Layana
@layanacharisse.bsky.social
Sometimes Sociologist
Seeking “the dream” so I can live it.
Seeking “the dream” so I can live it.
As bad as things are, I’m trying to be grateful for something so here it is:
It would be so much worse if I had not left that position in Sioux City at a college where I clearly was not wanted and ended up dealing with multiple traumatic events even before 2016. I am glad I’m not still there now.
It would be so much worse if I had not left that position in Sioux City at a college where I clearly was not wanted and ended up dealing with multiple traumatic events even before 2016. I am glad I’m not still there now.
November 6, 2025 at 12:23 PM
As bad as things are, I’m trying to be grateful for something so here it is:
It would be so much worse if I had not left that position in Sioux City at a college where I clearly was not wanted and ended up dealing with multiple traumatic events even before 2016. I am glad I’m not still there now.
It would be so much worse if I had not left that position in Sioux City at a college where I clearly was not wanted and ended up dealing with multiple traumatic events even before 2016. I am glad I’m not still there now.
Reposted by Layana
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” —
James Baldwin
James Baldwin
September 10, 2025 at 11:27 AM
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” —
James Baldwin
James Baldwin
“People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.”
~James Baldwin, ‘Stranger In the Village’
~James Baldwin, ‘Stranger In the Village’
August 10, 2025 at 5:38 PM
“People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.”
~James Baldwin, ‘Stranger In the Village’
~James Baldwin, ‘Stranger In the Village’
There are too many words for what I feel right now and yet not enough…
“So this is how Liberty dies, with thunderous applause.”
~ Padme Amidala, Revenge of the Sith
“So this is how Liberty dies, with thunderous applause.”
~ Padme Amidala, Revenge of the Sith
July 4, 2025 at 6:49 PM
There are too many words for what I feel right now and yet not enough…
“So this is how Liberty dies, with thunderous applause.”
~ Padme Amidala, Revenge of the Sith
“So this is how Liberty dies, with thunderous applause.”
~ Padme Amidala, Revenge of the Sith
Reposted by Layana
Reposted by Layana
Masking should be mandatory in all healthcare settings. Hospitals and doctor’s offices are where most sick people congregate. It’s also the most likely place for more high risk people to be. You shouldn’t have to risk getting sicker or more disabled while trying to get treatment.
May 13, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Masking should be mandatory in all healthcare settings. Hospitals and doctor’s offices are where most sick people congregate. It’s also the most likely place for more high risk people to be. You shouldn’t have to risk getting sicker or more disabled while trying to get treatment.
Reposted by Layana
Say it with me: Disabled people deserve to live even if they can’t work.
May 2, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Say it with me: Disabled people deserve to live even if they can’t work.
Reposted by Layana
There are about 11 million deaf or hard-of-hearing Americans, and Black deaf people make up eight percent of these. While Black American Sign Language is not a direct replication of AAVE, their purposes and functions are similar.
You’ve Heard of AAVE, but Do You Know about Black American Sign Language? | Black Girl Nerds
Most recently, I learned about another language tied to the Black community: Black American Sign Language (BASL).
blackgirlnerds.com
April 28, 2025 at 4:16 PM
There are about 11 million deaf or hard-of-hearing Americans, and Black deaf people make up eight percent of these. While Black American Sign Language is not a direct replication of AAVE, their purposes and functions are similar.
Reposted by Layana
There’s possibly someone else living on my street who knows the importance of maintaining a seal on their mask
Saw someone wearing a KN95 / N95 mask in their car as I drove out
(a mask’s seal gets weaker each time it’s taken off & put on, which is why ppl leave their mask on even in their own car)
Saw someone wearing a KN95 / N95 mask in their car as I drove out
(a mask’s seal gets weaker each time it’s taken off & put on, which is why ppl leave their mask on even in their own car)
April 28, 2025 at 2:46 PM
There’s possibly someone else living on my street who knows the importance of maintaining a seal on their mask
Saw someone wearing a KN95 / N95 mask in their car as I drove out
(a mask’s seal gets weaker each time it’s taken off & put on, which is why ppl leave their mask on even in their own car)
Saw someone wearing a KN95 / N95 mask in their car as I drove out
(a mask’s seal gets weaker each time it’s taken off & put on, which is why ppl leave their mask on even in their own car)
A great friend of mine just posted another fantastic video that is perfect for anyone with small kids for story time:
youtu.be/yjAS4cGyZyU?...
youtu.be/yjAS4cGyZyU?...
