies of racism. 

Can an Official Government Account of Northern Ireland's Troubles be Credible?

"What is needed is not “official” history, but a decision to properly open sensitive archival material to facilitate the writing of evidence-based history. The political will to facilitate that is highly unlikely to materialise."

Reagan's Go-To Magazine Has Gone Full MAGA – What it Means for Conservatism

"The renaissance of the magazine provides the perfect capsule summary of the conservative movement’s long downward journey from pages to pixels."

Rutgers Gets Mixed Results in Examining Connections to Slavery

"Just five years after the debut of the Scarlet and Black Project—a reference to the university’s colors as well as the African Americans directly impacted by the history—many Rutgers students are unaware of the work, or their school's history."

Climate Change Threatens Smithsonian

“We’re kind of in trial and error,” said Ryan Doyle, a facilities manager at the Smithsonian. “It’s about managing water.”

2 Men Convicted in Malcolm X Assassination to be Exonerated

The investigation by the Manhattan DA did not identify who prosecutors believe did kill Malcolm X, and it does not affirm what many suspect – that law enforcement agencies conspired to assassinate the leader. 

Justus Rosenberg, Beloved Professor With a Heroic Past, Dies at 100

Bard literature professor Justus Rosenberg helped artists and intellectuals free Vichy France, fought in the French Resistance, and aided the allied armies' march across Europe before emigrating to the United States and beginning a long academic career. 

Gosar's Video No Joke; Displays the Violent Impulses in the GOP

by Jean Guerrero

Jason Stanley offers context on the normalization of violence through political rhetoric. 

U. of Florida Dean Says He Was Directed to Reject Professor’s Request to Testify Against the State

by Emma Pettit

His remarks suggest that the decision to bar professors from testifying against the state may have come from the top of UF. 

Ed Bullins, Leading Playwright of the Black Arts Movement, Dies at 86

“He was able to get the grass roots to come to his plays,” the writer Ishmael Reed said in an interview. “He was a Black playwright who spoke to the values of the urban experience. Some of those people had probably never seen a play before.”

How Much is the NRA to Blame for the Gun Culture?

Two new books help to shed light on how the NRA, partisan politicians, and the gun industry "took a political base of hunters and nurtured a new, expanded audience of gun guys," and how they made Americans live in their world. 

‘We’re Preparing For a Long Battle.’ Librarians Grapple With Conservatives’ Latest Efforts to Ban Books

by Olivia B. Waxman

“We’re seeing an unprecedented volume of challenges,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Executive Director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “I’ve worked for ALA for 20 years, and I can’t recall a time when we had multiple challenges coming in on a daily basis.”