Brent Staples
@bstaples.bsky.social
Garden guy. Fellow, Society of American Historians. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for writing on the legacies of slavery “with extraordinary moral clarity.”
Pinned
How Vietnam Inflamed the Civil Rights Movement
www.nytimes.com
How the military criminalized blackness in Vietnam: my essay on an eye-opening new history of the war. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/b...
Reposted by Brent Staples
Wow who could have ever foreseen a white woman using tears to manipulate power! I, for one, am stunned.
(Yes it’s good character detail.)
(Yes it’s good character detail.)
February 11, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Wow who could have ever foreseen a white woman using tears to manipulate power! I, for one, am stunned.
(Yes it’s good character detail.)
(Yes it’s good character detail.)
Reposted by Brent Staples
Aggressive immigration enforcement in South Texas has led to significant construction delays and economic disruption. on.wsj.com/4kwxtA0
February 11, 2026 at 7:03 AM
Aggressive immigration enforcement in South Texas has led to significant construction delays and economic disruption. on.wsj.com/4kwxtA0
Reposted by Brent Staples
4) I understand why most Americans are not similarly fluent. Just as I understand why we don’t travel as much to other countries. This is a big place. But the idea of actually getting angry about listening to songs in another language is weird. Opera? Some Americans pay a fortune to go.
February 9, 2026 at 1:43 PM
4) I understand why most Americans are not similarly fluent. Just as I understand why we don’t travel as much to other countries. This is a big place. But the idea of actually getting angry about listening to songs in another language is weird. Opera? Some Americans pay a fortune to go.
How the military criminalized blackness in Vietnam: my essay on an eye-opening new history of the war. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/b...
How Vietnam Inflamed the Civil Rights Movement
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 1:28 PM
How the military criminalized blackness in Vietnam: my essay on an eye-opening new history of the war. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/b...
Chat bots give the wrong medical advice more than half the time. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
Health Advice From A.I. Chatbots Is Frequently Wrong, Study Shows
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 12:27 AM
Chat bots give the wrong medical advice more than half the time. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
Reposted by Brent Staples
This is a great piece by my colleague spencer on the bad bunny helftimeshow but of course there’s never been a more divisive idea in American history than all of us being American, we fought a civil war over it and Trump is nothing if not manifest opposition to it www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
‘Together, We Are America’
Bad Bunny’s critics said his Super Bowl halftime show would be divisive. They were totally wrong.
www.theatlantic.com
February 9, 2026 at 11:55 AM
This is a great piece by my colleague spencer on the bad bunny helftimeshow but of course there’s never been a more divisive idea in American history than all of us being American, we fought a civil war over it and Trump is nothing if not manifest opposition to it www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
Bad Bunny has a consulting historian. news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...
Pop star Bad Bunny needed a Puerto Rican history scholar. UW–Madison had just the one.
Bad Bunny collaborated with UW–Madison history professor Jorell Meléndez-Badillo on Puerto Rican narratives that accompany the new album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.”
news.wisc.edu
February 9, 2026 at 4:46 AM
Bad Bunny has a consulting historian. news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...
Reposted by Brent Staples
I sobbed when I saw the sugar cane field. My grandfather was a sugar cane farmer in Puerto Rico. Incredible to see this. 🇵🇷❤️
February 9, 2026 at 2:25 AM
I sobbed when I saw the sugar cane field. My grandfather was a sugar cane farmer in Puerto Rico. Incredible to see this. 🇵🇷❤️
Reposted by Brent Staples
crickets from the free speech crowd, of course
FAMU can't use the word Black on anything posted around campus related to Black History Month, to stay in compliance with Florida state laws against DEI. Black students can't use the word Black at their Historically Black College during Black History Month.
February 8, 2026 at 3:35 PM
crickets from the free speech crowd, of course
Bishop Ronald Hicks
February 8, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Bishop Ronald Hicks
St Patrick’s Mass - The new Archbishop presiding
February 8, 2026 at 4:03 PM
St Patrick’s Mass - The new Archbishop presiding
Reposted by Brent Staples
For many Black families, tracing their roots means navigating missing names and incomplete family stories. The third annual Black Family History Symposium in Charlottesville centered on what it means to reclaim those stories, and why that history still matters.❤️🔥
www.whsv.com/2026/02/08/b...
www.whsv.com/2026/02/08/b...
Black Family History Symposium explores legacy, gaps, and generational memory
The third annual Charlottesville event centered on what it means to reclaim those stories, and why that history still matters.
www.whsv.com
February 8, 2026 at 12:53 PM
For many Black families, tracing their roots means navigating missing names and incomplete family stories. The third annual Black Family History Symposium in Charlottesville centered on what it means to reclaim those stories, and why that history still matters.❤️🔥
www.whsv.com/2026/02/08/b...
www.whsv.com/2026/02/08/b...
