iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Jessica Marie Johnson @jessicamariejohnson.com · 23/09/2026

Spent some time writing about the Sally Hemings DNA news and the again-ness of it all www.kitchentablehistory.blog/p/daddy-again

kitchentablehistory.blog

Daddy, Again

Sally Hemings, DNA, and the What ifs of White Paternity

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I just came here to say that I deeply miss having a community with which to discuss, say, NHJ's latest piece. Which is the biggest motivation I've ever had for actually engaging in this platform (and getting over my extended mourning/denial re: twitter).

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Applications are not yet open for the "Racing the Classics" fellowship for next year, but if anyone at #AIASCS2026 #AIASCS who would like to learn more about it, I'm here and, as an associate convener, am eager to talk with folks who are considering applying!

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Hm, I return to Blue Sky and see this post, & only I came here to say I could (but won't) write an article, titled after Beverly Tatums' book: "Why are all the white boys sitting together at the Classics conference?" Back at #AIASCS2026 in 2+ decades (?!) and visibly WAY more diverse, but and ofc.

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

URGENT: We may be facing an illegal eviction. It's a Saturday night and we've only just found out. If you know a housing attorney in NYC, who we could speak to re: the situation before Monday, please lmk, or send them my email lyra.d.monteiro at gmail (DM for my phone number).

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

@mxabdulaliy.bsky.social and I wrote a letter to the editor which ran in @inquirer.com today re: the Mütter Museum’s horrifyingly regressive new Human Remains Policy. The Mütter Museum needs to close. #FindingCeremony web.archive.org/web/20250902...

web.archive.org

Letters to the Editor | Sept. 2, 2025

Inquirer readers on the Mütter Museum and the Hanwha shipyard in South Philadelphia.

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Rob Hanna @robhanna.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

It's an embarrassment to Philly.

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

web.archive.org

Letters to the Editor | Sept. 2, 2025

Inquirer readers on the Mütter Museum and the Hanwha shipyard in South Philadelphia.

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Bhakthi @bhakthi.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

I think if Britain colonised your country of origin you should get free BBC iplayer.

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lighthouse prince @historiancole.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

"The issue isn't whether we should or shouldn't exhibit human remains, but rather can we do so in a way that does justice to these individuals."- Sara Ray, director IE No, you can't do so! Because in the end, you're still displaying their stolen bones! So whose version of justice is this?

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lighthouse prince @historiancole.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

This is less of a human remains policy and more of a "we'll add more label text admitting that the bones were stolen in the first place."

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

If you're writing a syllabus in anthropology, public history/humanities, museum studies, etc., please consider these pieces about #FindingCeremony: 1. This short intro which I co-authored with Finding Ceremony's Co-Convener, @mxabdulaliy.bsky.social in @SAPIENS_org: www.sapiens.org/biology/find...

sapiens.org

Finding Ceremony for Ancestors Held in the Penn Museum and Other Colonial Institutions

An anthropologist and an organizer try to connect descendant communities with the remains of 20 Black Philadelphians slated for court-ordered burial.

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

For classicists, historians, and others concerned with the politics of the past, here are links for my work on American whyte supremacy and ancient Greece and Rome that are frequently taught: 1. This January 2021 @hyperallergic.com op ed: hyperallergic.com/614175/how-a...

hyperallergic.com

How a Trump Executive Order Aims to Set White Supremacy in Stone

In the recent tumult many seem to have missed how a recent executive order on “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture” looks to enshrine the success of the 2017 “Unite the Right” in Charlottes...

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

Syllabus material for Fall 2025 (and beyond!)

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

sapiens.org

Finding Ceremony for Ancestors Held in the Penn Museum and Other Colonial Institutions

An anthropologist and an organizer try to connect descendant communities with the remains of 20 Black Philadelphians slated for court-ordered burial.

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

CW: more theft of human remains by a Philly museum + medical examiner in the 1980s. Tell me again why it’s ok for this museum to exist. And if they go public with this, think about what isn’t being shared—maybe isn’t even known yet, by current leadership. #FindingCeremony

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lighthouse prince @historiancole.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

they got thesw skulls in 1999??? y'all, just play the recording of me last the mütter town hall meeting at the next one. just play it on loop until the end of time and all the stolen bones are laid to rest

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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Do you hear this, Mütter Museum???

