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Liberating Narratives

@liberatingnarratives.com
1.3K followers 45 following 204 posts

Liberating Narratives is a newsletter about decolonizing the teaching of world history. It is written by @bramhubbell.bsky.social LN: www.liberatingnarratives.com Bram: www.bramhubbell.com

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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 12/08/2026
New post teaching the continuities in Russian and Soviet imperialism in Central Asia 🗺️🗃️ #histodons
liberatingnarratives.com
“Our Uzbek History is Tied Up with Cotton”: Cotton in Late Imperial Russian and Soviet Central Asia
Teaching Russian and Soviet Colonialism
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 31/07/2026
How do you teach the Russo-Japanese War? 🗺️🗃️ #histodons
liberatingnarratives.com
“Leading Russia Nearer and Nearer to Utter Ruin”: Teaching the Russo-Japanese War from a Global Perspective
Reframing how we teach the Russo-Japanese War
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 26/07/2026
Too often we teach late Imperial Russian economic shifts by focusing on how they didn't fully industrialize, but what did change? In this week's post, I write about the surprising economic shifts & their relevance to the global economy 🗺️🗃️ #histodons
liberatingnarratives.com
“On Arrival at the Market with their Grain”: Grain and Mass Production in Late Imperial Russia
Rethinking how we teach late imperial Russia’s economic changes
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 20/07/2026
There are lots of examples of Siberian resistance to Russian expansion. Here are a few examples for teaching. What other ones do folks have? Teach more resistance to imperialism! 🗺️🗃️ #histodons
liberatingnarratives.com
“Death Came Suddenly to the Brave Troops and Valiant Cossacks”: Indigenous Resistance to Russian Expansion in Siberia
The Russian “conquest” of Siberia regularly encountered Siberian resistance
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 16/07/2026
Time for a new post! How can we teach Russian history from a more global perspective? Let's start with the fur trade. I'll also be writing a few more posts on teaching Russia in world history. 🗺️🗃️ #Histodons
liberatingnarratives.com
“Sables, Ermines, and Squirrel Skins”: Teaching the Fur Trade and Russia in World History
Teaching Russian history and the fur trade
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 16/07/2026
Time for a new post! How can we teach Russian history from a more global perspective? Let's start with the fur trade. I'll also be writing a few more posts on teaching Russia in world history. 🗺️🗃️ #Histodons
liberatingnarratives.com
“Sables, Ermines, and Squirrel Skins”: Teaching the Fur Trade and Russia in World History
Teaching Russian history and the fur trade
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 30/06/2026
Back with a new post about the African and Asian history of Lisbon 🗺️🗃️ #histodons
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Narrating the Global History of Lisbon
Lisbon is more than a European city; it’s also an African and Asia city
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 24/04/2026
Looking for some ideas about teaching European colonization of Africa? Let's start with centering African perspectives. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/things…
liberatingnarratives.com
“Things Have Gone From Bad to Worse”: Five Strategies for Teaching New Imperialism in Africa
Teaching the Scramble of Africa from an African perspective
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 15/04/2026
Introducing decolonization with two Southeast Asian examples from 1945 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/they-h…
liberatingnarratives.com
“They Have Deprived our People of Every Democratic Liberty”: 1945 and the End of Empire
Teaching the origins of decolonization in 1945
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 10/04/2026
Formerly colonized people frequently expressed solidarity with others in the struggle against imperialism. We can teach solidarity using speeches from the Bandung Conference. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/coloni…
liberatingnarratives.com
“Colonialism in All Its Manifestations is an Evil”: The Bandung Conference and Anti-Imperial Solidarity
Teaching anti-imperial solidarity using the Bandung Conference
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 01/04/2026
Rethinking how we teach imperialism to focus more on indigenous resistance 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/do-not…
liberatingnarratives.com
“Do not Mention the Word Surrender”: New Imperialism and the Persistence of Resistance in French Indochina
Cambodians and Vietnamese repeatedly challenged French imperialism
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 09/03/2026
New post on everyday resistance in interwar French Senegal 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/a-situ…
liberatingnarratives.com
“A Situation of Complete Inertia and a Widespread Apathy”: Teaching Everyday Resistance to French Imperialism in Senegal in the 1920s and 1930s
What were the weapons of the weak in French Senegal?
