Bram Hubbell
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bramhubbell.com
Bram Hubbell
@bramhubbell.com
1.2K followers 300 following 300 posts
he/him * Husband & father 🧑‍🧑‍🧒 World historian 🗺️ Teacher 👨‍🏫 Pilgrim 🧳 Yogi 🧘🏻‍♂️ Writer of Liberating Narratives
https://www.bramhubbell.com
https://www.liberatingnarratives.com
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Bram Hubbell @bramhubbell.com · Dec 1
Lots of folks have been following me and are new to Bluesky, so let me introduce myself. 🧵
I'm Bram Hubbell, and I'm a world historian. I primarily write Liberating Narratives, a newsletter for world history teachers.
On a ferry in the Baltic Sea
bramhubbell.com
Reflecting on our shared humanity won

ped.bramhubbell.com/2025/11/05/o...
Our Shared Humanity
The last 24 hours have been full of delightful reminders about the value of inclusiveness and our shared humanity. Yesterday morning, my daughter went up to this bumper sticker and asked about it. As ...
ped.bramhubbell.com
November 5, 2025 at 11:30 AM
bramhubbell.com
My daughter ran up to this car today and asked about the sticker. ✊🏽✊🏿✊🏼✊️✊🏾
November 4, 2025 at 3:43 PM
bramhubbell.com
Good article about underwater archaeology and Chinese maritime trade.
🗺️🗃️

www.smithsonianmag.com/history/trea...
Treasure Trove of Shipwrecks Along China's Coast Reveals How East Met West on the Maritime Silk Road
Sunken finds in the South China Sea testify to rich trade networks used over hundreds of years. The sea routes brought porcelain, tea and other goods from Asia to Africa, the Middle East and Europe
www.smithsonianmag.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:17 PM
bramhubbell.com
It’s surprising how often I still hear people mention Columbus “discovering” the Americas. Here’s my reply.
October 22, 2025 at 10:16 PM
bramhubbell.com
Today felt good
Bram, his wife, and daughter at No Kings protest Woman holding a sign: “We’re not radical. We just paid attention in History class.”
October 19, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Reposted by Bram Hubbell
bramhubbell.com
Hi, can anyone help me download this? My New York Public Library account doesn’t have access. Thanks.

oxfordre.com/internationa...
oxfordre.com
October 12, 2025 at 5:56 PM
bramhubbell.com
Hi, can anyone help me download this? My New York Public Library account doesn’t have access. Thanks.

oxfordre.com/internationa...
oxfordre.com
October 12, 2025 at 5:56 PM
bramhubbell.com
I don’t think enough historians consider what a hyphen in Afroeurasia implies. If we really believe in teaching the interconnected history of Africa, Asia, and Europe, it’s time to stop using “Afro-Eurasia” and start using Afroeurasia.
liberatingnarratives.com Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · Oct 8
Too often world historians use “Afro-Eurasia” with a hyphen. That hyphen has an ugly history. It’s time to start using Afrouerasia.
🗺️🗃️

www.liberatingnarratives.com/the-problem-...
The Problem with Hyphenating Afroeurasia
Hyphens suggest otherness; Afroeurasia has a long interconnected history
www.liberatingnarratives.com
October 8, 2025 at 2:40 PM
bramhubbell.com
Most definitely! When I was a union negotiator we had a policy of limiting the top salary in relation to the bottom salary. We need that in the US!

jacobin.com/2025/10/maxi...
We Desperately Need Maximum Wage Laws
With wealth inequality and billionaire control over American society growing ever more obscene, it’s well past time to implement a maximum wage limit.
jacobin.com
October 1, 2025 at 7:35 PM
bramhubbell.com
I always enjoyed teaching the Haitian Revolution. The topic always excited students, and the resources are great.
September 24, 2025 at 10:18 PM
bramhubbell.com
Excellent op-ed by Roxanne Gay
“Civility Is a Fantasy”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/opinion/civility-fantasy-power-kirk.html
Text Shot: Calling for civility is about exerting power. It is a way of reminding the powerless that they exist at the will of those in power and should act accordingly. It is a demand for control. Civility is wielded as a cudgel to further clarify the differences between “us” and “them.” It is the demand of people with thin skin who don’t want their delicate egos and impoverished ideas challenged. And it is a tool of fearful leaders, clinging to power with desperate, sweaty hands, thrilled at the ways they are forcing people, corporations and even other nations to bend to their will but terrified at what will happen when it all slips away.
September 24, 2025 at 12:57 PM
bramhubbell.com
Last week I wrote about the causes of the Haitian Revolution and got lots of great feedback. Thanks 🙏

I also had a couple of sources I left out and wanted to share.
🗺️🗃️
#histodons
www.liberatingnarratives.com/...
The Enlightenment Didn’t Cause the Haitian Revolution
Enslaved Africans in Saint-Domingue had many reasons to revolt... the Enlightenment wasn't one of them
www.liberatingnarratives.com
September 17, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Bram Hubbell
liberatingnarratives.com
Teaching global feminism in world history is like teaching resistance by enslaved
Africans or colonized peoples. It should be our default approach. Women (and a few men) have consistently challenged patriarchy and pushed for greater equality.
🗺️🗃️
www.liberatingnarratives.com/souls-are-ne...
“Souls are neither Male nor Female”: Teaching Global Feminism in World History, c.1750 to Present
Discussion of teaching global feminism from 1750 to present
www.liberatingnarratives.com
September 15, 2025 at 4:14 PM
bramhubbell.com
One more reason I love @footballweekly.bsky.social
Great to hear from @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social even if I’m a Spurs fan and he’s an Arsenal fan
footballweekly.bsky.social The Guardian's Football Weekly podcast @footballweekly.bsky.social · Sep 11
“I have long been quite troubled by how the supposed stewards of the game have opted for profit time and time again."