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Rachel Monroe @rachelmonroe.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Thanks for recommending! Just to clarify, there are no images of human remains accompanying the piece; the photos are of wax or plaster models. (But they look close enough that the warning is appropriate!)

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

TW: link has images of human remains Excellent piece in today's @newyorker.com by @rachelmonroe.bsky.social re: Philadelphia's Mutter Museum. No coincidence it's in the same city that was home to Samuel George Morton & is home to the Penn Museum. #FindingCeremony www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Anyone have access to the Philadelphia Inquirer & able to send me a PDF of this article that was published today? inquirer.com/health/move-... re: Katricia Dotson's brother's lawsuit against Penn for keeping his sister's remains after she was murdered in the MOVE bombing. lyra.d.monteiro at gmail

inquirer.com

Penn settles a lawsuit over its handling of the remains of a MOVE bombing victim

Lionell Dotson had contended that the school kept the remains of his sister Katricia after she was killed in the 1985 bombing of the Black liberation group’s West Philadelphia headquarters.

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

lol fb failed this assignment by just leaving the question blank 😩—can Bluesky do any better? I know that such books exist--I've seen one! Just dunno where to find them...

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

It's #WomensHistoryMonth so I'm sharing this short piece I wrote about my experience of gender as a not-woman who lived as a woman for most of my adult life: My gender is ‘nope.’ medium.com/p/my-gender-...

medium.com

My gender is “nope.”

When I figured out my own gender, at 36 years old, my gender stopped making sense to pretty much everybody else.

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

The list on the webpage has been updated to reflect the expenses we still need help covering--anything you can offer to support the work of caring for ancestors who are currently held as the property of the Penn Museum, is appreciated--including a retweet! #FindingCeremony

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

So grateful for a large contribution that has allowed us to cover many of #FindingCeremony Zoom, travel, and mail merge costs from 2024. The webpage is now updated with remaining expenses (incl some in these areas--don't worry, they aren't duplicates!): findingceremony.com/support-find...

findingceremony.com

Support Finding Ceremony’s Ongoing Costs

Finding Ceremony is a reparationist project that needs to be funded by the University of Pennsylvania. Although we plan to pursue grant funding in the meantime, and all labor is being done on a vol…

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

If you live in New York State and think Gov. Kathy Hochul should remove the corrupt mayor of NYC, give her a call or send her a letter.

Contact Us By Phone:

1-518-474-8390 | Office hours: 9:00am to 5:00pm

Contact Us By Mail:

The Honorable Kathy Hochul
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224

275140064507

Reposted by Lyra Monteiro

Dr Alex Fitzpatrick @animalarchaeology.com · 13/02/2025

🏺 📜 If you’re a museum professional or archaeologist who is committed to more ethical practices in our sector, the least you can do is donate to a group that is on the ground doing the work to centre descendants in calls for repatriation.

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

UPDATE: I found a place to stay, thanks for considering and sharing!

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Hi Philly folks: This is an Old Twitter-style request, so 🤞🤞🤞it'll work here: Does anyone have a couch or other space where I could stay this coming Sunday (2/16) or Monday (2/17) night? I'm in town for #FindingCeremony research. Please RT & share elsewhere! DM or lyra.d.monteiro at gmail tia!

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

I can't see beyond the firewall to read this piece, but I'm glad to learn that it's written by @cmonstah.bsky.social! If you want to dig more into the classical architecture aspect of it, here's my piece on Trump's executive order mandating its use: hyperallergic.com/614175/how-a...

hyperallergic.com

How a Trump Executive Order Aims to Set White Supremacy in Stone

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Carolina A. Miranda @cmonstah.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Trying again. It'll be free to read, but WaPo will make you create an account to read it unfortunately... wapo.st/437a7uj

wapo.st

Opinion | Welcome to the era of Trump Trad

This president’s aesthetic combines classical architecture and cartoonish virility with WWE alternative reality.