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 05/03/2026
New post on teaching the consequences of Stalin's first Five-Year Plan with primary forces and a focus on the Holodomor 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/hunger…
liberatingnarratives.com
“Hunger Was the Word I Heard Most”: Stalin’s First Five-Year Plan and Its Consequences
Discussion of teaching the Holodomor using primary sources
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 03/03/2026
New post on teaching how states around the world became more involved in directing economic development in the 1930s 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/the-ch…
liberatingnarratives.com
The Changing Role of Government Involvement in the Economy in the 1930s
Teaching how states worldwide took a more active approach to directing economic development in the 1930s
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 01/03/2026
New post on teaching the consequences of new military technology in the First World War 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/the-de…
liberatingnarratives.com
“The Deadliest Instrument of Warfare Yet Devised”: Teaching the Consequences of New Technology in the First World War
Discussion of primary sources for teaching the effects of poisonous gas in the First World War
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 06/02/2026
Most teachers focus on total war in the First World War. We often use examples from the Western Front, but what did total war look like in the Ottoman Empire? 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/total-…
liberatingnarratives.com
Total War and the Ottoman Empire
Using Ottoman primary sources to teach total war
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 05/02/2026
New post on using primary sources to teach how the British justified imperialism in Southeast Asia 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/britis…
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British Justifications for Colonizing Southeast Asia
Teaching how the British justified imperialism in Southeast Asia
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 05/12/2025
I wrote about using chess to teach about pre-modern Afroeurasian exchange. Chess is a fun way to teach about exchange routes from a global perspective. There’s lots of visual primary sources as well. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/set-this-che...
liberatingnarratives.com
“Set this Chessboard and its Pieces Before Your Most Learned Men”: Teaching Chess and the Games of World History
Teaching Afroeurasian exchange using chess
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 22/10/2025
It’s time to replace “discovery” and “exploration” with navigation and colonization. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/europeans-di...
liberatingnarratives.com
Europeans Didn’t Discover the World
It’s time to stop calling it an “Age of Discovery” or an “Age of Exploration”
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 22/10/2025
It’s time to replace “discovery” and “exploration” with navigation and colonization. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/europeans-di...
liberatingnarratives.com
Europeans Didn’t Discover the World
It’s time to stop calling it an “Age of Discovery” or an “Age of Exploration”
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 08/10/2025
Too often world historians use “Afro-Eurasia” with a hyphen. That hyphen has an ugly history. It’s time to start using Afrouerasia. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/the-problem-...
liberatingnarratives.com
The Problem with Hyphenating Afroeurasia
Hyphens suggest otherness; Afroeurasia has a long interconnected history
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 08/10/2025
Too often world historians use “Afro-Eurasia” with a hyphen. That hyphen has an ugly history. It’s time to start using Afrouerasia. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/the-problem-...
liberatingnarratives.com
The Problem with Hyphenating Afroeurasia
Hyphens suggest otherness; Afroeurasia has a long interconnected history
042
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 04/10/2025
New post on global feminism and its support for internationalism between the world wars 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/all-women-th...
liberatingnarratives.com
“All Women Throughout the World”: Global Feminism and Internationalism, 1900-1950
Discussion of teaching global feminism in the first half of the 1900s
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 04/10/2025
New post on global feminism and its support for internationalism between the world wars 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/all-women-th...
liberatingnarratives.com
“All Women Throughout the World”: Global Feminism and Internationalism, 1900-1950
Discussion of teaching global feminism in the first half of the 1900s
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 24/09/2025
New free post! Everyone should know about the Haitian Revolution - here are five resources for learning more or for classroom use 🗺️🗃️ #histodons www.liberatingnarratives.com/...
liberatingnarratives.com
Five Excellent Resources for Teaching or Learning about the Haitian Revolution
Learn more about the significance and legacies of the Haitian Revolution
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 24/09/2025
New free post! Everyone should know about the Haitian Revolution - here are five resources for learning more or for classroom use 🗺️🗃️ #histodons www.liberatingnarratives.com/...
