iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 6h

These things just showed up back to back on my skyline. Do not put your trust into an LLM. Wait until they invent R2D2.

A photo that shows two posts. The first details how Grok posted Elon’s info including the last 4 digits of his AMEX on twitter.

The second reveals reveals that call shared someone’s bank account details in the company slack.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 19/09/2026

Here’s @jelaniya.bsky.social & @nhannahjones.bsky.social in her Kaepernick jersey. A nourishing conversation for all.

Jelani & Nikole on stage at Columbia talking about politics.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 18/09/2026

The talk should be interesting. The sponsor of the lecture series is… interesting Shoutout to @jelaniya.bsky.social

A photo

BLACK Study (ies)
THE SHAWN "JAY-Z" CARTER LECTURE
NIKOLE Hannah-Jones
of the 1629 Project
IN
CONVERSATION
WITH
JELANI COBB
Dean of Columbia Tournalism School

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 17/09/2026

Alan Moore knew where all of this was headed back when Thatcher and Reagan were running things!

The seven panel layout in the 1985 V for Vendetta comic where the fascist leader Adam Susan confesses his love to the supercomputer Fate. He confesses that "I worship her, I am her slave. No freedom ever was so sweet."

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 10/09/2026

If you're interested in Afrofuturism & also how Queer politics fought for survivability during the AIDS epidemic have I got the event for you!! Hosted by The Center for LGBTQ Studies @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social See you there!

A flyer with the title
LIVING AFTER THE END OF THE WORLD: Afrofuturism as a lens of Leather Politic
Hosted by CLAGS The Center for LGBTQ Studies
LGBTQIA+ Consortium
REGISTER TO ATTEND by clicking the QR code

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 10/09/2026

Please come to this so that we can talk about your archive and so that you can be in community with folks who want to help.

A flyer with a QR code to register for Living After the End of the World: Afrofuturism as a lens of Leather Politic at the CUNY Graduate Center

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 21/07/2026

Every time I see this product in the store I think that someone in marketing read Invisible Man and decided to have a laugh.

Colgate Optic White toothpaste.

A high impact white

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 20/07/2026

Two members of Yale’s board, one Gen X one an older millennial. Neither of them has ever taught a class, or even taken a class in decades. Their primary qualification is the wealth they have accrued since graduating.

A photo of Carter Brooks Simonds & David Sze, two members of Yale’s board eager to suck up to Trump.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 19/07/2026

That's so interesting given that the teenager who leads the Spanish team was doing this in May, and the Prime Minister is arguably the most leftist in all of Europe.

Lemine Yamal waving a Palestinian flag while being paraded through Barcelona

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 18/07/2026

This is Lamine Yamal the 19 year old star of the Spanish National team & FC Barcelona. He did this in May at the parade when Barca won the league. In case you’re not sure whom to root for tomorrow. ⚽️

Lamine Yamal in May at the parade after Barcelona won the league title. Children are the future.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 14/07/2026

Ah yes, when Zidane head butted a racist Italian for calling him a sand n***** that was too much for you. Got it.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 15/06/2026

One bloke, who writes for the Financial Times, said that the England women have reached parity with the rest of the world in ⚽️ I’m sorry but I don’t see how this can possibly be true:

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 06/06/2026

Y’all. These prices are resellers. My homegirl shares two season tickets at MSG for $400 a seat. So yes pricey. For the playoffs they triple the price so $400 becomes $1200. She’s going to game 3 but the couple next to her got rid of their seats for $12k each. So a 100X markup.

A chart from Stubhub displaying crazy prices at MSG.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 03/06/2026

Those interested in archival research and trans studies should join us at @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social tomorrow for a stimulating conversation w. @profmasha.bsky.social @ldevun.bsky.social and others. Lmk if you’d like a link to participate remotely.

June 4, 2026
Ghosting & Alienation
1345-1660

Masha Raskolnikov
(English, Cornell University)
Leah DeVun
(History, Rutgers University)
Sophia Núñez
(Spanish and Iberian Studies, Grinnell College)
Christopher Richards
(Art History, University of Alaska-Anchorage)
C. Libby
(Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Penn State)
Miles Grier
(English, CUNY Queens College)
Jes Boon
(Religious Studies, UNC-Chapel Hill)
Mel Cowdery
(English and Comparative Literature, UNC-Chapel

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 28/05/2026

And that’s before you dangle the prospect of generational wealth in front of parents who have nothing. Posting this picture again so that you can see that I’m slouching because I’m TALLER THAN THE DOOR. Guess what everyone wanted me to do growing up?

