Brian Behnken
@historybrian.bsky.social
History prof. Author of Borders of Violence and Justice. Forthcoming book, Brown and Blue: Mexican Americans, Law Enforcement, and Civil Rights. Keeper of bees. I like tacos.
Got to spend some time in Albuquerque, a truly amazing city, at the annual meeting of the Western History Association, and I got to see...
October 20, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Got to spend some time in Albuquerque, a truly amazing city, at the annual meeting of the Western History Association, and I got to see...
This story came right out of my book Borders of Violence and Justice, a work I am still immensely proud of. The follow-up story comes out in about a month, wink wink
uncpress.org/978146969070...
uncpress.org/978146969070...
October 15, 2025 at 6:39 PM
This story came right out of my book Borders of Violence and Justice, a work I am still immensely proud of. The follow-up story comes out in about a month, wink wink
uncpress.org/978146969070...
uncpress.org/978146969070...
Reposted by Brian Behnken
On June 12, 1901 Gregorio Cortéz killed 2 Texas law officers in self-defense and led Texas Rangers on a nearly 10 day chase through south central Texas. Cortez was regarded as a "bandit” by the law but became a hero to many Mexican Americans. /1
June 12, 2025 at 5:00 PM
On June 12, 1901 Gregorio Cortéz killed 2 Texas law officers in self-defense and led Texas Rangers on a nearly 10 day chase through south central Texas. Cortez was regarded as a "bandit” by the law but became a hero to many Mexican Americans. /1
Reposted by Brian Behnken
@historybrian.bsky.social sequel to Borders of Violence & Justice, BROWN AND BLUE not only foreshadows today's policing of the border but also shows us how the southwest's Mexican/Mexican American community responded to & resisted this policing.
uncpress.org/book/9781469...
uncpress.org/book/9781469...
Brown and Blue | Brian D. Behnken | University of North Carolina Press
This sweeping history tells a story of fits and starts of Mexican Americans' interactions with law enforcement and the criminal justice system in the US Sout...
uncpress.org
May 14, 2025 at 4:50 PM
@historybrian.bsky.social sequel to Borders of Violence & Justice, BROWN AND BLUE not only foreshadows today's policing of the border but also shows us how the southwest's Mexican/Mexican American community responded to & resisted this policing.
uncpress.org/book/9781469...
uncpress.org/book/9781469...
Reposted by Brian Behnken
#OTD on May 3, 1909 Ranger Levi Davis killed Severo Lopez in Rio Grande City. Lopez and several friends had been enjoying a festive dinner when Davis and 2 other Rangers ended the festivities with gunfire. /1
May 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM
#OTD on May 3, 1909 Ranger Levi Davis killed Severo Lopez in Rio Grande City. Lopez and several friends had been enjoying a festive dinner when Davis and 2 other Rangers ended the festivities with gunfire. /1
Me and my boy @besthistories.bsky.social at the Capitol Jewish Museum in DC.
April 25, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Me and my boy @besthistories.bsky.social at the Capitol Jewish Museum in DC.
Reposted by Brian Behnken
Heading with my man @historybrian.bsky.social to DC with our great students in HIST 4690x: History of Racial Violence!
@iowastatehistory.bsky.social
@iowastatehistory.bsky.social
April 24, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Heading with my man @historybrian.bsky.social to DC with our great students in HIST 4690x: History of Racial Violence!
@iowastatehistory.bsky.social
@iowastatehistory.bsky.social
Reposted by Brian Behnken
#OTD in 1881 the Texas Rangers crossed the border into Mexico to illegally apprehend Onofrio Baca on a charge of murder. They delivered Baca to authorities in New Mexico. He was lynched shortly thereafter. /1
March 31, 2025 at 4:14 PM
#OTD in 1881 the Texas Rangers crossed the border into Mexico to illegally apprehend Onofrio Baca on a charge of murder. They delivered Baca to authorities in New Mexico. He was lynched shortly thereafter. /1
Reposted by Brian Behnken
#OTD in 1963, Texas Gov. John Connally dispatched Ranger Captain Alfred Young "A. Y." Allee to Crystal City. Connally did so to "keep the peace" during the local election cycle for city and county offices. Instead Allee would go on to brutalize several Mexican Americans. /1
April 1, 2025 at 3:42 PM
#OTD in 1963, Texas Gov. John Connally dispatched Ranger Captain Alfred Young "A. Y." Allee to Crystal City. Connally did so to "keep the peace" during the local election cycle for city and county offices. Instead Allee would go on to brutalize several Mexican Americans. /1
So cool when a book drops on Amazon.
Brown and Blue: Mexican Americans, Law Enforcement, and Civil Rights in the Southwest, 1935–2025
Amazon.com: Brown and Blue: Mexican Americans, Law Enforcement, and Civil Rights in the Southwest, 1935–2025: 9781469690704: Behnken, Brian D.: Books
www.amazon.com
March 30, 2025 at 4:22 PM
So cool when a book drops on Amazon.
