Alexa Sparks
@alexasparks.bsky.social
History PhD Student at Wayne State University
Historian of the working-class studying everyday politics, interracial organizing, and the Civil Rights Movement.
Historian of the working-class studying everyday politics, interracial organizing, and the Civil Rights Movement.
Reposted by Alexa Sparks
Fellow academics, I'm doing it. Going all in. Pulling the plug, literally.
This is on my syllabus for Spring 2026: "This is an analog class. No Canvas; this syllabus is your guide."
All readings are printed books; hand-written exams; no laptops. #academicbluesky #Highered #academia #Rutgers
This is on my syllabus for Spring 2026: "This is an analog class. No Canvas; this syllabus is your guide."
All readings are printed books; hand-written exams; no laptops. #academicbluesky #Highered #academia #Rutgers
October 21, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Fellow academics, I'm doing it. Going all in. Pulling the plug, literally.
This is on my syllabus for Spring 2026: "This is an analog class. No Canvas; this syllabus is your guide."
All readings are printed books; hand-written exams; no laptops. #academicbluesky #Highered #academia #Rutgers
This is on my syllabus for Spring 2026: "This is an analog class. No Canvas; this syllabus is your guide."
All readings are printed books; hand-written exams; no laptops. #academicbluesky #Highered #academia #Rutgers
Reposted by Alexa Sparks
Reposted by Alexa Sparks
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Really look forward to this new book from @joshuaclarkdavis.bsky.social. Will be an important addition to the growing historiography on police and the movements of the ‘60s. 🗃️
Really look forward to this new book from @joshuaclarkdavis.bsky.social. Will be an important addition to the growing historiography on police and the movements of the ‘60s. 🗃️
Police Against the Movement
A bold retelling of the 1960s civil rights struggle through its work against police violence—and a prehistory of both the Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter movements that emerged half a century...
press.princeton.edu
July 7, 2025 at 5:30 PM
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Really look forward to this new book from @joshuaclarkdavis.bsky.social. Will be an important addition to the growing historiography on police and the movements of the ‘60s. 🗃️
Really look forward to this new book from @joshuaclarkdavis.bsky.social. Will be an important addition to the growing historiography on police and the movements of the ‘60s. 🗃️
Reposted by Alexa Sparks
TWO MORE DAYS to apply! Thriving, collegial department in a healthy public regional university in a beautiful town! Let me know if you have questions.
BIG NEWS! The University of North Alabama is hiring again! Tenure-track Assistant Professor of US History, 1877-1945 preferred. Come work with me and join our wonderful department! Feel free to message me with any questions.
www.schooljobs.com/careers/una/...
www.schooljobs.com/careers/una/...
Current Regular Faculty and Staff Openings | UNA Online Employment System
www.schooljobs.com
January 13, 2025 at 5:04 PM
TWO MORE DAYS to apply! Thriving, collegial department in a healthy public regional university in a beautiful town! Let me know if you have questions.
Reposted by Alexa Sparks
Trans people just want the right to exist safely as their true selves, like everyone else.
But they’ve become easy scapegoats for the GOP, who vilify them and threaten to criminalize their very existence.
It's straight from the authoritarian playbook.
But they’ve become easy scapegoats for the GOP, who vilify them and threaten to criminalize their very existence.
It's straight from the authoritarian playbook.
November 21, 2024 at 10:30 PM
Trans people just want the right to exist safely as their true selves, like everyone else.
But they’ve become easy scapegoats for the GOP, who vilify them and threaten to criminalize their very existence.
It's straight from the authoritarian playbook.
But they’ve become easy scapegoats for the GOP, who vilify them and threaten to criminalize their very existence.
It's straight from the authoritarian playbook.
Has anyone written a piece connecting the apocalypticism of 2012 to the current crisis in the same way that historians connect the millenarian cults of the early modern period to the crises of their moments?
If not, I think someone should!
If not, I think someone should!
November 21, 2024 at 5:14 PM
Has anyone written a piece connecting the apocalypticism of 2012 to the current crisis in the same way that historians connect the millenarian cults of the early modern period to the crises of their moments?
If not, I think someone should!
If not, I think someone should!
Reposted by Alexa Sparks
We’re going to keep adding to this, but here is our initial labor movement starter pack!
go.bsky.app/T5TigE2
go.bsky.app/T5TigE2
November 15, 2024 at 6:03 PM
We’re going to keep adding to this, but here is our initial labor movement starter pack!
go.bsky.app/T5TigE2
go.bsky.app/T5TigE2
For the Europeanists who follow me, recent events have had me thinking a lot about the choices of the SPD at the end of the Weimar. Does anyone have any good reads about the true last days of the SPD (1930-1934)?
