Monisha Bajaj
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monishabajaj.bsky.social
Monisha Bajaj
@monishabajaj.bsky.social

Professor & scholar of peace, human rights, migration & education
University of San Francisco
(views posted here are my own)
Debut picture book A YEAR OF KITES out in 2026 with Bloomsbury
www.monishabajaj.net

Pronouns: she/her/वह .. more

Political science 36%
Sociology 29%
Pinned
✨✨ COVER REVEAL ✨✨

Kites serve as a universal metaphor for hope, aspirations & transcendence across cultures 🪁

In A YEAR OF KITES - out Feb '26 w/
@bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social - we explore 12 different kite-flying traditions across the world

📚 Pre-order at bit.ly/yearofkites or a.co/d/1XS2IAJ

Reposted by Monisha Bajaj

From @theathletic.com: Activists at the Super Bowl handed out towels at the entrance of Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara with the slogan “ICE OUT.” The other side of the towel has a bunny kicking a football that is inside a block of ice. nyti.ms/4quQynz

Such a good book! 700 pages and I didn’t want it to end.

“If you don’t have love, you don’t properly exist. If you don’t properly exist, you don’t have love.” ~Kiran Desai
Good morning. The President of the United States was in the middle of the most serious child sex trafficking ring of the last quarter century.

He is referenced not a dozen times in the case files. Not 100 times. Not 1,000 times. He’s referenced 38,000 times.
BREAKING: The Epstein survivors are releasing this ad on this Super Bowl Sunday to send the message that they will not “move on” from the largest sex trafficking scandal in the world. #standwithsurvivors

Pop singer Lorde will donate the $204,000 she made on merchandise sales from her sold-out Minneapolis shows last fall to two Minnesota immigrant rights groups.
Lorde donates merchandise proceeds from Minneapolis shows to immigrant rights groups
Pop singer Lorde will donate money she made on merchandise sales from her sold-out Minneapolis shows last fall to two Minnesota immigrant rights groups, she shared in a post on Instagram on Tuesday.
bit.ly

Reposted by Monisha Bajaj

One legal expert said even up until recently, “it would have been pretty unthinkable” for ICE to come onto school grounds like agents did at Roosevelt High in Minneapolis.
ICE is ‘at the school yard gate.’ Here’s what it means that agents are getting closer.
One legal expert said even up until recently, “it would have been pretty unthinkable” for ICE to come onto school grounds like agents did at Roosevelt High in Minneapolis.
bit.ly

Thank you @scbwisfneb.bsky.social for the Member Spotlight! www.scbwi.org/regions/sfno...
Kudos to Mayor Mamdani.

This is what economic justice looks like.

And it's a reminder of how we can fight corporate greed at the state and local level. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/mamdani-ice-delivery-workers-settlement-backpay-uber-gig-workers-million/
Just experienced the most intense tear gassing of my life by federal officers outside the ICE facility in Portland where marchers gathered. There was no fast exit as they indiscriminately threw loads of gas and flash bangs. Children were in the crowd screaming. @oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Reposted by Monisha Bajaj

"We are all citizens with a voice, so we must speak. A lot of people like to say, 'I am apolitical!' How can you be apolitical in this world? My stance is clear," Kiran Desai tells Chintan Girish Modi.

Read the full interview: scroll.in/article/1090...
A discussion about why Minnesota was so ready to reject ICE/CBP:

"Number one is the rigorous focus on agency-oriented organizing practice, a north star of building multiracial, democratic governing power. We have a majoritarian orientation — we want progressive and popular power."
Our Power Is Organized People
Creating a movement across generations, races, and faiths in Minnesota.
hammerandhope.org
The City of Philadelphia has introduced legislation to limited ICE in the city. The Federal Agents can not be masked, must have ID visible, must have arrested warrants signed by federal judges. They can't attack people. If they can't do this, they will be arrested.
youtu.be/i5Yvg_HHfbE?...
WATCH: Philadelphia lawmakers introduce 'ICE Out' legislation to restrict federal operations in city
YouTube video by PBS NewsHour
youtu.be
AAUP @aaup.org · 15d
AAUP President Todd Wolfson on the killing of Alex Pretti:

"This moment demands a unified, bold, and powerful response from the labor movement. We are uniting across sectors to organize, mobilize, and wield our full collective power to confront ICE."

