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Ruha Benjamin

@ruha9.bsky.social
41K followers 928 following 220 posts

✍🏽 • RACE AFTER TECHNOLOGY: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code • VIRAL JUSTICE: How We Grow the World We Want • IMAGINATION: A Manifesto 📚www.ruhabenjamin.com

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Reposted by Ruha Benjamin
Anna Gifty @itsafronomics.blacksky.app · 12/09/2026
lol there are a lot of people talking about AI who, frankly, shouldn't so here are people to listen to and then some: @timnitgebru.blacksky.app @alexhanna.bsky.social @rajiinio.bsky.social @ruha9.bsky.social @emilymbender.bsky.social @karenhao.bsky.social @dairinstitute.bsky.social
rollingstone.com
These Women Tried to Warn Us About AI
Rumman Chowdhury, Timnit Gebru, Safiya Noble, Seeta Peña Gangadharan, and Joy Buolamwini open up about their artificial intelligence fears
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Zinn Education Project @zinnedproject.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Johanna Fernández, ¡Presente! We're heartbroken to learn of the passing of Professor Fernández. When we hosted a class with her in 2022, she began by saying "Talking with teachers is one of my favorite activities." More here: www.zinnedproject.org/news/johanna... Listen ⬇️ youtu.be/9fTLscjOR8s?...
youtu.be
Johanna Fernández Audiogram
YouTube video by ZinnEdProject
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Baruch History Department @baruchhistory.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
With great sadness we report that @baruch.cuny.edu @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social @historygc.bsky.social Prof. Johanna Fernández passed away on July 30, 2026. We mourn her loss and celebrate her achievements and legacy: blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/history/?p=447
Portrait of Professor Johanna Fernández
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tamara nopper @tamaranopper.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Dr. Johanna Fernández was writing a book on the historical roots of U.S. fascism. An article related to the book is here: manifold.umn.edu/read/ces0701... BTW, George Jackson, in an interview about writing in prison, noted he was working on a detailed study of fascism sweeping the Western world.
manifold.umn.edu
On the Historical Roots of U.S. Fascism | On the Historical Roots of U.S. Fascism | Manifold@UMinnPress
The University of Minnesota Press is known for its boundary breaking editorial program in the humanities and social sciences.
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Bobby Rivera @bobbyrivera21.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Johanna Fernandez—Presente!
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Jeanne Theoharis @jeannetheoharis.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Johanna Fernandez was one of the fiercest voices for justice whether around the world or at CUNY. Her book on the Young Lords was one of the best books ever written on the Black and Latinx Freedom Struggle. She will be dearly missed. Rest in power, my friend.
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 31/07/2026
The fact that it’s poisoning Black people is not seen as a negative to these folks.
techcrunch.com
SpaceX won’t remove all of xAI’s unpermitted turbines for another year | TechCrunch
SpaceX is building a new power plant for xAI's Colossus data centers, but it won't remove existing, unpermitted turbines for many more months.
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
A MUST READ: “The stories that universities in the United States told about themselves died (again) in Gaza—in some cases by suicide. By contrast, universities in Gaza may be physically destroyed, but they are still less hollow than many universities around us...” www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Archives, Prophecy, and Return: The Phoenix of Gaza
This review essay of The Phoenix of Gaza virtual reality project and exhibit puts Indigenous studies and Palestine studies, as well as scholars of these fields, into citational and historical conve...
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
“On governance matters alone, Princeton warrants an AAUP investigation, if not sanction… When faculty don’t have the possibility of weighing in independently on administrative decisions, academic freedom is more likely to be compromised.” 1/2 academeblog.org/2026/07/14/a...
academeblog.org
Academic Freedom and the Palestine Exception at Princeton
BY JOAN W. SCOTT Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber has carefully curated his public reputation as a defender of free speech and academic freedom against the wanton attacks by the…
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
🗓️ NYC area friends, join me for two events as part of Harlem Week 2026:
Harlem Werk 2026: honoring our legacy, building what’s next

A celebration of Harlems culture, community, and global influence—through music, art, fashion, food, film and more since 1974.

