Ben Johnson
@benjaminhjohns1.bsky.social
I study history in order to understand and help others understand the crazy world in which we live. Environment, climate, borders, violence and memory are key. Also @refusing2forget.bsky.social. My opinions are mine, sadly almost never my employer's.
a lot to chew on here, scary but realistic. What is next?
from the perspective of Venezuelans, I suppose last night's military operation doesn't really look very different from Grenada in 1983, Panama in 1989, or countless other US military actions
what makes this feel different from vantage points outside of Latin America is that the US is no longer
1/
what makes this feel different from vantage points outside of Latin America is that the US is no longer
1/
January 3, 2026 at 6:00 PM
a lot to chew on here, scary but realistic. What is next?
Reposted by Ben Johnson
rubio pretty much believes in a reverse domino theory for latin america and since he is effectively running foreign policy in the region i would expect him to see cuba as his next target
And I don’t want to sound conspiratorial, but if they feel like they can do this in Venezuela without any serious consequences, they’re absolutely going to try it in Cuba too.
January 3, 2026 at 12:37 PM
rubio pretty much believes in a reverse domino theory for latin america and since he is effectively running foreign policy in the region i would expect him to see cuba as his next target
Reposted by Ben Johnson
New on the blog: A guest post marking 115 years since the Rocksprings lynching of Antonio Rodríguez. Contributor Ignacio Minjarez examines the 1910 lynching & invites readers to consider how the stories told after the violence helped define who Rodríguez was. refusingtoforget.org/115-years-si...
January 2, 2026 at 4:39 PM
New on the blog: A guest post marking 115 years since the Rocksprings lynching of Antonio Rodríguez. Contributor Ignacio Minjarez examines the 1910 lynching & invites readers to consider how the stories told after the violence helped define who Rodríguez was. refusingtoforget.org/115-years-si...
Reposted by Ben Johnson
As 2025 comes to a close, this work cannot pause. From reaching 21,000+ people to helping secure long-delayed death certificates for Jesús Bazán and Antonio Longoria, collective memory has made real change possible.
With honest history under increasing threat, the need is urgent.
With honest history under increasing threat, the need is urgent.
December 29, 2025 at 3:50 PM
As 2025 comes to a close, this work cannot pause. From reaching 21,000+ people to helping secure long-delayed death certificates for Jesús Bazán and Antonio Longoria, collective memory has made real change possible.
With honest history under increasing threat, the need is urgent.
With honest history under increasing threat, the need is urgent.
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Our president
DOJ briefly uploaded this letter from Jeff Epstein to serial child molester Larry Nassar:
"Our president shares our love of young, nubile girls. When a young beauty walked by he loved to 'grab snatch,' whereas we ended up snatching grub in the mess halls of the system."
"Our president shares our love of young, nubile girls. When a young beauty walked by he loved to 'grab snatch,' whereas we ended up snatching grub in the mess halls of the system."
December 23, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Our president
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Editor in Chief of Christianity Today Magazine 👇🏽
December 15, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Editor in Chief of Christianity Today Magazine 👇🏽
interesting long piece on the Rangers and contemporary border politics; glad to see @refusing2forget.bsky.social mentioned. www.currentaffairs.org/news/abolish...
Abolish the Texas Rangers
They might be portrayed as heroes in movies, but the Rangers have a long, ugly history of white supremacist violence.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 15, 2025 at 6:20 PM
interesting long piece on the Rangers and contemporary border politics; glad to see @refusing2forget.bsky.social mentioned. www.currentaffairs.org/news/abolish...
Reposted by Ben Johnson
In a world where fewer and fewer people concern themselves with the plight of others, the loss of Rob Reiner, who cared deeply about humanitarian causes, feels that much more devastating. RIP: 1947-1925.
[Selfie: July 2022, NYC]
[Selfie: July 2022, NYC]
December 15, 2025 at 1:52 PM
In a world where fewer and fewer people concern themselves with the plight of others, the loss of Rob Reiner, who cared deeply about humanitarian causes, feels that much more devastating. RIP: 1947-1925.
[Selfie: July 2022, NYC]
[Selfie: July 2022, NYC]
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, has been identified as the man who disarmed one of the Sydney attackers.
Ahmed was shot by the second shooter, who was firing from a bridge. He suffered 2 gunshot wounds and is undergoing surgery.
