iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

It is also one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited. This space literally took my breath away. 2/2 #photography #art #architecture

A view from inside the Hagia Sophia. The image features the vast prayer hall beneath soaring Byzantine arches and galleries. Large black-and-gold Arabic calligraphy medallions hang above marble-paneled walls, while ornate chandeliers illuminate the green carpet below.

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Serving up pineapple lemon drop martinis on the #QuarantineDeck🍸 #salute

A pineapple lemon drop martini in a sugar-rimmed glass, garnished with a fresh lemon slice, sits on a glass patio table with a wooden deck railing and leafy trees softly blurred in the background.

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

A much-appreciated gift from a former student. This bronze baobab, purchased in Dakar, symbolizes ancestry, resilience, and our connection across generations. Our history lives not only in archives, but in nature and our material culture. #treeoflife #baobabtree #art #westafricanbronzes

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Growing up, on Sunday afternoons, I usually washed these down with a qt of🐂. Now the beverage of choice is sweet tea. 😬 #GasStationGizzards #countryboyways #food

A container of gizzards and covered in hot sauce.

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I’m out here wondering if my Uber or the Batman will arrive first. 🤔 #B&Wphotography #urbannightscapes #photography

A nighttime photograph of a covered urban roadway.

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

The “I’m Finished Working for Today Platter.” Thursday Edition.

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Scenes from this evening’s walk. Nashville’s Korean Veterans Memorial Bridge glows pink in honor of Dolly Parton. #Nashville

Nighttime view of Nashville’s Korean Veterans Memorial Bridge illuminated in pink in honor of Dolly Parton. Its arches are reflected in the water, and downtown buildings rise in the background.

B&W nighttime view along Nashville’s historic John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, with illuminated streetlamps highlighting the steel trusses and repeating geometric framework stretching into the distance.

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Enjoying a “Deckside Cosmo” on the #QuarantineDeck while listening to a Coltrane classic.

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

That led to the best cup of coffee I’ve had in 2026. 3/3

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

I also witnessed another coffee ceremony 2/3

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

I must have slept a lot longer than I thought.🥴

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Scenes from today’s morning stroll. A red tail hawk soars above TSU’s campus. #redtailhawk #birding

A red tail hawk soars overhead with its wings fully extended, silhouetted against a blue-gray sky filled with soft, wispy clouds

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

He said the song represented the Middle Passage and the “off notes” were the groans of our ancestors in the belly of the slave ships. 2/3

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Reminiscing about the best first day of class evah when my friend Hannibal Lokumbe brought in a trumpet Sachmo once owned and played a song from a Jazz Opera he was writing called the Jonah People… 1/3 #hbcu #TennesseeState

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Enjoying a #SummersLastCall🍋🍸 on the #QuarantineDeck. Farewell Summer Break. I barely knew you! #cocktails🍋 #salute

A pale lemonade cocktail served over a large spherical ice cube in a clear glass with a sugared rim and fresh lemon slice garnish, sitting on a glass-top table on a sunlit wooden deck surrounded by lush green trees.

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

A moment of Zen. Sunset at Old Hickory Lake. #sunset #ducks #Miles🎺

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

the water with scuba gear, they had recently purchased, and rob the submerged jewelry stores in the downtown area. They conducted a test blast, but were shortly apprehended by law-enforcement. My question when reading this was: how high did you have to be to think this was a good way to 2/3

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Scenes from today’s walk at the Percy Priest Dam. Whenever the flood gates are open, I am reminded of a story about three men who planned to blow up the dam. Once destroyed, they expected the water to flow into and flood downtown Nashville. Once Broadway was flooded, they planned to dive into 1/3

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Happy International Cat Day. I was in Istanbul when I saw this cat defy gravity while in pursuit of a lizard. #cats #caturday #flyingcats #photography

A small brown tabby cat crouches on a sunlit marble walkway beside the weathered stone wall of a historic building. Long shadows stretch across the pavement, while an ornate green metal window grille adds architectural detail to the scene.

A brown tabby cat leaps vertically against the stone wall of a historic mosque, its body fully extended and paws reaching upward.

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Scenes from yesterday’s sunset stroll. It’s warm, but signs of autumn are in the air. #autumnleaves #summersend #goldenhour #photography

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Celebrating/lamenting the end of summer with a Cicada Sunset. If you listen carefully you can hear them solo on this famous track. #cicadasunset #goldenhour #sunset

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

The policies pursued by the US for much of its history called for the removal/extermination of these groups. Note the giddiness in Van Buren’s message and tongue in cheek endorsement of the methods used to accomplish this goal.

Here is MVB:
It affords me sincere pleasure to be able to apprise you of the entire removal of the Cherokee Nation of Indians to their new homes west of the Mississippi.
By an agreement concluded with them by the commanding general in that country, who has performed the duties assigned to him on the occasion with commendable energy and humanity, their removal has been principally under the conduct of their own chiefs, and they have emigrated without any apparent reluctance.
*Many of the Cherokee who were here in Middle TN migrated here because of the indiscriminate slaughter of their people in Virginia and North Carolina.

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I am conducting research of the history of St. Cloud Hill for a book on @fortnegley @drangelasutton and I are working on and am struck by the glee evident in President Martin Van Buren’s address to Congress about the removal of Native Americans from their ancestral lands. 👇🏾

Cherokee Warrior, Dragging Canoe (Tsiyu Gansini)

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

“The Day is Past and Gone” Scenes from this evening’s walk. It feels like the earth is giving me warm embrace. #sunset #OldHistoryLake

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Standing at the Mosquée de la Divinité in Dakar, Senegal staring at a crescent moon and Venus while they dance around a minaret. #AlphabetChallenge #WeekDforDark #astrophotography

A crescent moon and Venus appear in the night sky to the right of a minaret. Mosquée de la Divinité. Dakar, Senegal.

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Learotha Williams, Jr. PhD @learothawms.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Be careful Nashville! I visited my Promise Land TN family’s Reconstruction Era cemetery and ended up with 6 ticks on my shirt.

A tombstone with a US Flag sits in front of a grave of a USCT.

A tombstone with wreath and a US Flag sits in front of a grave of a USCT.

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