Reposted by Brent Staples
Adam Serwer: “Donald Trump is still psychically wounded by the election of Barack Obama.”
@adamserwer.bsky.social
@adamserwer.bsky.social
February 7, 2026 at 1:45 AM
Adam Serwer: “Donald Trump is still psychically wounded by the election of Barack Obama.”
@adamserwer.bsky.social
@adamserwer.bsky.social
Deja Vu: Black Washingtonians can recall when the Washington Post was showing contempt for the Black middle class almost daily. It was not that long ago... www.nytimes.com/1986/09/26/u...
BLACKS AND OTHERS ATTACKING WASHINGTON POST'S COVERAGE (Published 1986)
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 7:21 PM
Deja Vu: Black Washingtonians can recall when the Washington Post was showing contempt for the Black middle class almost daily. It was not that long ago... www.nytimes.com/1986/09/26/u...
Reposted by Brent Staples
"For years, a cottage industry of political observers has contorted itself to obscure and occlude the obvious. That regardless of what others see in him, Trump’s entire political career...cannot be understood outside the context of his bitter, deep-seated racism." (gift link)
Opinion | This Is Just Who Trump Is
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 4:49 PM
"For years, a cottage industry of political observers has contorted itself to obscure and occlude the obvious. That regardless of what others see in him, Trump’s entire political career...cannot be understood outside the context of his bitter, deep-seated racism." (gift link)
Get over it, haters: It’s Bad Bunny’s world - you just livin’ in it. www.newyorker.com/newsletter/t...
The Biggest Pop Star in the World
From the daily newsletter: what’s next for the Latin-trap performer Bad Bunny?
www.newyorker.com
February 7, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Get over it, haters: It’s Bad Bunny’s world - you just livin’ in it. www.newyorker.com/newsletter/t...
Reposted by Brent Staples
Three thoughts.
1. It’s always been about the white nationalism
2. He is returning to the old favorites because his support is waning
3. He dabbled with this trope before but would always leave a hair of deniability. Going straight there also seems like a sign of weakness
1. It’s always been about the white nationalism
2. He is returning to the old favorites because his support is waning
3. He dabbled with this trope before but would always leave a hair of deniability. Going straight there also seems like a sign of weakness
February 6, 2026 at 4:40 PM
Three thoughts.
1. It’s always been about the white nationalism
2. He is returning to the old favorites because his support is waning
3. He dabbled with this trope before but would always leave a hair of deniability. Going straight there also seems like a sign of weakness
1. It’s always been about the white nationalism
2. He is returning to the old favorites because his support is waning
3. He dabbled with this trope before but would always leave a hair of deniability. Going straight there also seems like a sign of weakness
Derrick Bell was right - which is why they continue to burn him in effigy
February 6, 2026 at 1:03 PM
Derrick Bell was right - which is why they continue to burn him in effigy
Reposted by Brent Staples
"'A week ago, eight to ten churches asked for clergy to come and provide support to create a protective band so people could come to church, because dark-skinned people are afraid to come to church.'"
ICE Was Terrorizing Worshipers Long Before Don Lemon Entered a Church
Let’s take a stroll through the last year.
lnk.thebulwark.com
February 6, 2026 at 12:30 AM
"'A week ago, eight to ten churches asked for clergy to come and provide support to create a protective band so people could come to church, because dark-skinned people are afraid to come to church.'"
Reposted by Brent Staples
Medgar Evers’ killer was a Klansman, but Trump administration says stop calling him a racist mississippitoday.org/2026/02/05/m...
Medgar Evers’ killer was a Klansman, but Trump administration says stop calling him a racist - Mississippi Today
Among anticipated changes to a new visitor brochure for the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Home National Monument is no longer using "racist" to describe the killer of the civil rights leader.
mississippitoday.org
February 5, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Medgar Evers’ killer was a Klansman, but Trump administration says stop calling him a racist mississippitoday.org/2026/02/05/m...
Reposted by Brent Staples
Steve Bannon calls for Trump to deploy ICE and military troops to polling sites
www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
Steve Bannon calls for Trump to deploy ICE and military troops to polling sites
The Trump ally was one of few GOP voices to support the president’s push to nationalize voting.
www.politico.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:45 PM
Steve Bannon calls for Trump to deploy ICE and military troops to polling sites
www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
Just out - and recommended
February 3, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Just out - and recommended