Sign in

Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele

@heyitsaugusta.bsky.social
7.3K followers 2.2K following 3K posts

Higher ed professional, scholar of contemporary African and diasporic literatures, Nigerian, Ohioan (+ a sprinkle of Masshole) 1/3 of @specsntexts.bsky.social lnk.bio/heyitsaugusta

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
k’eguro @keguro.blacksky.app · 25/09/2026
We alone are responsible for the preservation and future of our literature. If we don’t buy our books, they won’t get published. If we don’t talk about our books, they won’t get reviewed. If we don’t write our books, they won’t get written. —Melvin Dixon, “I’ll be Somewhere Listening for My Name"
1124
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Whitney Curry Wimbish @whitneycwimbish.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The youngest person his pager attack killed was 9-year-old Fatima Abdullah, who had just started 4th grade. The pager was on a table when it went off and she picked it up to take to her dad. It exploded in her face and reports said it covered the room in her blood. She wanted to learn English.
42103494408
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Michelle @michelleroy78.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
You can be having the best damn day and then all the sudden some ugly ass Cybertruck will appear and ruin it for you.
1501779150
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The fact that people were really out here begging for fall? Disgusting. It has been grey and nasty out since this cursed season began. I'm already over the cold 😭🫩🥶
111
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
George Wallace @mrgeorgewallace.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Roses are red, Violets are blue, Drag queens ain't done shit to you
11567441181
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Happy September! A new month means a new pick in the African Lit Salon. Join us as we read Maame by Jessica George all month! fable.sng.link/Ali7l/etuk?_...
A screenshot of an announcement on the Fable app that the user has switched their club's book. The background of the graphic shows the precious month's selection, Daughters of Silence by Rebecca Fisseha with a cursive "past" at the top of the cover. In the foreground, the cover of the book Maame by Jessica George is featured with the word "new" above the top left corner of the cover. The bottom of the screenshot shows the title of the club, The African Lit Salon along with a line that describes the club as "reading (mostly) novels from African authors.
010
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Here I am, once again, yelling that we (the adults) are the problem. Because why am I reviewing an application from a student who has a 5.30 GPA?!?!
280
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I just want the world to know that I fixed a tech problem all on my own, AND the solution involved using a cable from my basket of tangled miscellaneous cords and old phones. So, you know, women in STEM and all that...
static.klipy.com
Yep, Woman Shrugs and Smiles
Alt: A GIF of Rihanna standing on a stage with wood paneling on the wall behind her and a podium with a microphone in front of her. She is wearing a grey, off-the-shoulder long-sleeve sweater dress. She is smiling cheekily and pulls on her long ponytail as if to emphasize a brag or an accomplishment. She turns her head to flick the ponytail behind her as she starts to laugh.
2152
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I watched the Odyssey and it made me think about what epics I'd recommend. Here's the list I compiled: substack.com/@heyitsaugus...
A clip showing a new post on the author's Substack. The image shows the closing title card of the Odyssey movie. The title of the post, "On Epics" appears underneath the image with the subtitles "The ones I've read, and the ones I want to read" underneath it. Below this line is the title of the Substack, "Dispatches from a Lapsed Academic" and the website's URL. In the bottom right corner of the image is the Substack logo.
033
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
EMILY WILSON @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
I wrote about the Nolan Odyssey for the LRB. I'll summarize some of my main points below, in case you don't feel like reading all that. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Emily Wilson · An Uncomplicated Man
As they say at the awards shows, I was humbled to learn that Christopher Nolan has read at least the first line of my...
19761601559
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Kat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
I cannot overstate how much I hate when people are dicks about babies crying in public (especially airplanes). Do you think the parent is having a good time right now?? Do you think they are not aware of the situation??? Are you going to negotiate with a literal infant????
741174631327
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Iron Spike @ironspike.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