A picture of Jonathan at the dissertation defense of Dr. Dasharah Green. He’s slouching so as to not look over everyone even more than usual

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 26/05/2026

Wow. The scene outside the Garden right now.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 13/05/2026

Adam makes an important point here, one that we should keep top of mind. Life isn’t fair but these are the circumstances under which we struggle.

Adam Serwer from his latest article: One might object that demanding that activists and protesters remain peaceful in the face of violence wielded by state officials and right-wing groups is a double standard.
Well, that's true. But it's always been true.
That double standard is written into both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, documents whose references to "insurrections" included slave revolts.
Americans have always been more tolerant of state and right-wing-vigilante violence— lynchings, soldiers firing at striking workers, the New York City police riot of 1992, the January 6 insurrection—than of violence from the left. That double standard is part of Americas political topography and cannot be wished or argued away. It can only be outmaneuvered.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 26/04/2026

Please join us for a discussion of Scholasticide in Gaza. The resilience of Prof. Junina defies attempts to erase Palestinians. Please LMK if you have any issues with links. Attn: @diplomatofnight.com @erinbiba.bsky.social @observer46664.bsky.social

From Scholasticide to Knowlash:
Reimagining Academic Freedom in Gaza
Dr. Ahmed Junina
Al Aqsa University, Gaza
Respondents: Siraj Ahmed (CUNY),
Karim Mattar (U of Colorado),
Vasuki Nesiah (NYU), & Sara Pursley (NYU)
Moderators: Britt Munro (CUNY)
& Tony Alessandrini (CUNY)
Register:
https://tinyurl.com/EducationGaza
APRIL 30 ONLINE | 9AM PT / 12PM ET / 7PM PALESTINE
COBL YOE
CUNY
FACULTY
& STAFF
For Justice in Palestine
DGSC
T PALESTINE
CUNY *CPCP
CENTHER FOR PLACE,
CULTURE, AND POLITICS

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 15/04/2026

I'll be discussing this crazy book on April 28 at 6pm @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social as part of the launch of Peter Hitchcock's new book Seriality and Social Change. The event is open to the public, the next post will include registration info. 1/2

The cover for the English language translation of Capital in Manga

It features a man with a determined look on his face planting a red flag.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 07/04/2026

There was a lot of well meaning criticism of this book when it came out but I think US society as a whole needs to grapple with the idea of grievable lives that Butler outlines here.

The book cover for Judith Butler’s 2009 book Frames of War: When is Life Grievable?

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 29/03/2026

When you and the homies are chopping it up. But with an audience.

Ben Passmore, John Vasquez Meijas & Jonathan Gray talking about comics at MoCCA Fest.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 29/03/2026

John Vasquez Mejias work is so beautiful.

A woodcut image of a page from Puerto Rican War that describes being in nature on the island

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 25/03/2026

This is a ridiculous claim for many reasons not the least of which is that CBS News was chugging along just fine prior to BW taking over.

A screenshot of a rage bait girl boss post.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 17/03/2026

I would be remiss if I didn’t post the mural to Ruthie that’s up in her home town. Ideas are material.

A mural of Ruth Wilson Gilmore in New Haven

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 15/03/2026

Ah, so this is a career appreciation award. Which is fitting on a night when Paul Thomas Anderson will win best picture and best director for his (at best) fourth best film.

A screenshot from Vulture with the headline

Give Amy Madigan an Oscar for Weapons.
Why Not?
By Louis Peitzman, a freelance writer

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 15/03/2026

This quote claims that Zohran’s appeal derived “in part” from his opposition to Israel’s conduct in Gaza. But Zohran won over voters thanks to his focus on affordability. Free buses, freeze the rent, child care for all. He mentioned Israel or Gaza when asked by the media. 2/

Mayor Mamdani's campaign was built in part on his support for Palestinians and opposition to Israel's war in Gaza, a position he shares with his father. While public opinion has shifted toward the mayor, he continues to walk a tightrope in the face of persistent criticism from some voters.
That challenge has not diminished the father's pursuit of thorny subjects or his appetite for debate and provocation. In the interview with The Times, he said his next book would be about Israel, Palestinians and the campus protests against the war in Gaza at Columbia University in 2024.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 08/03/2026

No. This guy is on every “top 5 dead or alive” list in Nepalese Hip Hop. See below. Zohran isn’t even the best S. Asian rapper from his neighborhood in Queens.