Full statement:
AAUP President on the Killing of Alex Pretti: “This Moment Demands A Powerful Response from the Labor Movement”
AAUP President Todd Wolfson issued the following statement in response to the shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, January 24.
www.aaup.org
The National Basketball Players Association releases a statement following the Trump regime’s murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, saying that NBA players “can no longer remain silent.”

The NBPA is standing up for free speech, civil liberties, and the people of Minnesota demanding justice.
ICE has kidnapped another Indigenous person in Minneapolis. This is the fifth member of the Očhéthi Šakówinnto be taken this month.

Statement from Standing Rock:
In October, ICE grabbed Maher Tarabishi.

He was a 24/7 caregiver for his disabled son Wael.

At the time of Maher’s detention, disability advocates warned that taking away Wael’s caregiver put his life at risk.

Wael died on Friday at age 30.

ICE caused his death.

They didn’t get to say goodbye.
Disabled son of ICE detainee dies after 30 days of hospitalization
It had been months since Wael Tarabishi seen his father. The family is calling on ICE to release Maher Tarabishi so he may attend his son's funeral.
www.wfaa.com
ICE detained a 2-year-old girl in Minneapolis and put the child on a flight to a detention center in Texas, despite a court ordering her release: www.startribune.com/agents-detai...
Minnesota is the best of us.

Reposted by Monisha Bajaj

Today, Minnesota is shutting down in solidarity.

It could be a model for what the nation as a whole does in coming months, to repudiate the Trump dictatorship. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/minnesotas-general-strike-and-americas

Join us for this event on February 21 to launch A YEAR OF KITES in conversation with @robliutrujillo.bsky.social

RSVP at: www.eventbrite.com/e/monisha-ba...
Monisha Bajaj's A YEAR OF KITES In-Store Event And Book Signing - FOR KIDS!
Debut picture book author Bajaj presents her inviting and informative picture book about kite-flying traditions around the world.
www.eventbrite.com
This is surreal. 4 Oglala Lakota men kidnapped by ICE in Minneapolis have finally been located. One of them was released but the other 3 are being held at Fort Snelling, a former concentration camp used to imprison Native people incl. the Dakota 38 during Dakota Wars.

ictnews.org/news/north-c...
Four Oglala detainees located, three still in ICE custody - ICT
The four Lakota detainees were reportedly sent to a former concentration camp used during the Dakota Wars
ictnews.org

Reposted by Monisha Bajaj

Instead of ending the constitution and murdering people, we could have high speed trains and universal health care.
The Norwegian Nobel Prize committee has been forced to make a statement, declaring that the prize cannot be transferred.
It's hard even to comprehend how stupid this has become
This morning in Minneapolis, an ICE vehicle got stuck on an icy hill in a residential neighborhood. Agents had to push the vehicles out, some almost slipping in the ice themselves.
Rest in power to Keith Porter who was murdered by an ICE agent in Los Angeles.

It’s terrible that his name is just now being circulated, but now that it is, continue to say his name.
Advocates want legal action after man shot and killed by off-duty ICE agent in Northridge
Advocates argue that the off-duty ICE agent wasn't trained for the situation and should have called police and waited for them to arrive.
abc7.com
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com

“The chaos that ICE and the Trump administration have brought to Minneapolis made this tragedy sadly predictable,” writes Jacob Frey, the city’s mayor.
Opinion | I’m the Mayor of Minneapolis. Trump Is Lying to You.
This administration is making cities less safe.
nyti.ms
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Federal immigration officers shoot and wound 2 people in Portland, Oregon, authorities say.

Reposted by Monisha Bajaj

Kudos to Mayor Mamdani and Governor Hochul. This is what governing for the people looks like. https://www.commondreams.org/news/hochul-backs-mamdani-childcare
Hochul Backs Mamdani Childcare Expansion Plan With Two Years of State Funding | Common Dreams
"The cost of childcare is too damn high," said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul as she pledged two years of state funding to h
www.commondreams.org

Reposted by Monisha Bajaj

ICE agents have shot at least nine other people just since September, killing one.

Under Trump, this violence is rewarded with fat bonuses and student loan forgiveness — while nurses, teachers, and everyone else struggles to get by.

We must never become numb to his cruelty.