Monisha Bajaj
banner
monishabajaj.bsky.social
Monisha Bajaj
@monishabajaj.bsky.social

Professor & scholar of peace, human rights, migration & education
University of San Francisco
(views posted here are my own)
Debut picture book A YEAR OF KITES out in 2026 with Bloomsbury
www.monishabajaj.net

Pronouns: she/her/वह .. more

Political science 36%
Sociology 29%
Pinned
✨✨ COVER REVEAL ✨✨

Kites serve as a universal metaphor for hope, aspirations & transcendence across cultures 🪁

In A YEAR OF KITES - out Feb '26 w/
@bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social - we explore 12 different kite-flying traditions across the world

📚 Pre-order at bit.ly/yearofkites or a.co/d/1XS2IAJ
Big Oil spent nearly $100M to get Trump elected in 2024.

Now Trump is returning the favor, giving them advance notice of his Venezuela attack and sending their stocks skyrocketing by promising them control of the country's oil reserves.

This is what oligarchy looks like.

Reposted by Monisha Bajaj

BREAKING: Explosions have been heard and smoke is rising over the Venezuelan capital, according to Al Jazeera correspondent, as tensions with the US spiral. Parts of the city’s south, near a major military base, have reportedly lost power aje.io/pv5l3e
Strange takes on Mayor Zamdani swearing his oath on the Qu’ran. It has nothing to do with church & state. The point of the oath is for the person swearing in to do so upon some text that is sacred TO THEM. Some Presidents swore in w/o any book. John Quincy Adams was sworn on a law book. His choice.

🥹🙏🏽🥹

Cancer - she was such a bright light

🥹💕🥹

Reposted by Monisha Bajaj

You never know what lies ahead. Laura and I got delayed on the same flight for ages one time, on our way to the American Anthropological Association. We were both so happy to have each other's company. Little did I know she would be gone 10 years later. Rest in peace, beautiful, loving soul.

Reposted by Monisha Bajaj

Laura Valdiviezo was a truly amazing scholar ane human being. This is such a huge loss for the field.

Reposted by Nelson Flores

Pauline Copes Johnson, a descendant of Harriet Tubman, has died at 98.

She spent a lifetime guarding that legacy from the small city where Tubman spent her final years

www.kolumnmagazine.com/2025/12/11/t...

Reposted by Monisha Bajaj

ACLU @aclu.org · 21d
Providing people in government custody with access to legal counsel isn't optional — it's required by the Constitution.

ICE regularly violates this right and won't let people speak with their lawyer confidentially. We're taking ICE to court because people have a right to speak to their attorneys.
One of the Most Basic Rights in the Book Is Regularly Denied to ICE Detainees
ICE insists its system protects attorney-client privilege. But the record inside tells a different story.
slate.com

Thanks @joco513.bsky.social for this great convo about education for peace and the strategies of social movements advancing human rights. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
Education as Peace (Monisha Bajaj on the conditions and work of peace education)
Podcast Episode · Another Education Is Possible · 12/04/2025 · 12m
podcasts.apple.com

Reposted by Monisha Bajaj

Fam , just wanna share one more time-I was on Berkeley's KPFA radio (Hard Knock Radio) kpfa.org/episode/hard... talking about the Social Justice Children's Book Fair w/ authors Justine Villanueva and Mona Damluji. Listen! #selfpublished #bookfair #childrensbooks
Spotify has laid off thousands in recent years, while reportedly paying artists $0.003 per stream.

Spotify profits rose 28% in Q3. Its CEO is worth $9.8 billion. It's making money off ICE recruitment ads.

Don't you think it's time put a wrap on corporate greed and exploitation?

Powerful and inspiring event with @manorajupd.bsky.social & SF Public Defender’s office on storytelling for justice, moderated by @bootsriley.bsky.social

Check it out here: www.wearedefender.com

Come check out this beautiful event on 12/6 featuring the best of the Bay Area Kidlit community!
Check it out. In addition to our annual fair, this year we will be awarding 3 writers. Wanna join us? www.eventbrite.com/e/sjcbf-awar... #socialjusticechildrensbookfair #bayarea #kidlit

Reposted by Monisha Bajaj

Check it out. In addition to our annual fair, this year we will be awarding 3 writers. Wanna join us? www.eventbrite.com/e/sjcbf-awar... #socialjusticechildrensbookfair #bayarea #kidlit
Help us send 2,000 books to readers who are incarcerated this winter through our Books Not Bars program
Books Not Bars 2025 Holiday Campaign
BOOKS NOT BARS FOR THE HOLIDAYS Haymarket Books is committed to making our books available for free to people who are incarcerated. In an effort to support those inside who are dealing with the imm...
haymarketbooks.app.neoncrm.com

Such an insightful piece!

Reposted by Monisha Bajaj

My toughest audience taught me about what matters in the midst of harsh news headlines and hopelessness. Read my latest Substack here:

open.substack.com/pub/deepaiye...
What My Toughest Audience Taught Me (and an Invitation for 2026)
About a year ago, I nervously stood in front of an audience that I had never spoken to before...
open.substack.com
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...
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
Elon Musk is set to make more than every U.S. elementary teacher combined www.washingtonpost.com/technology/i...
a cartoon dog is sitting at a table in front of a fire with the words it 's fine everything is fine
ALT: a cartoon dog is sitting at a table in front of a fire with the words it 's fine everything is fine
media.tenor.com

🙏🏽🪁💕
The Epstein files are clearly more damning than we assumed, which is saying something.

Reposted by Monisha Bajaj

A story you won't see in the billionaire press ...

"The Indian state of Kerala has become the first in the country to eradicate extreme poverty – one year ahead of schedule – thanks to a 'meticulously planned' programme led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)"
www.facebook.com/novaramedia/...
Novara Media
The Indian state of Kerala has become the first in the country to eradicate extreme poverty – one year ahead of schedule – thanks to a “meticulously planned” programme led by the Communist Party of...
www.facebook.com
Anyway a great way to radicalize people is for them to realize that you just abandoned their chance at being able to access and afford health care because you didn’t like waiting in line at the airport.
Tesla’s profit fell 37% in the third quarter. It's been in the process of laying off 14,000 workers. It had more cars impacted by recalls than any other brand in 2024.

Yet Elon Musk just got a pay package worth $1 trillion.

American capitalism is off the rails.
The Trump administration is now literally *fighting* to deny food to 42 million people, more than a third of them children.

Read that again.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/u...
Mamdani announces transition team:

All-female team led by Elana Leopold, a known Dem strategist; also Melanie Hartzog, who once led the NYC’s health and human services and budget offices; former dep mayor Maria Torres-Springer, and Lina Khan, the former FTC commissioner who campaigned with Mamdani