liberatingnarratives.com
Five Excellent Resources for Teaching or Learning about the Haitian Revolution
Learn more about the significance and legacies of the Haitian Revolution
03716
Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 19/09/2025
New post about teaching global feminism between 1750 & 1850 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/you-will-nev...
liberatingnarratives.com
“You Will Never Stop The Emancipation of Women”: Teaching Global Feminism in the Age of Revolutions, c.1750 - c.1850
Teaching the early development of global feminism from 1750 to 1850
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Bram Hubbell @bramhubbell.com · 17/09/2025
Last week I wrote about the causes of the Haitian Revolution and got lots of great feedback. Thanks 🙏 I also had a couple of sources I left out and wanted to share. 🗺️🗃️ #histodons www.liberatingnarratives.com/...
liberatingnarratives.com
The Enlightenment Didn’t Cause the Haitian Revolution
Enslaved Africans in Saint-Domingue had many reasons to revolt... the Enlightenment wasn't one of them
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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
+ @thomaszimmer.bsky.social @civilwarmemory.bsky.social @liberatingnarratives.com @dianetucker.bsky.social @queenmab.bsky.social @etiennetoussaint.bsky.social @outlawvern.bsky.social @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social & many others. Please share widely & enjoy, all!
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 15/09/2025
Teaching global feminism in world history is like teaching resistance by enslaved Africans or colonized peoples. It should be our default approach. Women (and a few men) have consistently challenged patriarchy and pushed for greater equality. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/souls-are-ne...
liberatingnarratives.com
“Souls are neither Male nor Female”: Teaching Global Feminism in World History, c.1750 to Present
Discussion of teaching global feminism from 1750 to present
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 12/09/2025
New post! I discuss how Marlene Daut’s new book on Henry Christophe and Julia Gaffield’s book on Jean-Jacques Dessalines are helpful to world history courses. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/astonish-the-world/
liberatingnarratives.com
“Astonish the World”: Teaching Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Henry Christophe
Discussion of teaching Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Henry Christophe
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 10/09/2025
New post! Too often students assume enslaved Africans revolted on Saint-Domingue because they were inspired by the Enlightenment or the other Atlantic Revolutions. They didn't. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/enlightenmen...
liberatingnarratives.com
The Enlightenment Didn’t Cause the Haitian Revolution
Enslaved Africans in Saint-Domingue had many reasons to revolt... the Enlightenment wasn't one of them
32310
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Alyssa S. @drsepinwall.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Love to see this idea translated for teachers! It’s something Haitians, Carolyn Fick, and I have emphasized for for years, even as textbooks add the Haitian Rev by making it a product of “the Enlightenment“ or the French Rev.
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The Alternate Historian @althistorian.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Good point. You don't need to read philosophy in order to understand the person enslaving you is "bad" and should be stopped.
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John Terry @johntrterry.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
great post today: "European Enlightenment ideas did circulate in the Atlantic World, but so did African ideas. Europeans didn’t have a monopoly on the concept of liberty."
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 10/09/2025
New post! Too often students assume enslaved Africans revolted on Saint-Domingue because they were inspired by the Enlightenment or the other Atlantic Revolutions. They didn't. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/enlightenmen...
liberatingnarratives.com
The Enlightenment Didn’t Cause the Haitian Revolution
Enslaved Africans in Saint-Domingue had many reasons to revolt... the Enlightenment wasn't one of them
32310
Reposted by Liberating Narratives
Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 05/09/2025
New post! I discuss how we can teach the influence of African women on the slave trade using Crispina Peres. I draw heavily on the work of Toby Green. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/a-single-bla...
liberatingnarratives.com
“A Single Black Woman”: African Women and the Portuguese Slave Trade in Sixteenth-Century West Africa
Teaching how African women influenced the slave trade in seventeenth-century West Africa
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 05/09/2025
New post! I discuss how we can teach the influence of African women on the slave trade using Crispina Peres. I draw heavily on the work of Toby Green. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/a-single-bla...
