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paulaakpan.bsky.social
Paula Akpan
@paulaakpan.bsky.social
2.4K followers 650 following 57 posts
historian, londoner & staunch gooner. researching the world-building and lives of Black lesbians & queers in britain, 1970s-90s. big dyke, big nerd. she/her

📕 WHEN WE RULED out now

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Paula Akpan @paulaakpan.bsky.social · Jul 9
more summery WHEN WE RULED events! tix and more info on paulaakpan.com 💙

‘'Full of interesting contemporary interviews and travel writing, and beautifully reconstructed retellings of the royal histories’ - The Times Literary Supplement @thetls.bsky.social

#booksky #skystorians #blackbooksky
List of events that Paula will be doing across the UK, full details are on her website: paulaakpan@gmail.com Smiling Black woman wearing a black dress and pink cap, holding a copy of the TLS review of her book, WHEN WE RULED Smiling Black woman dressed in black signing copies of her blue and red book Two Black women on stage in front of big picture of Paula Akpan and her book, in front of an audience
Reposted by Paula Akpan
saulstaniforth.bsky.social
Keir Starmer.
August 16, 2025 at 6:55 AM
Reposted by Paula Akpan
divyampersaud.com
Folks, we have TWO days to make this goal. A bit of food, water, shelter for six families & support for a mutual aid team serving fifteen displaced families. Simple.

Anything helps—especially clicking “weekly” + taking action. 1567/1900 by end of Saturday. chuffed.org/project/hope...
Keep Hope Alive: a Gaza Giving Circle
We are a team of volunteers in the US and UK, led by two sisters passionate about helping our friends on the ground keep their families and neighbors alive with food, water, & shelter. We saw that…
chuffed.org
August 8, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Reposted by Paula Akpan
afc-soasv.bsky.social
We invite all Arsenal fans, all London club supporters, and anyone who believes in justice to join us outside the court. Together, we will peacefully protest, stand in solidarity with survivors, and show that sexual violence in football will not be ignored.

See you all there 🩵 #ASASV
July 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Paula Akpan
afc-soasv.bsky.social
Join Us Outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court – 5 August 2025 ⚖️

The news that Thomas Partey has been charged with 5 counts of rape and 1 count of sexual assault is a stark reminder of the urgent need for change across football.
July 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Paula Akpan
rukiyashanthi.bsky.social
I've been longlisted for The Mo Siewcharran Prize 2025!! Can't believe it 😳 🤩 This year's theme is Reclaiming History 😊
Wishing best of luck to all authors. Thanks for all the workshop support #Trapezebooks #Orionbooks @hachetteuk.bsky.social @agentbal.bsky.social @paulaakpan.bsky.social
August 1, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Reposted by Paula Akpan
shannonvallor.bsky.social
So few people realize this about starvation. Once you’ve starved a population to near death, food won’t bring them all back. You need complex medical interventions, like tube feeding carefully monitored in hospitals…which we let be bombed into ruins.
akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com Akbar Shahid Ahmed @akbarshahidahmed.huffpost.com · Jul 28
NEW— "A lot of children have passed the point of no return...The gut lining has started to auto-digest & will no longer [absorb] water or nutrition. Death is imminent for 1000s"

An American doctor who just returned from Gaza on where US-Israeli policy is taking us:
www.huffpost.com/entry/gaza-s...
‘Past The Point Of No Return’: Doctor Describes How Starvation In Gaza Is Driving Mass Death
"In August and September, there are probably still going to be ... large numbers of deaths because children have already passed the tipping point," Mark Brauner, who volunteered in Gaza last month, to...
www.huffpost.com
July 28, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Reposted by Paula Akpan
suchmayer.bsky.social
Yay Jake Hall's SHOULDER TO SHOULDER is in the stack! Read it, it's great.
lighthousebks.bsky.social Lighthouse - Edinburgh's Radical Bookshop @lighthousebks.bsky.social · Jul 24
The judges for the 2025 Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing are delighted to announce the 2025 shortlist! breadandrosesprize.wordpress.com/2025/07/24/b...
the shortlisted books for the Bread and Roses Award are seen in a pile: Pleasure Gardens, Shoulder to Shoulder, Race and Education, Intervals, Everything to Play For, Seven Children, Poor Artists and Defiance. Above them, a quote from Meera Ghanshamdas, Chair of Judges, reads "This is my second year working on the Bread and Roses award, and it has been one of the most rewarding experiences that I have had while working in books. The titles chosen for this year by our tremendous panel of judges are at the forefront of radical political conversation within their field, approaching their subject matter with nuance and sensitivity." Below the quote is the logo for the Alliance of Radical Booksellers, which consists of black, red, green and purple triangles. In front of Lighthouse Bookshop, which has a green wall on which is written "Look after each other", stands Mairi, Lighthouse's owner. Mairi has short ginger hair and is wearing a stripy top, and Mairi is holding the shortlisted books for the Bread and Roses Award: Pleasure Gardens, Shoulder to Shoulder, Race and Education, Intervals, Everything to Play For, Seven Children, Poor Artists and Defiance. In the upper right-hand corner is the logo for the Alliance of Radical Booksellers, which consists of black, red, green and purple triangles.
July 24, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by Paula Akpan
972mag.com
Held without charge for 7 months, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya has been beaten, starved, isolated, and cut off from his family. His freedom is nowhere in sight.

