Valerie Russ
@vruss.bsky.social
Journalist and writer. Bison. Former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter. Broke story on the controversy over Philadelphia's Harriet Tubman statue being commissioned without a public call for artists. The city reversed course; issued the call.
Pinned
Julia Chaney-Moss, sister of slain civil rights worker James Chaney, talks ‘the other Philadelphia’
Last month, Julia Chaney-Moss accepted honors on behalf of her brother, James Earl Chaney, one of three civil rights workers killed in Mississippi in 1964. The Inquirer interviewed her about her life.
share.inquirer.com
Reposting: The history people are trying to keep out of schools is being replayed in the streets daily. As Faulkner said, 'The past is never dead. It's not even past.'
share.inquirer.com/eThmcv
share.inquirer.com/eThmcv
Reposted by Valerie Russ
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawing strict segregation in schools was a year before the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which was what allowed my father to come to the US in 1968.
We benefited from the work of people we didn’t even know were helping us
We benefited from the work of people we didn’t even know were helping us
I want to highlight the Black voter number here because I’ve lived through decades of efforts to engineer and/or assert an antagonistic relationship, when, for the most part, Black people are more supportive of immigration than others.
*Another* new YouGov / Economist poll shows continuing mounting support for abolishing ICE:
45% support abolishing ICE
45% oppose abolishing ICE
Black voters in favor 60-20
Moderates in favor 45-41
Independents in favor 44-34
12% of Trump voters support abolishing ICE as well
45% support abolishing ICE
45% oppose abolishing ICE
Black voters in favor 60-20
Moderates in favor 45-41
Independents in favor 44-34
12% of Trump voters support abolishing ICE as well
January 20, 2026 at 4:58 PM
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawing strict segregation in schools was a year before the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which was what allowed my father to come to the US in 1968.
We benefited from the work of people we didn’t even know were helping us
We benefited from the work of people we didn’t even know were helping us
Reposted by Valerie Russ
Russian authorities have detained an Indigenous climate advocate, accusing her of participating in a terrorist organization in what international observers are calling “retribution” for her UN advocacy on behalf of Indigenous peoples.
She fought forIndigenous voices at the UN. Now she’s in a Russian jail cell.
Observers say Daria Egereva’s case highlights the risks Native advocates face when they challenge the powerful.
www.motherjones.com
January 20, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Russian authorities have detained an Indigenous climate advocate, accusing her of participating in a terrorist organization in what international observers are calling “retribution” for her UN advocacy on behalf of Indigenous peoples.
Reposted by Valerie Russ
Barack Obama is not your mule or your personal Bagger Vance.
In the nicest possible way, go fuck yourself.
In the nicest possible way, go fuck yourself.
OPINION | Barack Obama might be one of the few people in politics left with his moral authority intact; his silence is deafening.
Barack Obama, Where the F--k Are You?
The former president, his moral authority intact, is missing in action.
trib.al
January 20, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Barack Obama is not your mule or your personal Bagger Vance.
In the nicest possible way, go fuck yourself.
In the nicest possible way, go fuck yourself.
Reposted by Valerie Russ
Dr. Gladys West, the pioneering mathematician whose work laid the foundation for modern GPS technology, has died. She was 95.
Dr. Gladys West, Mathematician Whose Work Made GPS Possible, Dies at 95
ALEXANDRIA, VA — Dr. Gladys West, the pioneering mathematician whose work laid the foundation for modern GPS technology, has died. She passed away
thezebra.org
January 19, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Dr. Gladys West, the pioneering mathematician whose work laid the foundation for modern GPS technology, has died. She was 95.
This is a gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/u...
Top Catholic Clerics Denounce U.S. Foreign Policy
www.nytimes.com
January 19, 2026 at 6:53 PM
This is a gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/u...
Reposted by Valerie Russ
Georgetown University is moving Let Freedom Ring, an annual concert in Washington, D.C., celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr., away from the John F. Kennedy Center
www.npr.org/2026/01/14/n...
www.npr.org/2026/01/14/n...