August 1–16th

Harlemweek.org
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Jennifer Sano-Franchini @jsanofranchini.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Looking forward to our first Refusal Summer Reading Club Meeting this afternoon, and our discussion of @fractalecho.bsky.social's Disabling Intelligences!
Refusal Summer Reading Club flyer
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Justin Mikulka @justinmikulka.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
I recommend anyone who doesn't understand the backlash to datacenters go spend 24 hours standing outside of xAI's facility in Memphis. No earplugs. No masks. Just you and the air that Elon provides. Also remember: He said they would build a water treatment facility but they aren't.
youtube.com
xAI Colossus Data Center Memphis Tennessee 05/13/2025
YouTube video by Oilfield Witness
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
The AI Question: A Movement Debate, Thurs May 28th 7pm ET. Hosted by @mediajustice.bsky.social and @conmijente.bsky.social, LIVE BROADCAST: streamyard.com/watch/SKsxNh...
The AI Question: A Movement Debate, Thursday May 28th 7pm ET. Live broadcast. Sponsored by Media Justice and Mijente. https://streamyard.com/watch/SKsxNhgBNv4k
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Sunrise Movement @sunrisemvmt.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
We condemn the illegal invasion of Venezuela, and we condemn the fossil fuel corruption that led us here. Young people — once again — are the ones that oil billionaires will feed into the meatgrinder of an unjust, imperialist war.
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jess @jesstheemess.blacksky.app · 01/01/2026
Starting 2026 off right with @thestorygraph.com's January Pages Challenge and @ruha9.bsky.social ✨ #BookSky
An image of the book cover for Imagination: A Manifesto by Ruha Benjamin. Features an image of a black femme with a beautiful braided hairstyle adorned with flowers.
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barefootwriter @bfwriter.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
"The question for the Luddites was never simply whether to accept or reject a new machine, but rather who controlled it, how it was deployed, and whose interests it served. . .
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
“Accepting this story of AI’s inevitability — or that of any technology — is a grave mistake for educators. Not only does it cede tremendous power to tech companies that are unaccountable to teachers, students, or school communities…” 1/2 kappanonline.org/teach-like-a...
kappanonline.org
Teach like a Luddite - Kappan Online
Embracing new technologies that don’t advance teaching and learning is a mistake. Educators must ask questions — and resist when necessary.
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Unicorn Riot @unicornriot.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
NEW: Data Centers, the Climate Crisis, and Community Defense How Local Activists are Interrupting Big Tech AI Investments unicornriot.ninja/2025/data-ce...
unicornriot.ninja
Data Centers, the Climate Crisis, and Community Defense - UNICORN RIOT
As Trump’s Energy Secretary Chris Wright claims you should “build data centers” if “you want low electricity prices,” more than 200 environmental organizations have joined to “demand a halt to the bui...
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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
A social sciences and humanities reading list on AI in education 🧵
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 02/12/2025
Israel is still bombing Gaza The press isn't covering it as much but it's still happening
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Sonia Sulaiman @soniasulaiman.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
If you’re looking for Palestinian speculative fiction for #ReadPalestine week, I got you: soniasulaiman.com/readpalestin...
soniasulaiman.com
Read Palestinian Speculative Fiction Reading List
The following is a growing reading list for the #ReadPalestinianSpecFic challenge. This is a work in progress to create a list of all available Palestinian speculative fiction. Novels: Novels by Na…
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Judah Adashi @jadashi.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Wonderful to see @ruha9.bsky.social and @alexvitale.bsky.social joining @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social's transition committees!
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Pre-ordered!📕
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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
This is why OpenAI is selling so aggressively to education at all levels—they want to create entire generations of users incapable of reading, writing and thinking without ChatGPT to hold their hands And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Sooo many folks I’m excited to work with on Mamdani’s technology transition committee. All hands on deck to bring the Affordability Agenda to life: childcare, housing, transportation. While its easy to get swept up in personality, this is a group focused on peoples real needs. LETS KEEP THE FOCUS.
Committee on Technology

Sarah Aoun

Ruha Benjamin, Ida B Wells Just Data Lab at Princeton

Myaisha Hayes, MediaJustice

Noel Hidalgo, BetaNYC

Sam Jacobs, Food Fight Lab

Katherine Jin, Democratic Socialists of America

Amba Kak, AI Now Institute

Huge Ma, Turbovax

Matt Mitchell

ReNika Moore, ACLU

Alondra Nelson, Institute for Advanced Study

Martha Norrick, Backbone Strategies

Julie Samuels, Tech NYC

Garfield Swaby, New York Public Library

Julie Swoope Democratic Socialists of America

Haley Van Dyck

Elyse Voegeli, 18F

Maia Woluchem, Data & SocietyThe Mamdani administration’s 17 transition committees:

Housing
Youth & Education
Transportation, Climate & Infrastructure
Arts & Culture
Community Organizing
Community Safety
Economic Development & Workforce Development
Emergency Response
Government Operations
Health
Immigrant Justice
Criminal Legal System
Legal Affairs
Small Businesses & MWBEs
Social Services
Technology 
Worker JusticePhoto of a colorful keffiyeh with a name tag on it that says “Ruha Benjamin, Technology, A NEW ERA for New York City”
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Ben Gross @bhgross144.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Pleased to see several familiar names on @wired.com's list of Great Tech Books, including @ashleyshoo.bsky.social, @margaretomara.bsky.social & @ruha9.bsky.social. #histSTM #STS #histtech #BigTech 🗃️📜
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
I need everyone, esp anyone working in education or tech (but really everyone) to WATCH THIS CLIP of @drtanksley.bsky.social discussing the technologies infiltrating our schools & psyches and how she is addressing it with our young people. youtu.be/5mtcSL4S3HQ
youtu.be
Howard University AI Panel
YouTube video by Tiera Tanksley
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Beacon Press @beaconpress.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Happy #PublicationDay, @terencekeel.bsky.social!🔍 THE CORONER’S SILENCE, his landmark intervention that uncovers how coroners and other death investigators are complicit in obscuring the violent circumstances of in-custody deaths, is a “searing exposé.” — @ruha9.bsky.social
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Mozilla @mozilla.org · 08/11/2025
Imagination is resistance, @ruha9.bsky.social reminds us that, " we need to reject the gospel that says technology is inevitable, that the train has left the station... In an error of automated bullshit, it’s time to become bullshit detectors," #MozFest
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Opening up #MozFest, @ruha9.bsky.social asks us "who owns the future?" but also problematizing the notion of ownership. Need to shift the question, expanding the vision of how we imagine new futures.
A projected screen. A picture of Nichelle Nichols, the late actress who played Uhura, sitting in the Captain's seat on the Starship Enterprise. Superimposed on the picture are the words in multiple colors: "who owns the future?"
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Sasha Costanza-Chock @schock.cc · 07/11/2025
Nabiha Syed and @ruha9.bsky.social in conversation on the main stage at #MozFest
A photo of nabiha Syed and Ruha Benjamin on stage at MozFest 2025. The background is orange and the heads of a large audience are visible.
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seher @heyitsseher.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Mozilla Festival 2025 is Nov 7-9 in Barcelona w/ 500+ session hosts, 200+ experiences, talks, labs, forums, film screenings, & installations. Keynotes @xychelsea.tv @audreyt.org @ruha9.bsky.social If you haven't gotten your festival badge, use code MOZSEHER 🎟️ @mozilla.org www.mozillafestival.org
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 23/10/2025
I‘m so grateful to the advance readers like @ruha9.bsky.social who spent time with my book and understood the work I hoped it would do. The principled creative work that Ruha does is an incredible model 🖖🏽 Preorder The Edge of Space-Time today: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/746817...
"See the cosmos not just through equations, but through the rhythms of music, the textures of art, and the power of storytelling."
-Ruha Benjamin, author of Race After Technology
The Edge of Space-Time
particles, Poetry, and the Cosmic Dream Boogie
Prescod-Weinstein
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elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
When Israel bombs Gaza after pledging itself to a ceasefire, we apparently need to say this is a “Test of ceasefire” to avoid saying what is blatantly obvious, that this is a violation of the ceasefire Again, I’ll keep on repeating this: Israel does not do ceasefires unless forced to.
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
HAPPENING NOW.
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
UPDATE: Cornell Drops Its Discrimination Case Against a Pro-Palestine Professor After Public Outcry: “I think the pressure of the community and the outpouring of outrage for what happened to Cheyfitz contributed immensely.” www.thenation.com/article/soci...
thenation.com
Cornell Drops Its Discrimination Case Against a Pro-Palestine Professor After Public Outcry
After around 160 faculty members signed a resolution condemning the university, Cornell closed a disciplinary case against Dr. Eric Cheyfitz on the condition that he retires.
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Grumpy dad energy @fdsignifier.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
Ice is kidnapping black citizens in Chicago in the middle of the night.
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Heba Gowayed هبة جويد @hebagowayed.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
This is who @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social is. Brilliant. Fearless. I fucking hate typing this shit out: Free Eman. Amplify amplify amplify please.
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
All eyes on the Global Sumud Flotilla—livestream: www.youtube.com/live/uEN2bWF...
youtube.com
24/7 LIVESTREAM OF GLOBAL SUMUD FLOTILLA
YouTube video by Global Sumud Flotilla
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Yall please go watch @merriam-webster.com’s new AI ad😅 youtu.be/RvQnl3O0D3c?...
youtu.be
LLM
YouTube video by Merriam-Webster
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
“This trial exposed their true aim: to intimidate and silence anyone who dares oppose them,” he added. “If we fail to fight back, Trump’s thought police won’t stop at pro-Palestinian voices – they will come for anyone who speaks out.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
theguardian.com
Judge issues blistering opinion against Trump policy to deport pro-Palestinian students
Judge rules non-citizens have the same free speech rights as US citizens under the first amendment
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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Young’s opinion, which rules that the Trump admin illegally targeted pro-Palestinian students for deportation, is absolutely scathing. “In all our history we have never tolerated an armed masked secret police…ICE brings indelible obloquy to this administration and everyone who works in it.”
And there's the issue of masks. This Court has listened
carefully to the reasons given by Öztürk's captors for masking-
up and has heard the same reasons advanced by the defendant Todd
Lyons, Acting Director of ICE. It rejects this testimony as
disingenuous, squalid and dishonorable. ICE goes masked for a
single reason -- to terrorize Americans into quiescence. Small
wonder ICE often seems to need our respected military to guard
them
as they go about implementing our immigration laws. It
should be noted that our troops do not ordinarily wear masks.
Can you imagine a masked marine? It is a matter of honor -- and
honor still matters.
To us, masks are associated with cowardly
desperados and the despised Ku Klux Klan. In all our history we
have never tolerated an armed masked secret police.
Carrying on
in this fashion, ICE brings indelible obloquy to this
administration and everyone who works in it
"We can not escape
history," Lincoln righty said. "[It] will light us down in
honor or dishonor, to the latest generation." Abraham Lincoln,
Second Annual Message to Congress (Dec. 1, 1862) .
Perhaps we're now afraid to stick our necks out. If the
distinguished Homeland Security intelligence agency can be
weaponized to squelch the free speech rights of a small, hapless
group of non-citizens in our midst, so too can the Federal Home
Loan Mortgage Corporation, and the audit divisions of the I.R.s.
and the Social Security Administration be unconstitutionally
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
As someone currently on probation at Princeton, what also stands out here is the sham faculty governance on display: Faculty panel reviews all the evidence n decides there is no grounds for suspension. Admin overrules their decision n Provost Kavita Bala calls for significant disciplinary action.
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Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Cornell is cancelling a distinguished professor's classes on Gaza and suspending him because of the complaints of a student who previously served in Israel's military surveillance agency and was literally recording the comments of other students in class and deliberately derailing discussion.
Early last semester, Droubi said, students began approaching Cheyfitz with complaints that a graduate student in the “Gaza, Indigeneity, Resistance” class appeared to be recording them, possibly to “gather their names and comments” and intimidate them. “We believe that a student came to the course for the sole reason of surveilling and potentially harming students in the class,” Droubi said. “That ended up proving itself to be true because multiple students came forward and shared their concerns with Professor Cheyfitz.” Cheyfitz said one Palestinian student quit the class after telling him she felt upset and frightened.

