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Lester K Spence

@lkspence.bsky.social
873 followers 470 following 129 posts

Professor, Author, Son of Blood and Thunder, Father. Newsletter (lesters-newsletter-2ff539.beehiiv.c…), Knocking the Hustle ( bit.ly/1SzPlHi)).

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Reposted by Lester K Spence
Jonathan Feingold @jpygold.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
1/ here to blurb all 13 essays from @bulaw.bsky.social “The University & Democracy” special issue. Incisive, sharp, provocative analysis abt why universities keep cowering & colluding w segregationists & authoritarians. @aaup.org #CLC #SNDHE long 🧵w highlights from each. www.bu.edu/bulawreview/...
It is this uncomfortable place—the recognition that universities might, in fact, be sites of antidemocracy—that motivated the Boston University Law Review’s 2025 Symposium on “The University and Democracy.” The thirteen essays in this Symposium issue help us begin to interrogate, struggle with, and perhaps answer why so many of our institutions have accommodated fascistic attacks on their own communities and commitments
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Wednesday, May 20th (6-8 PM): "Black Studies and Internationalism." 🌍✊ A dialogue between Robbie Shilliam and Erica Caines exploring how grassroots work in Baltimore intersects with worldwide anti-imperialist movements. 📍 Enoch Pratt Library Central Branch 🔗 RSVP here: bit.ly/2526bsdc
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
This week in Baltimore! Join us for a critical conversation about community institution building and black archive development in Baltimore, featuring CAS archivist Tonika Berkley and community historian Betty Bland-Thomas.
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Hive mind ask: Looking for political science/social science articles on how to successfully change minds, as well as articles on political science related public interventions.
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Most political science still treats authoritarianism and racial politics as separate subjects. That's a problem. The 2026 JHU Racial Politics Summer Institute is dedicated entirely to the study of race and authoritarianism. Grad students and faculty — apply by April 11. forms.gle/RYALxK89d5dz...
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Jonathan Smucker @jonathansmucker.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
So great to reconnect with Astra Taylor and Mark Bray on the inaugural episode of the new @thenation.com podcast, @fightingfascismpod.bsky.social - check it out!
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
I don't see it being unanimous. I'm interested in seeing who supports ending it and what arguments they muster.
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
This Wednesday!
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Black Studies in a Dark Conjuncture. In conversation with Eric Jackson of Black Yield Institute on March 25 at the main branch of the Enoch Pratt Library.
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ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
In an overlooked decision this week, the Supreme Court ruled that the post office can refuse to deliver your mail, which is KIND OF SIGNIFICANT if you choose to mail your ballot. To do this work, the anti-democracy wing turned to their favorite “black friend,” Clarence Thomas.
thenation.com
Clarence Thomas Just Struck Another Blow to Black Power
In his majority ruling in a sleeper case about mail delivery, Thomas opened the door to a new way for Republicans to suppress the Black vote.
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Not sure. But pretty sure I'll DJ "a party for no reason."
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
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Jamila Michener @povertyscholar.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
The dystopian realities of the moment make it hard to see a path towards a better future. But we must insist on imagining & illuminating that path. The Futures Forum is a new space to dream, reflect, & envision better futures. Check it out👇🏾 equitablefutures.cornell.edu/introducing-...
equitablefutures.cornell.edu
Introducing the Futures Forum: A Place to Envision Equitable and Just Futures - Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Futures
In a time of deep inequality and uncertainty, imagining equitable and just futures is both urgent and unfinished work. This post introduces the Futures Forum, a new space created by the Center for Rac...