Interview by Shatha Yaish.

www.972mag.com/hussam-abu-s...
July 25, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Paula Akpan
justinbengry.bsky.social
Very pleased to see David Roberts' We Are Your Children: A History of LGBTQ+ Activism published by @twohootsbooks.bsky.social

It was a delight to consult on the book & great now to see that the other consultant was @paulaakpan.bsky.social Good company indeed!

www.panmacmillan.com/authors/davi...
We Are Your Children by David Roberts
Find out more about We Are Your Children by David Roberts
www.panmacmillan.com
July 17, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Reposted by Paula Akpan
monahijazi.bsky.social
‼️ 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭:
If you previously donated to my GoFundMe,
⛔️ 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐝.
GoFundMe is a 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭, and 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐲 platform that
𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 and
𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭.
❌𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬.
✅ 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞
Mona and Her Children's Survival Fund
I am Mona Hijazi, a Palestinian mother of three children. From the depths of Gaza, from the depths of darkness, despair, hunger, fear and weakness, I tell you my story.
chuffed.org
May 19, 2025 at 4:41 AM
Reposted by Paula Akpan
kevfrommayo.bsky.social
I will always remember Jean Charles de Menezes.
Menezes police 'gave no warning' Photo of Jean Charles de Menezes. Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead at Stockwell Tube station Armed police fired on Jean Charles de Menezes without shouting any warning, witnesses have claimed at an inquest. Passenger Rachel Wilson said she thought the officers were terrorists when they shot dead the Brazilian at Stockwell Tube station on 22 July 2005. Anna Dunwoodie, who was in the same carriage as Mr Menezes when he was shot, told the BBC how she witnessed this "horrific" moment when armed police ran on board the train. "It didn't feel to me like I was in the middle of a police operation," she recalled. "The men who came running in seemed quite chaotic. I'd describe them as slightly hysterical. "Jean Charles, to my knowledge, did nothing out of the ordinary. "I didn't notice him until he had a gun pressed to him. It felt to me like he was someone who was being picked on at random because he was nearest to the door. "We all ran to the sound of gunshots.
July 11, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Reposted by Paula Akpan
thetls.bsky.social
'Is she a feminist hero or a ruthless tyrant who facilitated mass enslavement? Is celebration of women rulers a good thing? Or does it celebrate hierarchy and oppression?'

Bronwen Everill on the questions raised by Africa’s queens
The questions raised by Africa’s queens
www.the-tls.com
July 8, 2025 at 1:49 PM
paulaakpan.bsky.social
more summery WHEN WE RULED events! tix and more info on paulaakpan.com 💙

‘'Full of interesting contemporary interviews and travel writing, and beautifully reconstructed retellings of the royal histories’ - The Times Literary Supplement @thetls.bsky.social

#booksky #skystorians #blackbooksky
List of events that Paula will be doing across the UK, full details are on her website: paulaakpan@gmail.com Smiling Black woman wearing a black dress and pink cap, holding a copy of the TLS review of her book, WHEN WE RULED Smiling Black woman dressed in black signing copies of her blue and red book Two Black women on stage in front of big picture of Paula Akpan and her book, in front of an audience
July 9, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Reposted by Paula Akpan
monahijazi.bsky.social
🚨 DON'T IGNORE ME
I'm Mona From Gaza
Mother Of 3 Children
Yazan 👨‍🎓
Kinan 👨‍🎓
Kinzy 👶

🚨 If You Can't Donate, REPOST ❤️‍🩹
🚨 If You Can't Donate, REPOST ❤️‍🩹
🚨 If You Can't Donate, REPOST ❤️‍🩹

📌𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗘
chuffed.org/project/mona...

🔒I do not permit to use of my children’s photos in any fake campaigns.
Gaza 🇵🇸🇵🇸
My 3 children’s photos
June 23, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Reposted by Paula Akpan
monahijazi.bsky.social
This is my son and daughter… Kinan & Kinzy.
They are my heart. My reason to live.
We’ve lost everything, but I fight for them.
Their tiny hands still hold on… but for how long?
Please donate to keep us alive. 💔↘️🇵🇸
🔗 chuffed.org/project/mona...
June 18, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by Paula Akpan
peoplesletters.bsky.social
📣 Help The Scarlett Letters Bookshop Workers defend their jobs
✊ Help them build the workplace they were promised
💸 Every donation is an act of solidarity

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-th...
Hardship fund for the Scarlett letters bookshop workers
June 14, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Reposted by Paula Akpan
peoplesletters.bsky.social
Support The Scarlet Letters staff fighting for job security, dignity and respect.

Please share this post and go to our link in bio to demand better from The Scarlett Letters' director!

Hardship fundraiser: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-th...
Booksellers at the Scarlett letters are in open dispute with their lawyer. All staff at the Scarlett Letters have unionised with UVW and will ballot to strike due to poor working conditions and unfair treatment. The workers are queer, trans, racialised, disabled, sex workers and students. They joined this workplace because it promised to be a supportive environment and aimed to provide security and opportunity to marginalised communities. Their identities have been used to advertise and fundraise for the bookshop as a radical space whilst their voices are not listened to. The Scarlett letters booksellers have simply demands: Fixed/guaranteed hour contracts Occupational sick pay To run the workplace based on cooperative principles. Full financial transparency. Fair pay for fair work, including piecework rates for illustration,graphic design and other tasks that fall outside of bookseller duties. After submitting demands, TSL's director refused fixed hour contracts. Staff were promised these in November when they first accepted their roles. They already work fixed hours but these have been cut and could be further. Gatekept financial information. They were told there is not enough money to guarantee hours, being shown only estimates. Threatened to fire staff. Their employer recently shared her intent to dismiss some staff and use the money to hire a new manager.
June 14, 2025 at 10:47 AM