MLK Day concert held annually at the Kennedy Center for 23 years is relocating
Georgetown University is moving Let Freedom Ring, its annual event celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr., to the historical Howard Theatre in order to save money, the university said.
www.npr.org
January 14, 2026 at 10:03 PM
Georgetown University is moving Let Freedom Ring, an annual concert in Washington, D.C., celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr., away from the John F. Kennedy Center
www.npr.org/2026/01/14/n...
www.npr.org/2026/01/14/n...
Reposted by Valerie Russ
Photo by Pierre Lavie. Yes this is me. And I threw my Leica. It landed on the bass plate with hardly a scratch. Another Photographer grabbed it along with my phone and I was able to track him later. I was held face down tear gas deployed right in front of me and pepper sprayed directly into the eye.
January 17, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Photo by Pierre Lavie. Yes this is me. And I threw my Leica. It landed on the bass plate with hardly a scratch. Another Photographer grabbed it along with my phone and I was able to track him later. I was held face down tear gas deployed right in front of me and pepper sprayed directly into the eye.
Reposted by Valerie Russ
Congratulations to Brett Kavanaugh bsky.app/profile/ajco...
"“They specifically asked me if I knew where the Hmong families lived on my street & in the neighborhood.” Lugert-Thom responded, “I don’t know anything about that” & she said they then asked, “Well, what about the Asian families?”"
"“I was a bit shaken & a bit shocked of what I was asked to do.”"
"“I was a bit shaken & a bit shocked of what I was asked to do.”"
A St. Paul resident says federal officers knocked on her door and asked her to identify Hmong and Asian households in her North End neighborhood last week.
January 14, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Congratulations to Brett Kavanaugh bsky.app/profile/ajco...
This is a gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/u...
Claudette Colvin, Who Refused to Give Her Bus Seat to a White Woman, Dies at 86
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 11:25 PM
This is a gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/u...
Reposting: The history people are trying to keep out of schools is being replayed in the streets daily. As Faulkner said, 'The past is never dead. It's not even past.'
share.inquirer.com/eThmcv
share.inquirer.com/eThmcv
Julia Chaney-Moss, sister of slain civil rights worker James Chaney, talks ‘the other Philadelphia’
Last month, Julia Chaney-Moss accepted honors on behalf of her brother, James Earl Chaney, one of three civil rights workers killed in Mississippi in 1964. The Inquirer interviewed her about her life.
share.inquirer.com
January 9, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Reposting: The history people are trying to keep out of schools is being replayed in the streets daily. As Faulkner said, 'The past is never dead. It's not even past.'
share.inquirer.com/eThmcv
share.inquirer.com/eThmcv
Anne Applebaum: "If American media can’t convey how dangerous this behavior is—for our prosperity, for our health, for our democracy—then American media will eventually cease to exist."
More from our convo in @status.news: www.status.news/p/anne-apple...
More from our convo in @status.news: www.status.news/p/anne-apple...
Applebaum on Autocracy
Anne Applebaum warns that Sudan’s descent into chaos shows what happens when institutions fail—and why a free press is essential to prevent America from following the same path.
www.status.news
January 9, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Valerie Russ
"Greenland and Venezuela, after all, share at least one troubling commonality: They possess stores of natural riches that the oligarchs around Trump want to access and profit from." @vermontgmg.bsky.social @wired.com www.wired.com/story/3-keys...
The 3 Keys to Understanding Trump’s Retro Coup in Venezuela
This weekend’s invasion was both a throwback to the last century and a new, uniquely Trumpian nightmare—one that’s just beginning.
www.wired.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:40 PM
"Greenland and Venezuela, after all, share at least one troubling commonality: They possess stores of natural riches that the oligarchs around Trump want to access and profit from." @vermontgmg.bsky.social @wired.com www.wired.com/story/3-keys...