Ahmed was shot by the second shooter, who was firing from a bridge. He suffered 2 gunshot wounds and is undergoing surgery.
December 14, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Ahmed al Ahmed, 43, has been identified as the man who disarmed one of the Sydney attackers.
Ahmed was shot by the second shooter, who was firing from a bridge. He suffered 2 gunshot wounds and is undergoing surgery.
Ahmed was shot by the second shooter, who was firing from a bridge. He suffered 2 gunshot wounds and is undergoing surgery.
Reposted by Ben Johnson
The people who think the Bible, which was written by mystics, priests, and poets, means only what it literally says are the same people who think the Constitution, which was written by lawyers, cannot possibly mean what it literally says.
Exactly. If they meant freed people, they would have written, "freed people." Instead, they wrote, "all persons" because they meant all persons.
This debate is idiotic.
This debate is idiotic.
December 7, 2025 at 9:20 PM
The people who think the Bible, which was written by mystics, priests, and poets, means only what it literally says are the same people who think the Constitution, which was written by lawyers, cannot possibly mean what it literally says.
Caminante, no hay camino. Camino se hace al andar
Like @prisonculture.bsky.social, I've been worried about the ways popular myths of the civil rights movement make it hard to see how to struggle today. On the 70th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, the things we get wrong & what a fuller history shows us: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What we get wrong about the Montgomery bus boycott – and what we can learn from it | Jeanne Theoharis
The movement’s success was never a given. It took much longer and required tremendous sacrifice without certainty it would work
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Caminante, no hay camino. Camino se hace al andar
Reposted by Ben Johnson
December 6, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Minneapolis stands up to ICE
Minneapolis police chief warns officers: Stop unlawful force by ICE or lose your job
Chief Brian O’Hara says he’ll fire city police officers if they don’t intervene when immigration agents use unlawful force.
www.ms.now/news/minneap...
Minneapolis police chief warns officers: Stop unlawful force by ICE or lose your job
Chief Brian O’Hara says he’ll fire city police officers if they don’t intervene when immigration agents use unlawful force.
www.ms.now/news/minneap...
Minneapolis police chief warns officers: Stop unlawful force by ICE or lose your job
Chief Brian O’Hara says he’ll fire city police officers if they don’t intervene when immigration agents use unlawful force.
www.ms.now
December 6, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Minneapolis stands up to ICE
Minneapolis police chief warns officers: Stop unlawful force by ICE or lose your job
Chief Brian O’Hara says he’ll fire city police officers if they don’t intervene when immigration agents use unlawful force.
www.ms.now/news/minneap...
Minneapolis police chief warns officers: Stop unlawful force by ICE or lose your job
Chief Brian O’Hara says he’ll fire city police officers if they don’t intervene when immigration agents use unlawful force.
www.ms.now/news/minneap...
Buckle up kids
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the birthright citizenship case.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/u...
Supreme Court Agrees to Review Trump Order Restricting Birthright Citizenship
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Buckle up kids
Reposted by Ben Johnson
You know who covers community colleges pretty well? Local media.
Article title: The NYT wrote more about Harvard last year than all community colleges combined
I posted three main figure from the article below
www.vox.com/2014/7/23/59...
I posted three main figure from the article below
www.vox.com/2014/7/23/59...
December 3, 2025 at 1:33 AM
You know who covers community colleges pretty well? Local media.
Reposted by Ben Johnson
21,000+ people used our resources this year—teachers, students, journalists, families. Help us keep this history accessible. Support Refusing to Forget this #GivingTuesday.
👉 Donate on Mighty Cause: www.mightycause.com/donate/Refus...
👉 Join Patreon: www.patreon.com/RefusingtoFo...
👉 Donate on Mighty Cause: www.mightycause.com/donate/Refus...
👉 Join Patreon: www.patreon.com/RefusingtoFo...
December 2, 2025 at 5:29 PM
21,000+ people used our resources this year—teachers, students, journalists, families. Help us keep this history accessible. Support Refusing to Forget this #GivingTuesday.
👉 Donate on Mighty Cause: www.mightycause.com/donate/Refus...
👉 Join Patreon: www.patreon.com/RefusingtoFo...
👉 Donate on Mighty Cause: www.mightycause.com/donate/Refus...
👉 Join Patreon: www.patreon.com/RefusingtoFo...
