Priscilla Ocen
priscillaocen.bsky.social
Priscilla Ocen
@priscillaocen.bsky.social

Scholar. Writer. Anti-Carceral Feminist. Lawyer. Professor. Karaoke Queen. Time Traveler.

Political science 34%
Sociology 28%

Reposted by Priscilla Ocen

Trump's vague plan to “federalize” the nation’s capital is best understood as an authoritarian pageant from an administration that’s flailing.

The reality does not matter; only the fascist spectacle that he can manufacture and sell to Fox News viewers.
trib.al/uyqxvpl

Reposted by Priscilla Ocen

So the most powerful man in the world and the richest man in the world clumsily fired a bunch of senior air traffic staff, caused the worst domestic air disaster since 9/11, and then tried to blame black people
“We have observed approximately 90% of the workers targeted for terminations due to a perceived association with diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are women or nonbinary,” said an attorney representing federal staffers.

By @davidmcswane.bsky.social
Dismissed by DEI: Trump’s Purge Made Black Women With Stable Federal Jobs an “Easy Target”
The president’s attack on diversity efforts has derailed the government careers of highly educated civil servants — even though the jobs some lost were not directly involved with any DEI programs.
www.propublica.org

I recently joined TikTok. I wanted to see what kind of posts the algorithm would suggest I follow. Over a third were right-wing accounts promoting violence against immigrants and others. Interesting. Was this the price of lifting the TikTok ban???

Just tuning in to the Knicks vs. Celtics game. 32 points down?? Did someone put a hex on the Celtics?? This beatdown ain't right. And I say that as a Lakers fan. 😂

Great piece exploring what is really at stake in the assault on DEI - because "what DEI Threatens Isn't Merit. It's Monopoly."
What DEI threatens isn’t merit. It’s monopoly.
Political science professor Hakeem Jefferson argues for DEI's importance to de-monopolizing universities.
stanforddaily.com

This Saturday, Loyola Law School will host a convening on the impact of Project 2025 on democracy, civil rights, and more. Join us!
AAUP @aaup.org · Mar 22
Columbia University has failed to defend academic freedom & freedom of speech & allowed a great institution to be bullied & extorted into submission by an administration hellbent on contorting higher education to their will.

The AAUP condemns this capitulation. We can & must fight back.
Columbia Concedes to Trump’s Demands After Federal Funds Are Stripped
The administration has moved to cut $400 million in federal funding to the university without changes to its policies and rules.
www.nytimes.com
"On October 8, 1931, a law went into effect requiring every Italian university professor to sign an oath pledging their loyalty to the government of Benito Mussolini. Out of over 1,200 professors in the country, only 12 refused. All of them were immediately fired." www.chronicle.com/article/what...
Opinion | What Autocrats Want From Academics: Servility
In 1931, Italian scholars were made to take loyalty oaths. Will that happen to us?
www.chronicle.com

Reposted by Priscilla Ocen

CEO Worked Way Up From Son Of CEO
theonion.com/ceo-wor...

Ya'll really elected Humdinger president. Where's the Paw Patrol when you need 'em?

It would be funny if it were not so harmful, dangerous, tragic, racist, and, most of all, unnecessary.
DOGE recommended firing workers at:

-FDA, which oversees Neuralink

-FAA, which oversees SpaceX

-USAID, which probed Starlink

-CFPB, which oversees Tesla's financing arm and a potential payment platform on X.

"Conflict of interest" is a severe understatement.

Reposted by Priscilla Ocen

If you missed tonight’s town hall with @naomiaklein.bsky.social, @chenjerai.bsky.social, @astra.bsky.social, and @keeanga.bsky.social on resisting the shock and awe politics of the far right and their billionaire enthusiasts, you can watch the video here:
The Corporate Coup in Global Context: An Emergency Town Hall
YouTube video by Haymarket Books
www.youtube.com

Reposted by Priscilla Ocen

so far going anti-woke leads to less money and planes falling out of the sky
Target's shareholders lost $15 billion of net worth in their holdings of Target common stock when Target announced they were dropping DEI initiatives.
The Washpost, which is bleeding millions of dollars and shrinking its staff, accepted -- and then rejected -- a $115,000 ad that criticized Elon Musk.

Anyway, here's the ad that the Post's business side didn't want its readers to see ⤵️

thehill.com/media/514849...

Black women watching America implode after electing a white nationalist government.

Thank you, Meghan! I hope you are well.

Exciting news! I’m honored to join the 2025-2027 cohort of the Leading Edge Fund formation. 🎉

With this fellowship, I’m looking forward to developing a new research center that studies and promotes community alternatives to policing.

leadingedge.rosenbergfound.org
Leading Edge Fund
The Leading Edge Fund is a new $2 million fund created to seed, incubate and accelerate bold ideas from the next generation of progressive movement leaders in California.
leadingedge.rosenbergfound.org
Top comment on the recent NYT story on DOGE’s young aides

www.nytimes.com/shared/comme...

On brand for a bunch of cronies, charlatans, crooks. They are scamming the American government and using racism as an accomplice.
So the most powerful man in the world and the richest man in the world clumsily fired a bunch of senior air traffic staff, caused the worst domestic air disaster since 9/11, and then tried to blame black people

Reposted by Priscilla Ocen

People are understandably feeling scared as Trump unleashes his torrent of attacks on vulnerable populations. But some in the grassroots are fighting back, piece by piece. @rebeccaburns.bsky.social burns and I documented one such effort in Chicago disrupting Trump’s mass deportation plans.
“Don’t Open the Door”: How Chicago Is Frustrating ICE’s Campaign of Fear
Months of know-your-rights work has Trump’s border czar complaining.
inthesetimes.com

So . . . Trump is taking over the government using the same tactics that Musk used when he took over Twitter. An all-out assault on all of the institutional pillars to disrupt, destabilize, and destroy.

Reposted by Priscilla Ocen

To create as much justice and safety as possible, we have to defy authority and disobey, writes @mskellymhayes.bsky.social
Trump Needs Public Cooperation to Enact a Fascist Vision. Here’s How We Refuse.
Our resistance to fascistic policies must be grounded in our sense of justice, rather than arguments about what’s legal.
truthout.org

These fires have left us breathless, both literally and figuratively. The scale of harm is unimaginable. What is clear, however, is that community has stepped up, from raising money to hosting displaced family and friends. We have kept us safe—not a billion-dollar law enforcement apparatus.