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

hyperallergic.com

How a Trump Executive Order Aims to Set White Supremacy in Stone

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

I'd like to offer some Luigi content in the midst of a bleak week. This comes with questions: 1. Is this Luigi? (the pic was taken at Penn in Dec 2018, while he was a student there) If it is him...let's talk about question 2 (in reply)

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

A year ago today, I was teaching my repatriation class when I got a call from a reporter who'd just gotten Penn Museum to confirm they'd already buried the crania that they announced they'd bury on February 3. The only interview I've done during class. That was a terrible week.

phillyvoice.com

Without clearly notifying public, Penn Museum buries remains of 19 Black Philadelphians held in its collection

Anthropologists and advocates say the museum, which originally said the burial would take place Saturday, has not properly researched the skulls in the Morton Cranial Collection

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Hannah Čulík-Baird @opietasanimi.com · 27/01/2025

might be a good time to remember that last time there was an executive order to make federal buildings in the neoclassical style. see Lyra Monteiro (2020): intersectionist.medium.com/american-pow...

intersectionist.medium.com

Power Structures: White Columns, White Marble, White Supremacy

As I write these words on the fire escape of my Manhattan apartment, in early September, 2020, the flashing lights of a cop car blink in…

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Caitlin G. DeAngelis @caitlindeangelis.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Harvard wants to do just enough work to get plaudits from a credulous and easily manipulated national press. They will not tolerate any calls for actual change or accountability. Anyway, buy Tamara Lanier's book!

penguinrandomhouse.com

From These Roots by Tamara Lanier: 9780593727720 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

One woman’s unrelenting mission to reclaim her ancestors’ history and honor their lineage pits her against one of the country’s most powerful institutions: Harvard University Tamara...

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Caitlin G. DeAngelis @caitlindeangelis.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Don't take my word for it! Listen to Richard Cellini, the director of the Harvard Slavery Remembrance Program. But also, I was the lead researcher on the Harvard and the Legacies of Slavery Project for two years. I stand by Richard and his team. www.thecrimson.com/article/2024...

Last month, The Crimson reported that there was debate among senior administrators about the scope of the project. Some senior leaders questioned whether Harvard has a duty of repair where governing board members enslaved individuals “in their personal homes.”

Historically, Harvard’s governing boards have included some of the richest and most powerful people in the Atlantic world. Investigating Harvard slavery while excluding board members is like investigating bank robbery while excluding bank robbers. Thankfully, the matter is now finally settled: board members remain within the scope of our research. Intellectual honesty has won.

I am entirely confident that the members of the Harvard Corporation understand that no institution can credibly investigate its own wrongdoing. Under my leadership, the HRSP functions as an independent fact-finder, and exercises broad investigative powers and responsibilities.

This is not the first time I have shouldered the responsibility of uncovering and revealing the truth about institutional slavery. As a Georgetown University alumnus, I founded and led an independent research initiative — the Georgetown Memory Project — that identified more than 10,000 descendants of people enslaved by my alma mater. At no time did I permit university officials to interfere with the scope or outcome of our work. Harvard’s leaders knew my record when they hired me, or damn well should have.

Rest assured: HSRP’s research is rigorous, independent, and honest. Research that supports a predetermined conclusion isn’t research — it’s consulting. Only a very silly sausage would think that Harvard can steer this research towards an expedient outcome.

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Caitlin G. DeAngelis @caitlindeangelis.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Please do not misunderstand what is happening here. Harvard is hiring American Ancestors to compile authoritative genealogies that fall within Harvard's own limited, ahistorical parameters. They have fired the researchers who were telling them very clearly that the parameters were inappropriate.

Harvard spokesperson Sarah E. Kennedy O’Reilly declined to comment on the reasons for the layoffs, their timing, or on Cellini’s criticisms, citing the University’s policy against commenting on personnel matters.

In a Thursday press release from Bleich’s office, University Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who is on the Legacy of Slavery initiative’s advisory council, said American Ancestors’ previous genealogical experience gave them “an exceptional ability to scale the enormous effort the university has ahead of it.”

The decision to terminate Cellini and the HSRP team is the latest installment of a shakeup at the Legacy of Slavery initiative over the last eight months.

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

ugh disappointed in white classicists’ “hot take” that “Roman salute” isn’t really Roman. But not surprised. This is all about so much more—see Trump’s just-reinstated executive order for classical architecture I wrote about in 2021 for @hyperallergic.com hyperallergic.com/614175/how-a...

hyperallergic.com

How a Trump Executive Order Aims to Set White Supremacy in Stone

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Lyra Monteiro @intersectionist.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

hyperallergic.com

How a Trump Executive Order Aims to Set White Supremacy in Stone

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William Hogeland @williamhogeland.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

BREAKING: NY Times Tries to Kill Me! A public Bad History post with links to articles by @matthewstoller.bsky.social @robtsullivan.bsky.social @intersectionist.bsky.social, @rebeccaonion.bsky.social, others: t.co/nxfXHPYXtk

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