The country's youth included 800,000 first-time voters, making them a key voter bloc.

Shah, who is popularly known as Balen, has been a member of the Nepali hip hop scene for several years, with one of his songs "Balidan" about sacrifice in the Nepali language cultivating millions of YouTube views.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 13/02/2026

And this is where we are now: white folk have to do the work of saving democracy by abandoning their comforts & organizing for justice.

For activists and organizers and everyday people struggling against this administration's policies, the race traitor label evokes an inspiring and hopeful lineage: white people who are willing to give up the protection whiteness offers to stand for justice with those who are fewer in number and have far less power.
After the election of 2024, many Black Americans and members of other marginalized groups felt deeply betrayed by a white majority (and a near Latino majority) that sent Trump back to the White House. As Trump has done what they had warned he would do - eviscerate civil rights protections, target L.G.B.T.Q.
Americans, round up immigrants, erode democratic institutions — Black activists have largely moved their organizing underground, leaving it to white people to get in the streets this time.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 30/01/2026

Thatcher said this in 1987 in an interview with Women’s Own (think conservative Ms. Magazine with Fleet Street aesthetics). It continues to undermine Anglophone folk’s sense of community from Australia to the USA.

Famous Margaret Thatcher quote: 'There is no such thing as society: there are individual men and women, and there are families.'

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 27/01/2026

This is SUCH an important point! Feckless liberals in leadership positions gave the impression that none of us cared about anything deeply except for our careers. Ordinary people are proving this wrong.

A second MAGA assumption is that the left is insincere in its values, and that principles of inclusion and unity are superficial forms of virtue signaling. White liberals might put a sign in their front yard saying IMMIGRANTS WELCOME, but they will abandon those immigrants at the first sensation of sustained pressure.
And in Trump's defense, this has turned out to be true of many liberals in positions of power—university administrators, attorneys at white-shoe law firms, political leaders.
But it is not true of millions of ordinary Americans, who have poured into the streets in protest, spoken out against the administration, and, in Minnesota, resisted armed men in masks at the cost of their own life.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 26/01/2026

What do you mean Ruth Wilson Gilmore isn’t my Aunt? Did anyone tell our faces?

Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Jonathan Gray at the CUNY Grad Center. Both left handed, both from the same town, both with long locs. Somehow unrelated?

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 23/01/2026

You’ll never guess what these three chuckleheads are up to! Well you might but to be certain look at the next skeet! 1/2

The Progressive Policy Institute, which launched the project, is a public-policy think tank founded by centrist Democrats in
1989. It houses the American Identity Project, which tries to help schools and colleges promote a common American identity.
Richard Kahlenberg, an education analyst who has advocated against racial and legacy preferences in college admissions, leads the project. David Brooks, an author and columnist, and William Galston, an opinion columnist at The Wall Street Journal, whose opinion pages operate independently from the news department, are members of the American Identity Project's advisory group.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 19/01/2026

MLK reminds us that the time to act is NOW.

We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today.
We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late.
Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood -- it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, "Too late." There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. Omar Khayyam is right: "The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on."

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 08/01/2026

Settling in at my local LFC bar to watch this match. First time for me this season! #LFC

A picture of a black flag with the words Monro Pub Brooklyn NY and a stylized Liverbrd. In the picture frame below is a map of Liverpool and next to that is a caricature of the 9 moods of Jürgen Klopp.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 04/01/2026

Introduce yourself with what almost killed you! Sigh.... Sadly I'm deathly allergic! If I'm around one it's only a matter of time before I go into anaphylactic shock. I do love the videos though!

An image of a tabby cat, who is cute as a button.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 03/01/2026

They trapped the wrong bear?!? How many bears live in LA?? (paging @theferocity.bsky.social )

Johnson has alerted the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which set up more cameras and has tried, unsuccessfully, to lure the bear out.
Several weeks ago, the department set up a trap: a large metal cage sprayed with cherry and caramel scents. A bear was found inside it on Dec. 16, but officials said it was the wrong bear.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife said it's still committed to helping, but that it will be Johnson's responsibility to better secure the crawlspace after the bear leaves. Johnson, meanwhile, said he is worried about possible legal implications if he takes any drastic action to remove what might be considered a protected animal from beneath his home.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 01/01/2026

I’m not so sure how I feel about this.