Mimi & Noel’s Garden Adventure - Read-Along Fun #FamilyGarden #ReadAlong #storytimeforkids
YouTube video by Blossom Brightwell
youtu.be
April 27, 2025 at 11:31 PM
A great friend of mine just posted another fantastic video that is perfect for anyone with small kids for story time:
youtu.be/yjAS4cGyZyU?...
youtu.be/yjAS4cGyZyU?...
Reposted by Layana
'When poems stop talking about the moon and begin to mention poverty, trade unions, color, color lines and colonies, somebody tells the police.'
- Langston Hughes
- Langston Hughes
April 13, 2025 at 2:47 PM
'When poems stop talking about the moon and begin to mention poverty, trade unions, color, color lines and colonies, somebody tells the police.'
- Langston Hughes
- Langston Hughes
Reposted by Layana
You haven’t “learned to live with COVID” if you don’t understand that wearing a mask in public means not only protecting yourself, but ALSO immunocompromised / disabled / chronically ill people
COVID also disproportionately affects marginalized groups including people of low / no income & BIPOC ppl
COVID also disproportionately affects marginalized groups including people of low / no income & BIPOC ppl
April 5, 2025 at 3:51 PM
You haven’t “learned to live with COVID” if you don’t understand that wearing a mask in public means not only protecting yourself, but ALSO immunocompromised / disabled / chronically ill people
COVID also disproportionately affects marginalized groups including people of low / no income & BIPOC ppl
COVID also disproportionately affects marginalized groups including people of low / no income & BIPOC ppl
Reposted by Layana
All anti-mask laws—even those with so called “medical exceptions”—stigmatize mask-wearing.
Fewer people wearing masks increases the spread of infectious diseases.
No matter how lawmakers try to spin it, any law that criminalizes wearing a mask endangers public health. Period.
Fewer people wearing masks increases the spread of infectious diseases.
No matter how lawmakers try to spin it, any law that criminalizes wearing a mask endangers public health. Period.
March 29, 2025 at 9:52 PM
All anti-mask laws—even those with so called “medical exceptions”—stigmatize mask-wearing.
Fewer people wearing masks increases the spread of infectious diseases.
No matter how lawmakers try to spin it, any law that criminalizes wearing a mask endangers public health. Period.
Fewer people wearing masks increases the spread of infectious diseases.
No matter how lawmakers try to spin it, any law that criminalizes wearing a mask endangers public health. Period.
“If you're not angry, you're either a stone, or you're too sick to be angry. You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the object of its displeasure. So use that anger, yes…
You do everything about it.”
~Maya Angelou
You do everything about it.”
~Maya Angelou
March 29, 2025 at 8:41 PM
“If you're not angry, you're either a stone, or you're too sick to be angry. You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the object of its displeasure. So use that anger, yes…
You do everything about it.”
~Maya Angelou
You do everything about it.”
~Maya Angelou
Reposted by Layana
Today, on the birthday of W.E.B. Du Bois,I consider the racism he endured as a grad student at Harvard.When he graduated in 1895 (the 1st Black person to earn a PhD from Harvard) he was asked about this achievement.He responded,
"The honor, I assure you, was Harvard's"
Remember:YOU are the prize!
"The honor, I assure you, was Harvard's"
Remember:YOU are the prize!
February 23, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Today, on the birthday of W.E.B. Du Bois,I consider the racism he endured as a grad student at Harvard.When he graduated in 1895 (the 1st Black person to earn a PhD from Harvard) he was asked about this achievement.He responded,
"The honor, I assure you, was Harvard's"
Remember:YOU are the prize!
"The honor, I assure you, was Harvard's"
Remember:YOU are the prize!
W.E.B. Du Bois was born on this day in 1868.
A quote from a letter he wrote in 1909 still remains pertinent to this time:
”You and I can never be satisfied with sitting down before a great human problem and saying nothing can be done. We must do something. That is the reason we are on Earth.”
A quote from a letter he wrote in 1909 still remains pertinent to this time:
”You and I can never be satisfied with sitting down before a great human problem and saying nothing can be done. We must do something. That is the reason we are on Earth.”
