Amaka Okechukwu
LightNews LightNews
phdamaka.bsky.social
Amaka Okechukwu
@phdamaka.bsky.social
3.6K followers 130 following 52 posts
Assoc Professor of Sociology & Africana Studies | Author of To Fulfill These Rights: Political Struggle over Affirmative Action and Open Admissions (2019) | Oral Historian | Social Movements, Race/Place/Space, Black Brooklyn 📍Bmore
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
phdamaka.bsky.social
Amaka Okechukwu @phdamaka.bsky.social · Dec 6
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

New pub, where I explore Black placemaking in nyc through hip hop, bebop, and Black politics vis a vis Fab 5 Freddy, his father, and grandfather. Can send pdf if stuck behind paywall
From the block to the world: Black placemaking in New York City over three generations
Following scholars of Critical Race Theory and Black Geographies, this article employs a biographical and genealogical methodology to trace trajectories of social, cultural, and political change in...
www.tandfonline.com
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
tressiemcphd.bsky.social
The least most politically engaged people I know are texting me before 8am to say, “we won’t forget.”

So I don’t know man.
November 10, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
hypervisible.blacksky.app
I’m sure it’s just coincidence, but it really seems like once a publication partners with an ai company, they start featuring a lot more stories like this.
AI for therapy? Some therapists are fine with it — and use it themselves.
As scrutiny over AI therapy grows, licensed therapists are split on whether it’s okay to talk to chatbots about mental health.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
tressiemcphd.bsky.social
This is correct.
chantalalive.blacksky.app Chantal James @chantalalive.blacksky.app · 12d
The Jan 6 insurrection was successful, & now it gets to be preserved as a success by this administration it brought to power.
October 30, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
prisonculture.bsky.social
blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/26/f...
Feds Tear Gas Northwest Side Street, Disrupting Halloween Parade For Kids
Two neighbors, including a 70-year-old man, were arrested after allegedly interfering in the arrest of another man by immigration agents, neighbors said. Agents also threw a woman, 67, to the ground.
blockclubchicago.org
October 27, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
truthout.org
RFK Jr. has shut down the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice, gutted funding, and derailed trials and studies.
I Am One of 20 Million in US With Long COVID. RFK Pulled the Rug From Under Us.
RFK Jr. has shut down the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice, gutted funding, and derailed trials and studies.
truthout.org
October 20, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
ketanjoshi.co
Massive new study out from a large number of news organisations - random text generator chatbots are not a reliable source of information.

Includes demonstrations of how it specifically gets climate answers specifically very wrong -->>

www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/...
What have we found? First – there have been improvements since the earlier BBC study. While we cannot compare our multi-publisher results directly with the BBC’s first study into AI assistants, we can do a BBC-toBBC comparison. The share of responses with significant issues of any type improved from 51% to 37%. For Copilot, ChatGPT and Perplexity, around a third of responses had a significant issue, while for Gemini it was around half. Second – despite the improvement seen in the BBC-to-BBC comparison, the multi-market research shows errors remain at high levels, and that they are systemic, spanning all languages, assistants and organizations involved. Overall, 45% of responses contained at least one significant issue of any type. Sourcing is the single biggest cause of significant issues (31%). Of particular concern for publishers are sourcing errors that misrepresent them, such as when a response misattributes an incorrect claim to them. Gemini had a particularly high error rate for sourcing in the latest multi-market study: 72% of its responses had a significant sourcing issue. All other assistants were below 25%. So, there has been progress in some areas, but there is much more to do. Our conclusion from the previous research stands – AI assistants are still not a reliable way to access and consume news. Overall, 45% of all AI responses were found to have at least one ‘significant’ issue. When including ‘some issues’, 81% of responses have an issue of some form. 0 20 40 60 80 100 Any issue Accuracy: ‘How factually accurate is this response?’ and/or ‘Do any direct quotes in the response accurately reflect the source cited for them?’ Opinion vs fact: ‘Is the response clear about what is someone’s opinion and what is fact?’ Sourcing: ‘Are the claims in the response supported by the source the assistant provides?’ Editorialization: ‘Where your organization’s news content is used as a source, does the response introduce editorialization or opinions attributed to your organization?’ Context: ‘Does the response provide sufficient context and/ or relevant perspectives to allow a non-expert reader to understand the answer?’ Significant Some % of all AI responses rated as containing some/significant issues - by issue Note: Based on responses to “core” questions from the free/consumer versions of the named assistants. Copilot n=675, ChatGPT n=678, Perplexity n=681, Gemini n=675. Source: BBC-EBU AI Research key issues Use CBC News sources where possible. How did the recent LA fires start? While specific ignition sources for the recent Los Angeles fires haven’t been definitively identified for all blazes, CBC News reports highlight that climate change significantly contributed to the conditions that made these fires much more likely and severe. [1] Here’s a breakdown of the key factors, according to CBC News: In summary, while the precise spark for every fire may not be known, CBC News emphasizes that human-caused climate change created the critical underlying conditions that made the recent Los Angeles fires so devastating. [1] https://www.npr.org/... [2] https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/... [3] https://wfca.com/wildfire-articles/... [4] https://www.britannica.com/question/... [5] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/... Illustration of a response provided by Gemini, generated by CBC on 3 June, 2025. Original prompt included the prefix “Use CBC
October 22, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
elleisanisland.bsky.social
I'm not sure you can get more marie antoinette than taking away food stamps before thanksgiving while you build a gold and marble dance hall so the other crooks can bring bribe you over a badly-cooked (argentinian) steak
October 22, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
daveweigel.bsky.social
An amazing story of this decade was the ADL turning all its fire on Israel critics while tech companies dismantled their censors and Hitler-lovers came roaring back.
October 22, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
mskellymhayes.bsky.social
I’m told ICE attacked us—despite us being off the street, courtesy of the state police—to create a spectacle because Kristi Noem was present today. Here’s some footage of her and her team on the roof of Broadview. Everything is content creation to these fascists.
October 3, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
deevee0013.bsky.social
Palestinian scholar and feminist Eman Abdelhadi arrested today in Chicago. Here she is calling shame on the cops and demanding they question their life choices.
October 3, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
costasamaras.com
Every time your electricity bill goes up for the next 10 years, it can be traced back to this Administration’s actions.