Screenshot of the word besotted—which means stupidly infatuated. Humph

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 22/12/2025

This is infuriating. Thanks to Adam for a wonderfully comprehensive account of how the Roberts court is attacking the Civil War amendments to the constitution 1/

In Memphis, Reggie Williams told ProPublica that he was instructed by federal agents to keep his ID on him going forward, as though Black residents of the city were emancipated slaves forced to carry freedom papers lest they be kidnapped and returned to bondage. Bovino said basically the same thing after federal agents assaulted a Somali American citizen and refused to free him for hours despite his offers to show them a photo of his passport on his phone:
"One must carry immigration documents," Bovino posted on X. In Chicago, Maria Greeley was zip-tied by federal agents coming off a double shift at the bar where she worked. She had her passport and showed it to them, and still they detained her because, she said, she did not "look like" a Greeley.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 20/12/2025

It seems that the Warhols might be site specific but…

newschool.edu
THE NEWV SCHOOL
The New School Art Collection was established in 1960 with a grant from the Albert A. List
Foundation. Albert List and his wife, Vera, a life trustee, were dedicated patrons of the arts and of The New School. In addition to their generous donation of art, the Lists endowed the university with a commitment to art, both as a means of intellectual and aesthetic experimentation and as an agent in addressing the salient social and political issues of our time. The collection, now grown to approximately 2,000 postwar and contemporary works of art, includes examples of almost all media, by some of the most innovative and creative artists of our time. Installed throughout the university campus, and transforming public spaces into lively forums for examining contemporary art, the collection offers students and faculty a rare opportunity to engage with art on a daily basis, making it a distinctive component of their educational experience. The collection has continued its tradition of incorporating site-specific works into its public spaces. These include commissioned works by artists such as Sol LeWitt, Dave Muller, Martin Puryear, Brian Tolle, and Kara Walker; in addition, five recent site-specific commissions by Agnes Denes, Andrea Geyer, Alfredo Jaar, Glenn Ligon, and Rita McBride have been installed in the University Center at 63 Fifth Avenue.
With critical fundina from the Mellon Foundation.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 12/11/2025

I’ll be chatting with Adam Shatz on Friday @cunyenglish.bsky.social about his comprehensive biography of Fanon, specifically his continuing influence on Black radical thought. Come through if you’re in NYC.

THE LIVES OF FRANTZ FANON with Adam Shatz
ADAM SHATZ
THE REBEL'S CLINIC THE REVOLUTIONARY LIVES OF FRANTZ FANON
Adam Shatz, author of The Rebel's Clinc: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon, will speak on Fanon's archive, the role that he plays in the Black American Radical tradition, and his ever-evolving reception since his death.
With respondents Ujjwal Prasai, Malachi Davidson, and Dr. Jonathan Gray
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14 at 4PM in 4406

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 05/11/2025

Thank you so much for this article. It helps me understand this comic, which is about a middle class Black family in Queens that hires Luke to protect them from their neighbors.

The cover to Luke Cage, Power Man #32 which features Luke’s attacking a white arsonist in Queens called WildFire.

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 29/10/2025

This is the tuition of Platner’s private boarding HS. He is a scion of wealth, like Eric and Don Jr.

Making Hotchkiss Affordable says the bottom of the screenshot. But given that yearly tuition is $77K, I’m not sure how attainable that claim is to normal people

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 29/10/2025

You mean the school that asks families to pay THIS in order to go there? But how could the family of a simple oysterman possibly afford that? Unless…

A screenshot from the Hotchkiss website detailing their tuition! It’s a whole fucking LOT!!!

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Jonathan W. Gray @elmcitytree.blacksky.app · 28/10/2025

Reagan's ruthless exploitation of that gasp--his ceaseless pushing of the lie of the welfare queen, and the media's instance on putting white feelings above object fact--led to the election of 1984. This map STILL makes old school Dems still wake up crying in the middle of the night.

A map of the 1984 Presidential election. This really happened.

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