November 15, 2024 at 7:41 PM
For the Europeanists who follow me, recent events have had me thinking a lot about the choices of the SPD at the end of the Weimar. Does anyone have any good reads about the true last days of the SPD (1930-1934)?
Reposted by Alexa Sparks
Hello historians! I would like to mention that I have this initiative called the Iberian Colonial Repository, where I am gathering primary sources from archives that are not available online. If you have sources about colonial LatAm from previous projects collecting digital dust, please DM me
November 15, 2024 at 2:21 PM
Hello historians! I would like to mention that I have this initiative called the Iberian Colonial Repository, where I am gathering primary sources from archives that are not available online. If you have sources about colonial LatAm from previous projects collecting digital dust, please DM me
I’m no expert but I feel like a slew of “the economy is going to boom under Trump” articles a week after finance markets predict overheating is… not great?
"Joe Biden and Kamala Harris could not sell voters on the strength of the economy. Now, Donald Trump is poised to enter the White House with booming markets and solid growth. Expect him to reap the political rewards." www.politico.com/news/2024/11...
The Biden economy is about to get a new salesman: Donald Trump
Trump hammered the administration for creating an “economic catastrophe,” but some of his favorite gauges for assessing economic performance have been humming.
www.politico.com
November 15, 2024 at 7:23 PM
I’m no expert but I feel like a slew of “the economy is going to boom under Trump” articles a week after finance markets predict overheating is… not great?
Reposted by Alexa Sparks
"Joe Biden and Kamala Harris could not sell voters on the strength of the economy. Now, Donald Trump is poised to enter the White House with booming markets and solid growth. Expect him to reap the political rewards." www.politico.com/news/2024/11...
The Biden economy is about to get a new salesman: Donald Trump
Trump hammered the administration for creating an “economic catastrophe,” but some of his favorite gauges for assessing economic performance have been humming.
www.politico.com
November 15, 2024 at 3:53 PM
"Joe Biden and Kamala Harris could not sell voters on the strength of the economy. Now, Donald Trump is poised to enter the White House with booming markets and solid growth. Expect him to reap the political rewards." www.politico.com/news/2024/11...
Reposted by Alexa Sparks
Every single Democrat who voted for this is not taking the threat of Trump remotely seriously and should be disqualified from any leadership positions moving forward. This is no longer business as usual. To agree to give him this kind of power is beyond egregious.
US House voted 256-145 to pass HR 9495 — short of 2/3 required.
Would empower Treasury Secretary to revoke nonprofit tax status of orgs based on judgment they're “terrorist-supporting.”
Concerns it'd help government (esp. Trump's) attack pro-Palestine groups.
52 Democrats voted in favor.
Would empower Treasury Secretary to revoke nonprofit tax status of orgs based on judgment they're “terrorist-supporting.”
Concerns it'd help government (esp. Trump's) attack pro-Palestine groups.
52 Democrats voted in favor.
November 13, 2024 at 1:35 AM
Every single Democrat who voted for this is not taking the threat of Trump remotely seriously and should be disqualified from any leadership positions moving forward. This is no longer business as usual. To agree to give him this kind of power is beyond egregious.
That many creatives have chosen to migrate to BlueSky might one day be a footnote in a thesis which compares the two capitalisms of 21st century America: “woke” financial capitalism which distances itself from the state and a conservative capitalism which latches itself onto it.
November 11, 2024 at 3:33 AM
That many creatives have chosen to migrate to BlueSky might one day be a footnote in a thesis which compares the two capitalisms of 21st century America: “woke” financial capitalism which distances itself from the state and a conservative capitalism which latches itself onto it.
Reposted by Alexa Sparks
I spoke @nytimes.com about Black workers and unions in 1968 & today
How the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike Changed the Labor Movement
The 1968 action led to greater economic mobility for Black workers. Today, union activists are trying to capture some of that spirit.
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2023 at 10:47 PM
I spoke @nytimes.com about Black workers and unions in 1968 & today
Reposted by Alexa Sparks
Alabama guard accused of encouraging prisoners to murder organizer of strikes: Complaint alleges a Lt. encouraged prisoners to murder a lead organizer in the 2022 AL prison strikes. “Even if y’all killed him, I’ll make sure nothing happens to y’all,”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023...
November 17, 2023 at 1:15 PM
Alabama guard accused of encouraging prisoners to murder organizer of strikes: Complaint alleges a Lt. encouraged prisoners to murder a lead organizer in the 2022 AL prison strikes. “Even if y’all killed him, I’ll make sure nothing happens to y’all,”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023...