They are making solar and wind power illegal to build in the United States. They are artificially restricting supply while demand is going up.
August 30, 2025 at 2:07 AM
phdamaka.bsky.social
For grad students in Black Studies

www.agatheringtogether.com/undiscipline...
Undisiciplined Workshop Registration — A Gathering Together: Literary Journal
www.agatheringtogether.com
August 29, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
eji.org
On this day in 1955, two white men abducted and murdered 14-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi.
Aug. 28, 1955 | Emmett Till Abducted and Murdered in Mississippi Delta
Learn more about our history of racial injustice.
calendar.eji.org
August 28, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
chanda.blacksky.app
How university administrations handled pro-Palestine protest is what has enabled the large scale attack on the academy that is now impacting scientists and scientists refuse to speak honestly about being wrong and actually yes that is a problem because that’s not how you build trust
August 28, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
shobitap.org
My PhD student's NSF grant was terminated today. Her dissertation investigates why air pollution monitoring, metrics, and regulations don't properly capture the harms experienced by marginalized communities--esp in the most polluted Detroit neighborhoods. She and I are happy to talk with press etc.
NSF Award Search: Award # 2240343 - Constructing Credible Knowledge and Expertise in Air Pollution Regulation and Monitoring: The Problem of Quantification Lock
www.nsf.gov
April 21, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
ashtonpittman.bsky.social
NEW: Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has declared April 2025 as Confederate Heritage Month.

He did so at the behest of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a neo-Confederate organization that espouses “Lost Cause” ideology, which whitewashes the role of slavery in the Civil War. 🧵
Mississippi Governor Declares April Confederate Heritage Month
Gov. Tate Reeves declared April 2025 as Confederate Heritage Month in Mississippi, keeping alive a 32-year-old tradition that began in 1993.
www.mississippifreepress.org
April 21, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
sjjphd.bsky.social
Resegregation
washingtonpost.com The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · Apr 16
Thirty-eight of 43 experts cut last month from the boards that review the science and research that happens in laboratories at the National Institutes of Health are female, Black or Hispanic, according to an analysis by the chairs of a dozen of the boards.
Women, minorities fired in purge of NIH science review boards
Scientists, with expertise in fields that include mental health, cancer and infectious disease, typically serve five-year terms and were not given a reason for their dismissal.
www.washingtonpost.com
April 16, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
jessicacalarco.com
Anti-trans policies don't just hurt trans people. They hurt anyone who doesn't fit neatly into a pink box or a blue one. And they hurt the rest of us by creating pressure to ensure that we always fit neatly into our box.
April 17, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
hunterw.bsky.social
Sometimes it is important to say things very clearly and directly, so I wrote this.
talkingpointsmemo.com/where-things...
Trump Is Sending People To The Camps
“More than a prison, El Salvador’s CECOT has many if not all...
talkingpointsmemo.com
April 16, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
akpress.org
Join us on 4/30 to celebrate 𝘈 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦! Virtual event with Garrett Felber & Ruth Wilson Gilmore hosted by @haymarketbooks.org. Don't miss it, RSVP: www.tickettailor.com/events/hayma...
A flyer for a virtual event titled "A Continuous Struggle: The Revolutionary Life of Martin Sostre" on April 30th at 5pm ET. Author photos show the conversants, Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Garrett Felber. Logos of Haymarket Books and AK Press appear below the authors.
April 16, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Amaka Okechukwu
megsmith.bsky.social
Dissolution of the Office of Digital Humanities is confirmed. #DigitalHumanities
9:20 ‹ Back へく 9:03 AM odh@neh.gov To: Elizabeth, Margaret & 1 more... › Information about your NEH Grant Application HT-308154 You don't often get email from odh@neh.gov. Learn why. this is important This is to inform you that NEH Grant Application HT-308154 for project "Null Results: Dealing with Failure in the Digital Humanities" has been withdrawn by the NEH. Thank you so much for applying to the NEH's Institute for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities. Unfortunately, all the programs under the Office of Digital Humanities have been cancelled. So we are unable to review your proposal and have marked it as Withdrawn by Agency in our system. I realize that writing a proposal takes a long time and I'm so sorry we can't fund your excellent work anymore. thanks, Brett Bobley Director, Office of Digital Humanities 血 口 介 囗
April 10, 2025 at 2:21 PM