Reposted by Brian Behnken
#OTD in 1875 the Nuecestown Raid occurred. In the 1870s and 1880s across the Southwest, a number of raids by Mexican outlaws into the US, as well as Anglo raids into Mexico, took place. The raid on Nuecestown provoked lynching and large-scale massacres of Mexican people. /1
March 29, 2025 at 8:24 PM
#OTD in 1875 the Nuecestown Raid occurred. In the 1870s and 1880s across the Southwest, a number of raids by Mexican outlaws into the US, as well as Anglo raids into Mexico, took place. The raid on Nuecestown provoked lynching and large-scale massacres of Mexican people. /1
Man just saw George Foreman died. What a life.
March 22, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Man just saw George Foreman died. What a life.
Reposted by Brian Behnken
#OTD on March 17, 1919 the Texas Legislature significantly restructured the Texas Rangers by passing House Bill No. 5, originally authored by Rep. J. T. Canales. This was one of the most important outcomes of Canales’ activism. /1
March 17, 2025 at 1:18 PM
#OTD on March 17, 1919 the Texas Legislature significantly restructured the Texas Rangers by passing House Bill No. 5, originally authored by Rep. J. T. Canales. This was one of the most important outcomes of Canales’ activism. /1
Reposted by Brian Behnken
Great and timely work by @historybrian.bsky.social on this thread.
#OTD in 1925 the Texas legislature passed SB 174, making illegal search and seizure by police a crime. Rep JT Canales had asked for more robust protections during the Canales Investigation. This is considered one of the Canales Reforms, even though he was not in office. /1
March 13, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Great and timely work by @historybrian.bsky.social on this thread.
UNC Press has done it yet again! I'm very proud of this cover. The book should be out in November:)
March 3, 2025 at 6:28 PM
UNC Press has done it yet again! I'm very proud of this cover. The book should be out in November:)
#beebit "Move Jessica, I gotta poop!" In winter, when the weather warms to around 45, bees leave their hives to poop. We call these "cleansing flights." Bees hold off defecating for months when it's too cold to fly. Extra #beebit, their feces are a yellowish semi-liquid that smells like honey:)
February 1, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Facts! Where would I be without UNC Press and the other academic presses I've had the pleasure of working with.
Why are university presses important? A thread 🧵
January 27, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Facts! Where would I be without UNC Press and the other academic presses I've had the pleasure of working with.
I dropped my AHA membership years ago after I racked up over $3K in debt to attend a conference for an interview for a job ofc I did not get. Not only did I not feel bad about it, now I feel kinda good about it.
January 18, 2025 at 5:17 PM
I dropped my AHA membership years ago after I racked up over $3K in debt to attend a conference for an interview for a job ofc I did not get. Not only did I not feel bad about it, now I feel kinda good about it.
Looking forward to this one!
January 11, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Looking forward to this one!
Man just heard José Cha Cha Jiménez died. What a life, what a legacy. Rest in power sir.
January 11, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Man just heard José Cha Cha Jiménez died. What a life, what a legacy. Rest in power sir.
Reposted by Brian Behnken
thread on a key scholar of the borderlands and Latinx life
#OTD in 1958 @utexaspress.bsky.social s published Américo Paredes’ landmark book With His Pistol in His Hand, an examination of the life and legend of Gregorio Cortez, whose persecution by the Texas Rangers and other law enforcement made him a folk hero in the early 1900s. /1
January 1, 2025 at 4:18 PM
thread on a key scholar of the borderlands and Latinx life
I wrote quite a few of these posts for that other site, glad to see them on Bluesky now.
#OTD on December 30, 1917, US soldiers and Texas Rangers crossed into Mexico pursuing "bandits" who had raided the Indio Ranch near Eagle Pass the 29th. They killed ca. 6 Mexicans at the village of San Jose. This event followed the Brite Ranch Raid. /1 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brite_R...
Brite Ranch raid - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 30, 2024 at 4:24 PM
I wrote quite a few of these posts for that other site, glad to see them on Bluesky now.
I was reading this and was like "archives, yes, but where are the archivists?" And then about 3/4s of the way down I found them and was like "yes, preach!" Most of my best resources come from small local archives that will likely never get digitized. They and their archivists are priceless to me.
to share with your friends and colleagues if necessary
Why Do Historians Still Have To Go To Archives?
Why do historians go to archives? Hasn’t everything already been digitized?
contingentmagazine.org
December 29, 2024 at 4:55 PM
I was reading this and was like "archives, yes, but where are the archivists?" And then about 3/4s of the way down I found them and was like "yes, preach!" Most of my best resources come from small local archives that will likely never get digitized. They and their archivists are priceless to me.
Holiday #beebit, did you know all honey will crystalize? It will! A lot of people think it's because of moisture content (partly true) or time, but the main cause has to do with the nectar source and the concentration of glucose/fructose. One positive if your honey crystalizes, you know it's real!
December 27, 2024 at 4:42 PM
Holiday #beebit, did you know all honey will crystalize? It will! A lot of people think it's because of moisture content (partly true) or time, but the main cause has to do with the nectar source and the concentration of glucose/fructose. One positive if your honey crystalizes, you know it's real!
This is how you get the best tamales.
Best tamales I've ever had, I bought from a lady selling them out of a panel truck underneath an overpass on US 90 heading east out of Houston
December 21, 2024 at 9:20 PM
This is how you get the best tamales.