New York City mayoral candidate @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social speaks about the public petition he has launched against Fifa’s use of dynamic pricing for World Cup tickets.
September 11, 2025 at 9:23 PM
bramhubbell.com
I'm trying a new experiment and sharing Liberating Narratives free posts on Substack and Medium. I know lots of people use those platforms. Everything I post will still be available on the main site.
liberatingnarratives.com Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · Sep 10
New post!
Too often students assume enslaved Africans revolted on Saint-Domingue because they were inspired by the Enlightenment or the other Atlantic Revolutions. They didn't.
🗺️🗃️
www.liberatingnarratives.com/enlightenmen...
The Enlightenment Didn’t Cause the Haitian Revolution
Enslaved Africans in Saint-Domingue had many reasons to revolt... the Enlightenment wasn't one of them
www.liberatingnarratives.com
September 10, 2025 at 2:17 PM
bramhubbell.com
Finishing up these two new excellent books.
September 5, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by Bram Hubbell
liberatingnarratives.com
New post! I discuss how we can teach the influence of African women on the slave trade using Crispina Peres. I draw heavily on the work of Toby Green.
🗺️🗃️

www.liberatingnarratives.com/a-single-bla...
“A Single Black Woman”: African Women and the Portuguese Slave Trade in Sixteenth-Century West Africa
Teaching how African women influenced the slave trade in seventeenth-century West Africa
www.liberatingnarratives.com
September 5, 2025 at 2:08 PM
bramhubbell.com
History for the 21st Century publishes excellent case studies for world history classrooms. They are targeted at the college level, but the sources can easily be adapted to the high school level.
🗺️🗃️

www.history21.com
History for the 21st Century
www.history21.com
September 3, 2025 at 12:16 AM
bramhubbell.com
Putting this post together was an eye opener for me. I’ve written a lot about teaching the transatlantic slave system, and I didn’t realize how much my focus was on the North Atlantic rather than Brazil and West Central Africa (the South Atlantic)
I hope I provided some helpful resources for folks
liberatingnarratives.com Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · Aug 27
Time for a new theme for the month and a new free post. I wrote about why we should and how we can center Brazil when teaching the transatlantic slave system.
🗺️🗃️
I drew heavily on the work of @araujohistorian.bsky.social

www.liberatingnarratives.com/the-horrors-...
“The Horrors of the Cruel System of Slavery”: Revisiting the Transatlantic Slave System
Discussion of teaching Brazil and the transatlantic slave system
www.liberatingnarratives.com
August 27, 2025 at 6:30 PM
bramhubbell.com
I loved writing these posts on East Africa. There are so many great primary sources to use with students.
liberatingnarratives.com Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · Aug 22
What happens to our standard narrative of the 19th century global economy when we stop in 1850 & focus on Zanzibar? It’s surprising to see how Africans, Arabs, & South Asians shaped the global economy & turned Zanzibar into a hub of global trade
🗺️🗃️

www.liberatingnarratives.com/everything-i...
“Everything is Found in Zanzibar”: East Africa, Zanzibar, and World History in the Nineteenth Century
Discussion of teaching nineteenth-century East Africa and Zanzibar
www.liberatingnarratives.com
August 23, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Bram Hubbell
liberatingnarratives.com
New post on early modern East Africa. How much influence did the Portuguese have? Not much when we look at the sources!
🗺️🗃️

www.liberatingnarratives.com/at-variance-...
“At Variance with the Europeans”: East Africa, 1400 - c.1750
Discussion of teaching early modern East Africa
www.liberatingnarratives.com
August 11, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Bram Hubbell
liberatingnarratives.com
I’m offering a free workshop tomorrow night (8/12). It’s on teaching the Mongols at 7PM ET/4PM PT. I hope to see you there.

www.liberatingnarratives.com/a-great-army...
A Great Army is Mobilized: Teaching the Mongols
Free workshop on teaching the Haitian Revolution
www.liberatingnarratives.com
August 11, 2025 at 4:37 PM
bramhubbell.com
This has been a challenging year with writing. It felt good to take a break and then come back with this topic.
liberatingnarratives.com Liberating Narratives @liberatingnarratives.com · Jul 26
After my annual summer break, I'm back with a new series on teaching East Africa in world history. This first post is free and introduces some resources and themes we can use when teaching East Africa.
🗺️🗃️

www.liberatingnarratives.com/a-mixed-popu...
“A Mixed Population of Muslims and Zanj”: Teaching East Africa in World History, c.1000 to Present
Discussion of teaching East Africa Africa in World History
www.liberatingnarratives.com
July 27, 2025 at 12:22 AM
bramhubbell.com
I forgot to share this article on teaching the Indochina Wars when it was published last month
🗺️🗃️

journals.gmu.edu/whc/article/...
View of Goodbye Vietnam, Good Morning Indochina: Teaching the Indochina Wars in American World History Classrooms
World History Connected journal
journals.gmu.edu
June 17, 2025 at 7:04 PM
bramhubbell.com
Good article on the upcoming 80th anniversary of the 5th Pan-African Congress that jumpstarted post-WW2 decolonization
🗺️🗃️

www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...
Did the liberation of Africa start in Manchester? The biting play about a pivotal, forgotten moment
It was a turning point in the push for African independence – and it took place in Chorlton-on-Medlock Town Hall. We meet the writer of a play about the fifth Pan-African Congress
www.theguardian.com
June 17, 2025 at 5:13 PM