Current Issue
Cover of October 2025 Issue
October 2025 Issue
According to Cheyfitz, the graduate student often steered conversations away from the assigned readings—which at that point mostly focused on definitions of genocide and international law on Indigenous rights—to defend Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza and argue with others in the class. “He clearly had not done the readings,” Cheyfitz said. “It was disruptive.”

Cheyfitz said he met with the graduate student in late January and spoke to him about concerns from his classmates. During the conversation, he asked the graduate student to drop the course, and by the next class, he did, Cheyfitz said. The graduate student, Oren Renard, a PhD candidate in computer science whose identity was confirmed by other students in the class, previously served in Israel’s elite military surveillance agency, Unit 8200, according to his LinkedIn profile.
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ali alkhatib @ali-alkhatib.com · 29/09/2025
hey, i'm gonna say more tomorrow, but i'm starting a reading group for "AI skeptics" - it's called "AI Skeptics Reading Group" i am not great at names; please suggest alternatives if you're creative. i'll be sending an email tomorrow, but here are a few things to get you started
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
they ask me to imagine but they want me to imagine their futures and i keep imagining mine.
Ruha’s hand pointing to pink graffiti that reads “Fuck ICE”Ruha standing in front of Trump tower in Chicago with these words of Octavia E. Butler overlaying the image: 

“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"Ruha standing in front of tall historic building in Chicago with these words overlaying the image.

they ask me to imagine
but they want me to imagine
their futures
and i keep imagining
mine.
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Assata taught me that “Only a fool lets somebody else tell him who his enemy is.” May her spirit fly free!🤲🏾
Photo of Assata Shakur seated. She appears to be speaking with her hands extended in the air. 

Her words overlays the photo: 

“At this point, I think that it is important to make one thing very clear. I have advocated and I still advocate revolutionary changes in the structure and in the principles that govern the United States. I advocate self-determination for my people and for all oppressed inside the United States. I advocate an end to capitalist exploitation, the abolition of racist policies, the eradication of sexism, and the elimination of political repression. If that is a crime, then I am totally guilty.”
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Assata Shakur has "died in Havana, Cuba, as a result of health conditions and her advanced age." She was 78.
whatimreading.net
Assata Shakur, political activist and ex-Black Liberation Army member, has died
Assata Shakur “died in Havana, Cuba, as a result of health conditions and her advanced age,” according to Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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Ruha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
On institutional “neutrality” and “restraint” in the face of slavery, civil rights movement, South African apartheid, and now the Palestinian genocide: “Princeton will take the lead when there is no longer a lead to take.” —Massie *stay tuned for a talk recording
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