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L.A. TACO @lataco.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
ICE Tracker today 1/28
LA TACO
ICE TRACKER
01/28/2026 10:45 am
NATIONAL CITY:
ICE / WALMART / 1200 HIGHLAND AVE /
UNSURE OF TIME / ATTEMPTED
KIDNAPPING/
COSTAMESA:
ICE / HARBOR & WILSON /
6:20AM / 1 KIDNAPPING /
SANTA BARBARA:
ICE / HUTASH & VOLUNTARIO /
6:45AM / SIGHTING /
PISMO BEACH:
ICE / CAFE / 1053 PRICE ST / 8:00AM / UNSURE IF ANYONE WAS TAKEN /
JURUPA VALLEY:
ICE/MARLATT & 60™ /
8:00AM / UNSURE IF ANYONE WAS TAKEN/
JURUPA VALLEY:
ICE/DODD &54#*/
8:20AM / SIGHTING /
LOS ANGELES:
ICE / COURT & WELCOME /
7:25AM / ATTEMPTED KIDNAPPING/ SAN BERNARDINO:
ICE/COURT /ARROW &3®/
9:10AM / SCOUTING /
LOS ANGELES:
CBP / OLYMPIC & VANCOUVER/
9:08AM / SIGHTING /
ENCINITAS:
ICE / MANCHESTER, UNDER HWY 5 W
BRIDGE /
9:30AM / 1 KIDNAPPING /
LOS ANGELES:
CBP / CHINATOWN / MAIN & LEROY /
9:30AM / 1 KIDNAPPING /
LOS ANGELES:
CBP / BOYLE HEIGHTS/ MOTT & 2ND /
9:45AM / 1 KIDNAPPING/
LOS ANGELES:
CBP / RAMONA GARDENS /
2830 LANCASTER AVE /
10:20AM / AT LEAST 1 KIDNAPPING/
By Izzy Ramirez
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
you know it's bad when george will brings up race and the civil rights movement to make a case against the administration. "minneapolis is today's birmingham."
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
They're minions of Darkseid.
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John “Danielle” Phipps @magitekdad.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
So as someone who “actually *DID* conduct COIN at the battalion level, I have to speak on this because there’s so much bullshit here. Beyond all this being written by AI, there’s so much wrong here that I refuse to believe this guy is legit. Let’s make a thread.
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Kash Patel's Pit Bull @daranglenn.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
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Samuel Perry @profsamperry.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
I didn't understand how helpful the literature on inter-personal abuse (sexual assault, domestic assault, parental abuse) was in understanding meso- and macro-level violence until 2024. Shout out to Nikol Alexander Floyd.
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Neil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
1/4. The U.S. continues to be a place where people’s life experiences and outcomes differ dramatically by social positioning. How does that affect the way people make meaning of what is happening around them? Those questions guided this new paper. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Academic article: How People Make Meaning in a Fragmented Democracy: Implications for Incorporating Public Opinion into Public Policy
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Amanda Litman @amandalitman.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
2026 is going to be a *great* year to run for office. @runforsomething.net will help you. Filing deadlines are coming up fast - it's just barely not too late to get started. runforwhat.net
runforwhat.net
Where Can I Run by Run for Something
Take the next step: Look up offices you can run for
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Joshua Clark Davis @joshuaclarkdavis.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
My new Intercept piece on the NYPD’s targeting of MLK is up today, with never-before-published police surveillance photos of King.
Newly Unveiled Photos of MLK Jr. Show Depth of NYPD’s Surveillance
After J. Edgar Hoover cast the civil rights leader as a “liar,” NYPD’s spy unit heeded the call. by Joshua Clark Davis
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
I just donated.
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State of St. Louis @stateofstlouis.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
For those of you who don't know, author @sarahkendzior.bsky.social coined "transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government" in her 2020 book, "Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America" It's a powerful read, as are all of Sarah's works. Buy/Read.
"The Trump administration is a transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government. The foundation of this edifice was formed not when Trump took office, but decades before, through prolonged engagement with criminal or criminal-adjacent actors linked to hostile regimes, in particular, the Kremlin and its oligarch network.

Sarah Kendzior, Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
What's mandate of Black Studies during this moment. What's our responsibility? Join us as we host the first of a series of public conversations in Baltimore, at the Baltimore Unity Hall. We'll be in dialogue with Paul Coates and Olakekan Kamau-Nataki. Next Wednesday from 6-8pm.
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Phil Bildner @philbildner.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
This is such a useful resource from @penamerica.bsky.social "What To Do If You’ve Been Doxed Or Placed On A Watchlist" Please consider letting others know that this exists. pen.org/what-to-do-i...
pen.org
What To Do If You’ve Been Doxed Or Placed On A Watchlist
We map out steps you can take right away, and steps you can take to build resilience longer term against doxing.
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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
If you were concerned about Kimmel, here's another for you… Journalist Mario Guevara has been detained for 100+ days, ironically arrested as he reported on a "No Kings" protest. The Trump-Vance admin just issued an order of final removal, to send him to El Salvador—where he fled from 21 years ago.