February 23, 2025 at 2:57 PM
W.E.B. Du Bois was born on this day in 1868.
A quote from a letter he wrote in 1909 still remains pertinent to this time:
”You and I can never be satisfied with sitting down before a great human problem and saying nothing can be done. We must do something. That is the reason we are on Earth.”
A quote from a letter he wrote in 1909 still remains pertinent to this time:
”You and I can never be satisfied with sitting down before a great human problem and saying nothing can be done. We must do something. That is the reason we are on Earth.”
Reposted by Layana
A reminder:
Everything folks fear from The Handmaids Tale actually happened to Black and Native American women.
It’s wildly disrespectful that folks are only recently starting to care now when marginalized women and girls have suffered for centuries.
Stop cosplaying and read some history too.
Everything folks fear from The Handmaids Tale actually happened to Black and Native American women.
It’s wildly disrespectful that folks are only recently starting to care now when marginalized women and girls have suffered for centuries.
Stop cosplaying and read some history too.
February 16, 2025 at 5:30 AM
A reminder:
Everything folks fear from The Handmaids Tale actually happened to Black and Native American women.
It’s wildly disrespectful that folks are only recently starting to care now when marginalized women and girls have suffered for centuries.
Stop cosplaying and read some history too.
Everything folks fear from The Handmaids Tale actually happened to Black and Native American women.
It’s wildly disrespectful that folks are only recently starting to care now when marginalized women and girls have suffered for centuries.
Stop cosplaying and read some history too.
“That’s all anybody can do right now. Live. Hold out. Survive. I don’t know whether good times are coming back again. But I know that won’t matter if we don’t survive these times.”
~Octavia Butler
~Octavia Butler
February 2, 2025 at 6:13 AM
“That’s all anybody can do right now. Live. Hold out. Survive. I don’t know whether good times are coming back again. But I know that won’t matter if we don’t survive these times.”
~Octavia Butler
~Octavia Butler
“Villains who twirl their mustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well camouflaged.”
~Captain Jean Luc Picard
~Captain Jean Luc Picard
February 2, 2025 at 6:11 AM
“Villains who twirl their mustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well camouflaged.”
~Captain Jean Luc Picard
~Captain Jean Luc Picard
This is so true
January 29, 2025 at 5:37 PM
This is so true
The woman who inspired Martin Luther King's “I Have a Dream” speech - Vox
#MahaliaJackson
#MLKday
www.vox.com/2016/1/18/10...
#MahaliaJackson
#MLKday
www.vox.com/2016/1/18/10...
The woman who inspired Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech
Vox is a general interest news site for the 21st century. Its mission: to help everyone understand our complicated world, so that we can all help shape it. In text, video and audio, our reporters expl...
www.vox.com
January 26, 2025 at 11:46 PM
The woman who inspired Martin Luther King's “I Have a Dream” speech - Vox
#MahaliaJackson
#MLKday
www.vox.com/2016/1/18/10...
#MahaliaJackson
#MLKday
www.vox.com/2016/1/18/10...
Although I have been seeing the quote “Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.” (from Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”) quite a bit on social media lately, I think that, perhaps, this is hell.
January 26, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Although I have been seeing the quote “Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.” (from Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”) quite a bit on social media lately, I think that, perhaps, this is hell.
Leading up to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I’m sharing his quote “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” And I am reminding everyone that the moral arc of the universe is not going to bend itself.
January 19, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Leading up to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I’m sharing his quote “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” And I am reminding everyone that the moral arc of the universe is not going to bend itself.
“HBCU Marching Band Faces Backlash Over Trump Inauguration Invite”
🎓
www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...
🎓
www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...
HBCU marching band invited to inauguration faces backlash
The marching band at Mississippi Valley State University has come under fire after it announced its intention to accept President-elect Donald Trump’s invitation to perform at his upcoming inauguratio...
www.insidehighered.com
January 9, 2025 at 11:52 PM
“HBCU Marching Band Faces Backlash Over Trump Inauguration Invite”
🎓
www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...
🎓
www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...
Academic Job Market or Squid Game? - McSweeney’s Internet Tendency 🎓 mcsweeneys.net/articles/acade…
https://mcsweeneys.net/articles/acade…
January 8, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Academic Job Market or Squid Game? - McSweeney’s Internet Tendency 🎓 mcsweeneys.net/articles/acade…