liberatingnarratives.com
“A Single Black Woman”: African Women and the Portuguese Slave Trade in Sixteenth-Century West Africa
Teaching how African women influenced the slave trade in seventeenth-century West Africa
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 31/08/2025
New post about teaching the 1835 Malê Revolt in Brazil. It was the largest urban slave uprising in the Americas. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/a-huge-conti...
liberatingnarratives.com
“A Huge Contingent of Armed Africans”: Revisiting Enslaved African Resistance
Discussion of teaching the Malê Revolt
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 27/08/2025
Time for a new theme for the month and a new free post. I wrote about why we should and how we can center Brazil when teaching the transatlantic slave system. 🗺️🗃️ I drew heavily on the work of @araujohistorian.bsky.social www.liberatingnarratives.com/the-horrors-...
liberatingnarratives.com
“The Horrors of the Cruel System of Slavery”: Revisiting the Transatlantic Slave System
Discussion of teaching Brazil and the transatlantic slave system
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 27/08/2025
Time for a new theme for the month and a new free post. I wrote about why we should and how we can center Brazil when teaching the transatlantic slave system. 🗺️🗃️ I drew heavily on the work of @araujohistorian.bsky.social www.liberatingnarratives.com/the-horrors-...
liberatingnarratives.com
“The Horrors of the Cruel System of Slavery”: Revisiting the Transatlantic Slave System
Discussion of teaching Brazil and the transatlantic slave system
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 22/08/2025
What happens to our standard narrative of the 19th century global economy when we stop in 1850 & focus on Zanzibar? It’s surprising to see how Africans, Arabs, & South Asians shaped the global economy & turned Zanzibar into a hub of global trade 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/everything-i...
liberatingnarratives.com
“Everything is Found in Zanzibar”: East Africa, Zanzibar, and World History in the Nineteenth Century
Discussion of teaching nineteenth-century East Africa and Zanzibar
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 11/08/2025
I’m offering a free workshop tomorrow night (8/12). It’s on teaching the Mongols at 7PM ET/4PM PT. I hope to see you there. www.liberatingnarratives.com/a-great-army...
liberatingnarratives.com
A Great Army is Mobilized: Teaching the Mongols
Free workshop on teaching the Haitian Revolution
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Eric Beckman @erbeckman.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
Excellent news! FWIW the UX for the Ghost newsletter that I receive, @liberatingnarratives.com , is better than Substack. Plus, no Nazis! Classic win-win-win
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 11/08/2025
New post on early modern East Africa. How much influence did the Portuguese have? Not much when we look at the sources! 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/at-variance-...
liberatingnarratives.com
“At Variance with the Europeans”: East Africa, 1400 - c.1750
Discussion of teaching early modern East Africa
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 28/07/2025
I’m offering a free workshop teaching the Mongols on Tuesday August 12 at 7PM ET/4PM PT. I hope to see you there. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/a-great-army...
liberatingnarratives.com
A Great Army is Mobilized: Teaching the Mongols
Free workshop on teaching the Haitian Revolution
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 26/07/2025
After my annual summer break, I'm back with a new series on teaching East Africa in world history. This first post is free and introduces some resources and themes we can use when teaching East Africa. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/a-mixed-popu...
liberatingnarratives.com
“A Mixed Population of Muslims and Zanj”: Teaching East Africa in World History, c.1000 to Present
Discussion of teaching East Africa Africa in World History
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 16/06/2025
Because of the AP World Reading, I'm offering teachers 50% off annual subscriptions to Liberating Narratives. By subscribing, you can gain access to a 3-year archive of posts covering all the major topics in the AP World History curriculum. 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/ap-reading-2...
liberatingnarratives.com
AP Reading 2025 Special
I'm offering a limited special on annual subscriptions for participants at the AP World History Reading. Sign up by June 30 and get 50% off. Click either image below. Thanks for your support. Coffee...
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 13/06/2025
We often teach about the Crusades as conflict, but how we teach about peacemaking and coexistence in the Levant? 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/going-throug...
liberatingnarratives.com
“Going Through the Lands of the Franks without Impediment”: Making and Maintaining Peace in the Levant
Discussion of teaching peacemaking during the Crusades
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Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · 09/06/2025
New post on the First Crusade 🗺️🗃️ www.liberatingnarratives.com/piles-…
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