Reposted by Valerie Russ
New: (gift) www.miamiherald.com/news/local/a...
Florida judge orders release of grand jury files from 2007 Epstein investigation
The ruling comes in the wake of a new law directing the U.S. Justice Department to release material from its investigations into Epstein.
www.miamiherald.com
December 6, 2025 at 11:33 AM
New: (gift) www.miamiherald.com/news/local/a...
Reposted by Valerie Russ
UPDATE: (gift) Exclusive @miamiherald.com www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
Exclusive: Woman detained by feds in Keys says she was following agents’ orders
“This is not the America that I grew up in, and this is not the America that we represent.”
www.miamiherald.com
December 6, 2025 at 11:37 AM
UPDATE: (gift) Exclusive @miamiherald.com www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
This is a gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/12...
Trump Administration Live Updates: Honduran Ex-President Is Out of Prison After Pardon
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:58 PM
This is a gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/12...
Reposted by Valerie Russ
Today is the 70th anniversary of Rosa Parks' arrest. Six myths: 1) She wasn't old or tired. 42 years old that day, she had a "life history of being rebellious" & had spent two decades helping to turn the Montgomery NAACP into a more activist branch alongside ED Nixon and Johnnie Carr.
December 1, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Today is the 70th anniversary of Rosa Parks' arrest. Six myths: 1) She wasn't old or tired. 42 years old that day, she had a "life history of being rebellious" & had spent two decades helping to turn the Montgomery NAACP into a more activist branch alongside ED Nixon and Johnnie Carr.
Reposted by Valerie Russ
Marissa is running circles around establishment outlets with a fraction of a fraction of the resources--the least they could do is put some respect on her name!
It would be nice if @cnn.com acknowledged this story was broken last week by The Handbasket: www.thehandbasket.co/p/fema-emplo...
December 1, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Marissa is running circles around establishment outlets with a fraction of a fraction of the resources--the least they could do is put some respect on her name!
Reposted by Valerie Russ
It would be nice if @cnn.com acknowledged this story was broken last week by The Handbasket: www.thehandbasket.co/p/fema-emplo...
December 1, 2025 at 3:40 PM
It would be nice if @cnn.com acknowledged this story was broken last week by The Handbasket: www.thehandbasket.co/p/fema-emplo...
Reposted by Valerie Russ
Come on, @nytimes.com. There is a massive scandal brewing that Russia authored the purported American "peace" plan and *these* are your headlines on what is happening?
November 23, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Come on, @nytimes.com. There is a massive scandal brewing that Russia authored the purported American "peace" plan and *these* are your headlines on what is happening?
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/u...
Viola Fletcher, Oldest Survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Dies at 111
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/u...
From Jan Ransom and Bianca Pallaro -Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/n...
Restrained, Beaten, Asphyxiated: New York Prison Guards’ Brutality Grows
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:15 PM
From Jan Ransom and Bianca Pallaro -Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/n...
Reposted by Valerie Russ
Thanks for sharing. Despite the rain, we had a good turnout for #FallofFreedom walking tour of Billie Holiday's Philadelphia.
Participants received a sticker courtesy of Scribe Video Center. I'll plaster the sticker all over Freedman Alley, a graffitied place of remembrance on the Lower East Side.
Participants received a sticker courtesy of Scribe Video Center. I'll plaster the sticker all over Freedman Alley, a graffitied place of remembrance on the Lower East Side.
November 23, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Thanks for sharing. Despite the rain, we had a good turnout for #FallofFreedom walking tour of Billie Holiday's Philadelphia.
Participants received a sticker courtesy of Scribe Video Center. I'll plaster the sticker all over Freedman Alley, a graffitied place of remembrance on the Lower East Side.
Participants received a sticker courtesy of Scribe Video Center. I'll plaster the sticker all over Freedman Alley, a graffitied place of remembrance on the Lower East Side.