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Hey folks — I'll be appearing soon at the Dallas Jewish Bookfest to talk about "Neither Fish nor Fowl: A Mercantile Jewish Family on the Rio Grande."
The event is on Monday, December 8, at 7 pm at the Aaron Family JCC. See the link for details and registration.
www.jccdallas.org/events/bookf...
The event is on Monday, December 8, at 7 pm at the Aaron Family JCC. See the link for details and registration.
www.jccdallas.org/events/bookf...
BookFest: Neither Fish nor Fowl
Bookfest
www.jccdallas.org
November 28, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Hey folks — I'll be appearing soon at the Dallas Jewish Bookfest to talk about "Neither Fish nor Fowl: A Mercantile Jewish Family on the Rio Grande."
The event is on Monday, December 8, at 7 pm at the Aaron Family JCC. See the link for details and registration.
www.jccdallas.org/events/bookf...
The event is on Monday, December 8, at 7 pm at the Aaron Family JCC. See the link for details and registration.
www.jccdallas.org/events/bookf...
Glad to see Rogers fighting back.
sanantonioreport.org/alamo-trust-...
sanantonioreport.org/alamo-trust-...
Why ousted Alamo Trust CEO Kate Rogers isn't going quietly
In this Q&A, Rogers talks about using her high-profile lawsuit to defend academic freedom amid increasing political scrutiny.
sanantonioreport.org
November 28, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Glad to see Rogers fighting back.
sanantonioreport.org/alamo-trust-...
sanantonioreport.org/alamo-trust-...
hey kids, check out Yale Press's sale. 30% off most titles with this code. That includes my books, but I just looked, and they publish other authors too, so check it out!
yalebooks.yale.edu/gift30/
yalebooks.yale.edu/gift30/
2025 Holiday Sale - Yale University Press
Receive 30% off with discount code GIFT30 at time of purchase, from November 24, 2025 to 11:59 pm EST December 5, 2025. What is included in the Sale? Limited to print... READ MORE
yalebooks.yale.edu
November 26, 2025 at 6:07 PM
hey kids, check out Yale Press's sale. 30% off most titles with this code. That includes my books, but I just looked, and they publish other authors too, so check it out!
yalebooks.yale.edu/gift30/
yalebooks.yale.edu/gift30/
liars, liars, liars. blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/25/f...
Feds Repeatedly Lied And Misled The Public During Chicago Immigration Crackdown, Federal Judge Rules
In a scathing opinion, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis highlighted lies and distortions by Border Patrol boss Greg Bovino and immigration agents in press releases, social media posts and their own inte...
blockclubchicago.org
November 25, 2025 at 3:27 PM
liars, liars, liars. blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/25/f...
Reposted by Ben Johnson
That sound you heard was every GOP elected official with a lick of sense absolutely SHITTING themselves thinking about the visual of Mark Kelly back in uniform before a military court as Whiskey Pete's handpicked chucklefucks try to railroad him on bogus charges.
November 24, 2025 at 8:52 PM
That sound you heard was every GOP elected official with a lick of sense absolutely SHITTING themselves thinking about the visual of Mark Kelly back in uniform before a military court as Whiskey Pete's handpicked chucklefucks try to railroad him on bogus charges.
totally unhinged
In an unhinged dissent in our Texas redistricting victory, a GOP appointed judge seems to believe that George Soros and I did...well, I'm not sure what...but he is very mad. Bigly.
November 20, 2025 at 12:42 PM
totally unhinged
Reposted by Ben Johnson
I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
Opinion | Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression
The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Our virtual event is just one week away! Join us as we bring together these powerful voices to reflect on this urgent moment & the ongoing struggle to protect truthful history.
@stevanzetti.bsky.social @drmphillipsut.bsky.social
Access this event on our Patreon:
www.patreon.com/RefusingtoFo...
@stevanzetti.bsky.social @drmphillipsut.bsky.social
Access this event on our Patreon:
www.patreon.com/RefusingtoFo...
November 12, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Our virtual event is just one week away! Join us as we bring together these powerful voices to reflect on this urgent moment & the ongoing struggle to protect truthful history.
@stevanzetti.bsky.social @drmphillipsut.bsky.social
Access this event on our Patreon:
www.patreon.com/RefusingtoFo...
@stevanzetti.bsky.social @drmphillipsut.bsky.social
Access this event on our Patreon:
www.patreon.com/RefusingtoFo...