Ansley Erickson
@ansleyerickson.bsky.social
US cities & schools, historically.
Books: Making the Unequal Metropolis; Educating Harlem.
Thoughts here represent me, not my employer.
www.tc.columbia.edu/faculty/ate11
nyccivilrightshistory.org
Also 🌱 🪴 and 🏊♀️ 🏊♀️ and I♥️NYC.
Books: Making the Unequal Metropolis; Educating Harlem.
Thoughts here represent me, not my employer.
www.tc.columbia.edu/faculty/ate11
nyccivilrightshistory.org
Also 🌱 🪴 and 🏊♀️ 🏊♀️ and I♥️NYC.
Pinned
Boulder kept my dad alive. So did the government
My father never quite understood how I could live in New York City. He always preferred Montana, open rather than dense, prairie rather than concrete. Great Falls was his birthplace,
www.boulder-monitor.com
I wrote about my dad, our government, and how we need each other to stay alive.
Whether Trump, Musk, and the gang think so or not.
Whether Trump, Musk, and the gang think so or not.
I mean, really!
January 27, 2026 at 2:41 PM
I mean, really!
I just made babka, so you can’t tell me nothing.
January 27, 2026 at 4:12 AM
I just made babka, so you can’t tell me nothing.
@dieworkwear.bsky.social here is relevant - and clear of course that "proper" uniforms a) matter and b) can make things yet worse.
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
January 25, 2026 at 4:11 PM
@dieworkwear.bsky.social here is relevant - and clear of course that "proper" uniforms a) matter and b) can make things yet worse.
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Reposted by Ansley Erickson
M. Gessen, gift link: The soviet secret police too "were ruled by quotas... Fundamentally, the terror was random. That is, in fact, how state terror works. The randomness is the difference between a regime based on terror and a regime that is plainly repressive"
Opinion | State Terror Has Arrived
www.nytimes.com
January 25, 2026 at 1:55 PM
M. Gessen, gift link: The soviet secret police too "were ruled by quotas... Fundamentally, the terror was random. That is, in fact, how state terror works. The randomness is the difference between a regime based on terror and a regime that is plainly repressive"
Reposted by Ansley Erickson
"If the black revolt does not succeed... Americans are going to discover what it is like to live as the black man has been living all these years, in constant terror of violence from the mob & from the police, never certain what rights he can exercise under the law & under the Constitution."
November 21, 2025 at 5:08 PM
"If the black revolt does not succeed... Americans are going to discover what it is like to live as the black man has been living all these years, in constant terror of violence from the mob & from the police, never certain what rights he can exercise under the law & under the Constitution."
Reposted by Ansley Erickson
ICE killing #AlexPretti should remind you of police killing #PhilandoCastille. Both men had concealed weapon permits, did not draw their guns, & were killed in Minn. These homicides are the price of unaccountable policing. These deaths are variations on the same fatal theme.
January 25, 2026 at 4:36 AM
ICE killing #AlexPretti should remind you of police killing #PhilandoCastille. Both men had concealed weapon permits, did not draw their guns, & were killed in Minn. These homicides are the price of unaccountable policing. These deaths are variations on the same fatal theme.
Reposted by Ansley Erickson
I've been studying the history of US, and indeed, global policing my whole career and I can't make it more clear to law makers that this isn't a bastardization of policing, it is its purest form and logical conclusion. The impunity, militarization, deference, legitimacy, racial targeting, etc.
January 25, 2026 at 2:20 AM
I've been studying the history of US, and indeed, global policing my whole career and I can't make it more clear to law makers that this isn't a bastardization of policing, it is its purest form and logical conclusion. The impunity, militarization, deference, legitimacy, racial targeting, etc.
These are federal agents using force against protesters in Minneapolis. ICE Look at this haphazard attire. Jeans, sneakers, BYO gear.
I don’t want to embrace liberal attachment to “professionalism.” But it illustrates how these ppl are empowered to be careless at best, murderous at worst.
I don’t want to embrace liberal attachment to “professionalism.” But it illustrates how these ppl are empowered to be careless at best, murderous at worst.
January 25, 2026 at 2:11 PM
These are federal agents using force against protesters in Minneapolis. ICE Look at this haphazard attire. Jeans, sneakers, BYO gear.
I don’t want to embrace liberal attachment to “professionalism.” But it illustrates how these ppl are empowered to be careless at best, murderous at worst.
I don’t want to embrace liberal attachment to “professionalism.” But it illustrates how these ppl are empowered to be careless at best, murderous at worst.
Reposted by Ansley Erickson
I'm sorry for the person who was beat to death and killed. My sincere condolences to their loved ones. ICE is going to continue to kill people because the purpose of a system is what it does. It is not what it says it does or what you hope it does. Maybe USians will finally confront this truth.