This shit with Taylor Farms is exactly what I’m talking about when I say you may say you “don’t do politics,“ but politics are more than happy to do you. The microbes political bribes got out the door and into your intestines don’t particularly care that you find it all beneath you.
594472469
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Gordon Gartrelle @mrgartrelle.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
This is part of a general cultural trend of defining resistance all the down until the bar is on the ground, so your favorite billionaire pop star, Ivy League academic, prestige TV writer, political pundit is actually a radical feminist thinker/ pro-Black freedom fighter /anticapitalist crusader.
143
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
This is a very important assessment of the contemporary discourse around rest and resistance. Read it. Then go follow @jennmjacksonphd.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/jennmjac...
open.substack.com
Rest is not resistance: Commodification, Capitalism, and the Cult of Self-Care
We have to start using words with intention if we are to fight the battle ahead.
12311
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Steve Rattner @steverattner.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
President Trump used to brag about all the money we were making from tariff revenue. Last month, that trend flipped to a $26 billion loss as the government started paying back the tariffs the Supreme Court ruled illegal. The refund bill is just getting started.
601686589
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
010
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Auntie Social @auntiesocial.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
If you're arresting people at the airport on their way OUT of the country, your goal.was never border security. It's filling for-profit concentration camps.
132105723168
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Breddrin @learnedbreddrin.blacksky.app · 17/06/2026
01914
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Ok, well I'm still writing. Check out my thoughts on why I love a messy family narrative and which books I'd recommend: open.substack.com/pub/heyitsau...
open.substack.com
Why Messy Family Narratives Always Draw Me In
Why I like fiction about complicated families and which novels I'd recommend
110
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
I have been meaning to read this book for ages. So, I'm very excited that the members of The African Lit Salon bookclub picked this one for July. I'm looking forward to seeing what's behind this gorgeous cover. Join us! fable.sng.link/Ali7l/etuk?_...
This picture shows the hardcover edition of Saara El-Arifi's novel, The Final Strife. The book has a blue ankara pattern motif as a  background image. The foreground shows a drawing of a young Black woman with braids and beads in her hair. She's wearing a golden decorative cuff on her bicep and is looking directly at the observer with a pensive look.
054
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Ok, well, I'm writing again 🫣 open.substack.com/pub/heyitsau...
open.substack.com
By way of introduction
I'm finally writing...
032
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Lukaku coming on the field and scoring within seconds??! An absolute legend. My goodness
020
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
fluffy fairy 🧚‍♀️ @beigewunder.blacksky.app · 20/04/2026
I'm never bored because there's always something to overthink about.
714753
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 13/04/2026
Cardinal Cupich: "We're dehumanizing the victims of war by turning the suffering of people & killing of children & our own soldiers into entertainment. To splice together movie cuts w/ actual bombings & targeting of people for purposes of entertainment is sickening. This is not who we are."
866187825803
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
I am so confused by how often I get caught in "reply all" hell. Why can't y'all just send an email directly to the person you want to correspond with?!?
media.tenor.com
a woman in a white jacket is asking " now why am i in it "
Alt: A GIF of Nene Leakes during a reunion show for her Real Housewives season. She is in a white jacket, asking, "now why am i in it?" while looking off to her right at someone outside the frame. The words appear at the bottom of the GIF
030
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 12/04/2026
It’s almost like WE ALL SAID THIS WOULD HAPPEN fortune.com/2026/04/10/a...
fortune.com
Schools across America are quietly admitting that screens in classrooms made students worse off and are reversing years of tech-first policies | Fortune
Millions were spent putting laptops in every student’s hands. Now schools want them back as technology in the classroom is turning out not to be the miracle solution it was sold as.
161505404
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Laurie Ulster @floobish.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Octavia E. Butler, 1998:
From EARTHSEED: THE BOOKS OF THE LIVING