Mario Guevara
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
And here's Coleman A. Young, who would become first black mayor of Detroit, who told HUAC they must have confused him for a stool pigeon. michiganadvance.com/briefs/on-th...
michiganadvance.com
On this day in 1952: Coleman A. Young tells congressional committee he’s no ‘stool pigeon’ • Michigan Advance
On Feb. 28, 1952, union activist Coleman A. Young testified before the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), a highly criticized congressional panel dedicated to identifying and rooting ...
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Duke University Press @dukepress.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
"Globalization, Neoliberalism, and the Global Rise of Right-Wing Politics," a curated reading list of journal articles and issues published by Duke University Press, has been made freely available through October 31. Access here: buff.ly/zplaDVr
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LPE Blog @lpeblog.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
Don't let the embarrassment that is Ezra Klein's op-ed distract you from the embarrassment you will feel if you forget to submit your ALPE proposal by Monday 😳
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
I'm on the list too. (Who knew?)
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
Kirk is their Rosa Parks.
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Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 09/09/2025
"The only known solution to creeping authoritarianism is broad-based, peaceful, geographically dispersed mass engagement by everyday Americans. That’s it. That’s what works." Story: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Not going to @apsa.bsky.social this year. Will participate virtually. If there's any organizing going on that folks think I should be made aware of, let me know.
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
They got me. A lot. If they got me....they probably got you.
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
The comparative move makes sense. But I don't know many racial politics scholars who've taught about the US in a normatively positive, exceptional framework.
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tamara nopper @tamaranopper.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
I'll be presenting on crime data. Please join us.
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Association of Law and Political Economy @a-lpe.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Ten days left to submit proposals for the inaugural ALPE conference in Richmond. Come join us for this exciting launch! lpeproject.org/blog/cfp-ina...
lpeproject.org
CFP: Inaugural Association of Law and Political Economy Conference
A forthcoming conference will launch The Association of Law and Political Economy (ALPE): a membership organization with a regular annual conference, elected leadership, and an architecture for open…
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Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 08/09/2025
The New Yorker asked me “how bad” today’s Supreme Court ruling was. I boiled it down to one paragraph: link.newyorker.com/view/5bda429...
"Just the other day, I was in the audience at Lincoln Center when Justice Amy Coney Barrett said, while promoting a new book, that she doesn't think the United States is in a constitutional crisis," Farias told us. "Today, the Supreme Court, without offering a single line of reasoning, more or less declared that the Fourth Amendment, which protects everyone from unreasonable searches and seizures, nonetheless allows the Trump Administration to arrest and detain anyone who looks Latino, citizen or not, on account of the language that they speak or the kind of jobs they do. The ruling putatively covers the Los Angeles area, but the effect could be national," he continued.
"If that's not a constitutional crisis, then what is?"
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Being of service can stave off a great deal of this.
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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 06/09/2025
The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal. Donald Trump isn't a strongman, he's a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.
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Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
Disease prevalence in US states before & after vaccine introduction 🧪 From Edward Tufte & graphics.wsj.com/infectious-d...
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Lester K Spence @lkspence.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
I just heard that a group of national guards (probably a small one) got off the MARC train at the west baltimore stop. Has anyone else reported on this?
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Dean Baker @deanbaker13.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
I wouldn't make a big distinction between the situation for Black women and Black men. The labor market situation for both has deteriorated sharply since January. The Black unemployment has risen a full pp to 7.2%, the white rate hasn't budged at 3.7%
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gamera obscura october edition @ohrobin.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
“Nothing is more important than stopping fascism, because fascism will stop us all.” - Fred Hampton
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Lily Mason @lilymasonphd.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Wild set of posts here:
Screenshot of Ziblatt's Foreign Affairs article on Weimar Germany: "Democracy rarely dies in a single moment. It is chipped away via abdication: rationalizations and compromises as those with power and influence tell themselves that yielding just a little ground will keep them safe or that finding common ground with a disrupter is more practical than standing against him. This is the enduring lesson of Weimar: extremism never triumphs on its own. It succeeds because others enable it—because of their ambition, because of their fear, or because they misjudge the dangers of small concessions. In the end, however, those who empower an autocrat often surrender not only their democracy but also the very influence they once hoped to preserve."Matt Yglesias tweet: "If democrats end up in deal making mode with Trump, giving him what he wants on vote by mail might be smart."
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Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
#NIH is hanging by a thread. The #CDC has been decimated. #RFK Jr. and Russell #Vought are psychopaths--I don't say this frivolously--they are cold, calculating, inflicting violence on millions through public policy. It is where we are right now. These men are not normal. 1/
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