January 24, 2026 at 4:51 PM
I'm sorry for the person who was beat to death and killed. My sincere condolences to their loved ones. ICE is going to continue to kill people because the purpose of a system is what it does. It is not what it says it does or what you hope it does. Maybe USians will finally confront this truth.
An image for our times. 💔
"ICE Is Made Up of a Bunch of Cowards"
Artist Margaret Vail Palmquist eviscerates ICE in a series of illustrations over its abduction of a 5-year-old in the Minneapolis area earlier in the week.
inthesetimes.com
January 24, 2026 at 3:31 PM
An image for our times. 💔
Hope. This is what it looks like.
“.. People take part in a rally on the day of a general strike to protest U.S. President Donald Trump's deployment of thousands of immigration enforcement officers on the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota.”
@reuters.com
@reuters.com
January 23, 2026 at 11:48 PM
Hope. This is what it looks like.
Reposted by Ansley Erickson
Newly unsealed evidence makes it even clearer that Rubio and Noem knew they were targeting students based solely on their political speech and that they knew this policy was unconstitutional. They just didn’t care. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u...
January 23, 2026 at 11:30 AM
Newly unsealed evidence makes it even clearer that Rubio and Noem knew they were targeting students based solely on their political speech and that they knew this policy was unconstitutional. They just didn’t care. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u...
More on Khalil, Mahdawi, Ozturk: targeted and detained for their speech, as even the Trump admin officials compiling the claims against them knew was unconstitutional.
D.H.S. Cited Foreign Students’ Writings and Protests Before Their Arrests - gift link 🎁
D.H.S. Cited Foreign Students’ Writings and Protests Before Their Arrests - gift link 🎁
D.H.S. Cited Foreign Students’ Writings and Protests Before Their Arrests
www.nytimes.com
January 23, 2026 at 12:42 PM
More on Khalil, Mahdawi, Ozturk: targeted and detained for their speech, as even the Trump admin officials compiling the claims against them knew was unconstitutional.
D.H.S. Cited Foreign Students’ Writings and Protests Before Their Arrests - gift link 🎁
D.H.S. Cited Foreign Students’ Writings and Protests Before Their Arrests - gift link 🎁
Reposted by Ansley Erickson
One day, if we are lucky, the erasure of American history will itself be remembered as a shameful chapter in American history
January 23, 2026 at 1:30 AM
One day, if we are lucky, the erasure of American history will itself be remembered as a shameful chapter in American history
Awful.
Mahmoud Khalil, SIPA ’24, will be rearrested and deported to Algeria, DHS says
Mahmoud Khalil, SIPA ’24, will be rearrested and deported to Algeria, Tricia McLaughlin, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs, announced Thursday, as the federal gove...
www.columbiaspectator.com
January 22, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Awful.
Best summary of that NYT piece about higher ed.
Takeaways:
-2nd compact on the way
-signed agreements from Brown, Columbia, Cornell Northwestern, Penn, and UVA have emboldened the admin (thanks y'all!)
-Vanderbilt's committed to cosplaying as the "reasonable adult" while aiding authoritarians
Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/u...
-2nd compact on the way
-signed agreements from Brown, Columbia, Cornell Northwestern, Penn, and UVA have emboldened the admin (thanks y'all!)
-Vanderbilt's committed to cosplaying as the "reasonable adult" while aiding authoritarians
Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/u...
Investigations and a Billion-Dollar ‘Shakedown’: How Trump Targeted Higher Education
www.nytimes.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Best summary of that NYT piece about higher ed.
Reposted by Ansley Erickson
Back in 2016, Nursing Clio put together a series called Protest: Past & Present. It was one of the most powerful series we've ever done, showing the power of protest (for good and bad). I'm going to post the essays below 🧵
January 18, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Back in 2016, Nursing Clio put together a series called Protest: Past & Present. It was one of the most powerful series we've ever done, showing the power of protest (for good and bad). I'm going to post the essays below 🧵
If we just keep skiing the semester will not start yet, right?
January 18, 2026 at 10:31 PM
If we just keep skiing the semester will not start yet, right?
Good morning little orchid!
January 16, 2026 at 1:28 PM
Good morning little orchid!
Reposted by Ansley Erickson
This kind of messaging is intended to drown moms in research, risk, and responsibility.
The goal is to keep them so anxious and so busy that they can't work for pay--especially not in high-powered "mens" jobs--or get involved in any kind of efforts to push for progressive change.
The goal is to keep them so anxious and so busy that they can't work for pay--especially not in high-powered "mens" jobs--or get involved in any kind of efforts to push for progressive change.