Choose your leaders

with wisdom and forethought.

To be led by a coward

is to be controlled

by all that the coward fears.
To be led by a fool


is to be led

by the opportunists

who control the fool.

To be led by a thief

is to offer up

your most precious treasures

to be stolen.
To be led by a liar


is to ask

to be told lies.

To be led by a tyrant

is to sell yourself

and those you love

into slavery.
25197443669
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
It's actually such an incomprehensible sentiment.
082
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Steven D. Greydanus @decentfilms.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
This may be a fundamentally new kind of sin blending blasphemy, idolatry, divination, and simony, among others. Those who are not horrified at this may be entirely lacking in authentic religious awareness and feeling.
3323002715
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
I'm excited to see which book wins!
012
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 18/02/2026
Despite the caricature his critics created, Jesse Jackson’s “political vision was always inclusive, always multiracial, and always opposed to bigotry and prejudice of all kinds,” Adam Serwer argues.
bit.ly
Do Not Be Cynical About Jesse Jackson
He was never the caricature his critics wanted him to be.
321748
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Last Wednesday, news broke that Prof Biodun Jeyifo, one of Nigeria's "brightest literary minds" (Vanguard NG) passed away in Ibadan at 80 years old. Just over a month before, he'd attended a symposium in his honor, at which he was able to hear and reflect on his impact in African Studies.
1104
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
A "professor of civics education" at OSU's much ballyhooed intellectual diversity center (funded by McCarthyites, of course) punches documentarian who deigns to ask Gordon Gee a single question. The ironist who coded this simulation has no sense of subtlety.
wosu.org
Ohio State Chase Center professor placed on administrative leave after assaulting cameraman
The Ohio political blog, The Rooster, published video showing Chase Center Assistant Professor Luke Perez hitting a cameraman and then throwing him to the ground.
611832
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
I am devastated. I may have more words later, but for those of us who knew him personally, this loss hurts so much. www.premiumtimesng.com/entertainmen...
premiumtimesng.com
Renowned scholar Biodun Jeyifo dies at 80
The Nigerian Academy of Letters expressed condolences to his family and the academic community, describing his passing as a significant loss to literary scholarship in Nigeria and beyond.
162
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
LA Star @lastar.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Current status of the fundraisers for those killed by ICE: Renee Good: $1,499,580 Alex Pretti: $1,289,249 Keith Porter, Jr. $302,423 Parady La: $45,848 Heber Sanchez Dominguez: $47,991 Luis Beltrán Yanez Cruz: $18,640 Victor Manuel Diaz: $2,538 Geraldo Lunas: $2,260 Luis Gustavo Núñez: $1,935
5330642666
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
the #BookSky account 💙📚 @booksky.club · 25/09/2025
THE RULES OF #BOOKSKY 📚💙 1) self promotional posts may not outnumber your other posts to the feed 2) all posts must be about books
1330222
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
The Washington Post published a clear video of federal agents removing Alex Pretti's handgun moments before he was fatally shot. There's nothing in the video to suggest Pretti even reached for his weapon. wapo.st/49Zqv1L
808207497941
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
People are right to be incensed, but there are more names to uplift. ICE killed an immigrant man named Silverio Villegas González in Chicagoland. He had children. Victor Manuel Diaz was kidnapped in Minneapolis and died in ICE custody on January 14. Their names deserve to be repeated, too.
3454952121
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Abigail Higgins @abigailhiggins.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
“Multiple people familiar with the matter said The Post is planning to shutter a majority of the paper’s international bureaus, dramatically reducing the number of reporters stationed abroad.” Devastating if this comes to pass. www.status.news/p/washington...
status.news
Post Parting Depression
Looming cuts at The Washington Post threaten to decimate key coverage areas as staffers question the motives and commitment of billionaire owner Jeff Bezos.
031
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 25/01/2026
The majority of organizing happening in Minnesota isn’t just peaceful, it’s INVISIBLE. Moms showing up who won’t be interviewed on TV, people whose ICE patrols don’t turn into viral video. The grocery runs, the donations, the people filming bc they happen to be there. Please remember this.
138173184283
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Autumn and Augusta @specsntexts.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Anyone else get got by the Book Outlet winter sale? No? Just @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social? Cool cool cool. Welp. It's snowing heavily outside. So, it's time for a #BookHaul. Come see what was in this month's book mail! #BookSky #BlackBookSky #SpecsNTexts www.instagram.com/reel/DT8j45i...
instagram.com
051
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
The WNBA players have never backed down from taking a stand. Love to see it.
0141
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
I have reached the "purge old blazers from closet" stage of the holiday grey period. Maybe I should go back to work tomorrow, otherwise, I fear I will rid myself of my entire wardrobe...
040
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
I know this isn't the point, but those Cameroonian AFCON kits are 🔥🔥🔥
020
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
Poverty is a policy choice. Concentrated wealth is a policy choice. Inequality is a policy choice. None of it is natural or inevitable. Remember: We have the power to build a system that serves the many, not the powerful few.
226117473773
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
So, like, if I *were* to start a substack for real, what would y'all wanna read about?
110
Reposted by Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele
Princess @themultiplemom.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Firm reminder: We live in community with children, not above them.
3543177
Dr. Augusta Atinuke Irele @heyitsaugusta.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Well, that happened fast! Kudos to South Africa for that goal. Wow. #Afcon2025
020