HHS Secretary RFK Jr: "This idea that you should trust the experts, a good mother doesn't do that"
January 16, 2026 at 12:00 AM
This kind of messaging is intended to drown moms in research, risk, and responsibility.
The goal is to keep them so anxious and so busy that they can't work for pay--especially not in high-powered "mens" jobs--or get involved in any kind of efforts to push for progressive change.
The goal is to keep them so anxious and so busy that they can't work for pay--especially not in high-powered "mens" jobs--or get involved in any kind of efforts to push for progressive change.
Reposted by Ansley Erickson
Join us at Charis Books and More where I'll be speaking about my new book, High School Students Unite! with @profsuddler.bsky.social. It takes place on January 31, 2026 at 7:30pm at:
Charis Books & More
184 S. Candler St.
Decatur, GA 30030-3740
charisbooksandmore.com/event/2026-0...
Charis Books & More
184 S. Candler St.
Decatur, GA 30030-3740
charisbooksandmore.com/event/2026-0...
January 14, 2026 at 4:13 PM
Join us at Charis Books and More where I'll be speaking about my new book, High School Students Unite! with @profsuddler.bsky.social. It takes place on January 31, 2026 at 7:30pm at:
Charis Books & More
184 S. Candler St.
Decatur, GA 30030-3740
charisbooksandmore.com/event/2026-0...
Charis Books & More
184 S. Candler St.
Decatur, GA 30030-3740
charisbooksandmore.com/event/2026-0...
NYC education peeps, the Education Council Consortium and Rachel Klepper, PhD have done us a great service. Here's a short history of school governance, with special focus on 20+ years of mayoral control. #edusky
READ & get beyond the tired soundbite that mayoral control = accountability!
READ & get beyond the tired soundbite that mayoral control = accountability!
Who Governs NYC Schools?
by Rachel Klepper, Ph.D.
www.ecc-nyc.org
January 15, 2026 at 8:08 PM
NYC education peeps, the Education Council Consortium and Rachel Klepper, PhD have done us a great service. Here's a short history of school governance, with special focus on 20+ years of mayoral control. #edusky
READ & get beyond the tired soundbite that mayoral control = accountability!
READ & get beyond the tired soundbite that mayoral control = accountability!
Reposted by Ansley Erickson
If we survive its because this moment radicalizes people like this guy. "You know what fucking pisses me off..."
Me too brother, me too.
Also a reminder to not shame anyone who is just finding their way into action. Everyone starts somewhere!
Me too brother, me too.
Also a reminder to not shame anyone who is just finding their way into action. Everyone starts somewhere!
🔥 From @statuscoupnews.bsky.social : “This is nuts. What the fuck is going on? I’ve never protested in my life… they tell you it’s immigrants — it’s fucking anybody. They’re just trying to scare people. I’m not paid to be here. I have to work in the morning. This is wrong.”
January 15, 2026 at 3:15 PM
If we survive its because this moment radicalizes people like this guy. "You know what fucking pisses me off..."
Me too brother, me too.
Also a reminder to not shame anyone who is just finding their way into action. Everyone starts somewhere!
Me too brother, me too.
Also a reminder to not shame anyone who is just finding their way into action. Everyone starts somewhere!
Congrats to @insidehighered.com for making more space for history! We need it to make sense of this ever-shifting, and frightening, moment.
I look forward to reading, @bakerdphd.bsky.social.
I look forward to reading, @bakerdphd.bsky.social.
It would appear I am now a columnist at Inside Higher Ed. My first piece focuses on McCarthyism, censorship, and our current moment in higher education. This is an essay I started nearly 6 months ago so I'm glad to finally share it with y'all.
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
Censorship Arrives on Campus
In her debut column, “Echoes in the Quad,” higher education policy scholar Dominique J. Baker explores how the political oppression of the McCarthy era reverberates in the stifling of academic freedom...
www.insidehighered.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:44 PM
Congrats to @insidehighered.com for making more space for history! We need it to make sense of this ever-shifting, and frightening, moment.
I look forward to reading, @bakerdphd.bsky.social.
I look forward to reading, @bakerdphd.bsky.social.
Reposted by Ansley Erickson
Pale white dot. And an even tinier Moon.
On the left, Venus with an overexposed sunlit side and infrared night side. On the right, and a little further away, are Earth and the Moon. Observed in ultraviolet and infrared by Japan’s Akatsuki orbiter at Venus on October 21, 2016.
flic.kr/p/2maa5QV
flic.kr/p/2maa5QV
January 13, 2026 at 6:02 AM
Pale white dot. And an even tinier Moon.