Professor at Brown University. Feminist. Books: Black Grief/White Grievance (Oct. 2023) | Theorizing Race in the Americas | Race and the Politics of Solidarity.
Black Grief/White grievance is almost here! It’s so exciting to finally hold a book you’ve worked on for years. The official publication date is Oct 3, but it’s available for preorder now 😊.
Black activists from Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast calling on CARICOM states to condemn government repression and violence agains citizen protesters since April 2018
#SOSNicaragua
#BlackLivesMatter
I'm honored that Theorizing Race in the Americas is one of the recipients of the 2018 APSA Ralph Bunche Award for the best scholarly work in political science that explores the phenomenon of ethnic and cultural pluralism
@APSAtweets
@OUPPolitics
@BrownUniversity
I began and ended Introduction to Feminist Theory this fall with Feminism is for Everybody, the little book about feminism bell hooks wanted us to have so she wrote it. There is so much that can be said, but she made feminism accesible and tactile to so many. Rest in Power.
I’m honored to have received the Presidential Faculty Award Lecture from
@BrownUniversity
and am looking forward to delivering the talk on Ida B. Wells and Harriet Jacobs later today.
TODAY join Pres. Christina Paxson as she hosts the Presidential Faculty Award Lecture with
@creoleprof
delivering 'Between Fact and Affect: Ida B. Wells and Harriet Jacobs on Black Loss'. Learn more and register here:
Looking forward to delivering the Moffett Lecture in Ethics today at the University Center for Human Values at Princeton on: "Democracy and the Problem of Political Loss"
I think many wanted this country to be better than it is, despite the fact that we know it to be deeply racist, sexist, etc. There has been no wholesale repudiation of white supremacy, misogyny, homophobia, or xenophobia. We (some) fight on. As always.
Profile of Tamara Davila, a feminist activist and one of the over 150 political prisoners in Nicaragua, arbitrarily arrested and jailed on trumped up charges, many being held in solitary confinement, not allowed to see their families or legal counsel.
#English
| Tamara was born on January 15, 1981 in Managua. Her mother was Sadie Rivas Reed and her father was Irving Dávila Escobar, my husband. He brought Tamara to our home, making our family both bigger and better ⤵️
I wrote about how the Democratic Party needed to confront racist backlash head-on before the current protests, when race was receding into the background of the nominating contest. It’s available to read for free for a month, alongside the rest of the excellent symposium.
Happy to be part of this volume and that my essay with
@fguridy
on Afro-Latin American political thought has led the editors to start thinking about how to translate texts by Afro-Latin American thinkers into English so they are available to US audiences
Thinking of all the folks on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast in the path of hurricane iota tonight. It’s absolutely catastrophic that there’s another even more powerful hurricane hitting the region immediately after Eta.
The most powerful hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is getting very close to making landfall in Nicaragua where it will deal a catastrophic blow to Central America right on the heels of Hurricane Eta:
I firmly believe that voting is only one strategy and that black people have historically been asked to do too much of the labor of democracy. But this election was too important so I decided I had to do much more than just vote. 1/8
This is the fourth potential presidential candidate placed under arrest in Nicaragua to prevent competitive elections in November. This follows the violent repression of citizen protests in 2018 and the arrests and exile of many activists in those protests.
BREAKING: Sandinista guardsmen have reportedly raided the home of opposition pre-candidate Juan Sebastián Chamorro. He was summoned to report to the Sandinista prosecutors office tomorrow morning, but the Sandi police have reportedly jumped the gun.
Congratulations
@melanieywhite
! Your work on how black women’s art can provide more capacious visions of autonomy is so needed in this bleak moment in Nicaragua. I’m so happy and proud to call you Dr White, and that you’ll be starting as an Assistant Prof at Georgetown this fall!
This is a great point. Latinos are not a monolith. In + to differences in racial identification (i.e. white, black, indigenous, mixed, etc), the impact of ideological legacies of Latin American political divides is important.
Seeing lots of confusion from people on how Latinxs could vote Trump. Well, outside the US, there’s a whole right-wing, fascist, militarist, white supremacist tradition & history that many Latinxs subscribe to, are proud of. Latinxs as a kind of organic Democrat is a fallacy.
Amid all the bleak news, I’m looking forward to two upcoming conversations on Black Grief/White Grievance in NYC (Nov. 12) and Boston (Nov. 14). Join us if you can!
Police are not neutral, they are counterprotesters to those demanding an end to police impunity. This is layered state violence directed at citizens.
#GeorgeFloydProtests
#Uprising2020
Join us 4/6 at 4pm EST for what promises to be a fantastic conversation on “Black Politics and US Democracy: Beyond Mourning and Sacrifice,” with the amazing
@meganfrancis
, Shatema Threadcraft, and
@devarashida
sponsored by Brown’s
@SlaveryJustice
!
Had a great time giving my keynote lecture on “Heroic Action, Mourning, and Democratic World-Building” at the Interdisciplinary Arendt conference at the University of Aberdeen. A lot of great discussions so far. Looking forward to
@KathrynSBelle
’s lecture tomorrow!
Pronunciamiento de LASA, la Asociación de Estudios Latinoamericanos con mas de 12,000 miembros alrededor del mundo, condenando la represión en Nicaragua y exigiendo el cese a la violencia contra los estudiantes y las universidades
#SOSNICARAGUA
Earlier this year I wrote about how the Democrats could confront prioritizing race and class. “How Can the Democratic Party Confront Racist Backlash? White Grievance in Hemispheric Perspective” | Polity: Vol 52, No 3
Excellent thread (in Spanish) on the dubious characterization of the Ortega/Murillo regime as leftist which makes the continued support of the international left difficult to understand, if one has kept up with Nicaraguan politics after the 1980s.
Why Did Daniel Ortega Imprison His Former Comrades? Good explainer on the context for the current wave of arrests of opposition leaders in Nicaragua in
@NACLA
Black activists who have been part of the protests in Nicaragua are now being targeted for reprisals by the police. Nationwide leaders and participants in the protests are being fired from government jobs and accused of crimes using anti-terrorism laws.
Theorizing Race in the Americas was also one of the recipients of the Best Book Award from the Race, Ethnicity & Politics Section of APSA. Thanks to REP and the award committee, including
@VanessaCTyson
!!!
Really enjoyed thinking about the challenges of solidarity today for this fantastic
@BostonReview
forum. Looking forward to reading all the essays by so many smart folks.
@MRogers097
Thanks Melvin! There’s definitely a conversation between our books on how African American thinkers have kept faith with US democracy in yours, and the burdens that have made that task so difficult as well as the responsibilities that follow from their taking it up in mine.
RIP Ernesto Cardenal. A huge loss for
#Nicaragua
. Here’s an English translation of one of his most famous poems. from Zero Hour by Ernesto Cardenal | Poetry Foundation
I believe my colleague and friend, Dr. Vanessa Tyson. She is a person of integrity and honesty who has nothing to gain by coming forward.
#IBelieveVanessa
But the absolute highlight was HELPING TO DELIVER A BABY!!!!! An expectant father took my call in his wife’s hospital room and to his and my surprise his wife went into labor just as I was beginning to ask him the questions in my script. 3/8
Presentation by the Nicaraguan Solidarity Caravan about government repression of citizen protests since April, including representatives of the student movement, activists from the Caribbean coast, and the articulación of social movements/civil society
#SOSNicaragua
@CLACSBrownU
It was inspiring (and calming!) to be part of the hundreds of people who made hundreds of thousands of phone calls to voters during one of the Texas Democrats’ dance and dial sessions today. Thank you to everyone who said do something instead of doom scrolling. 8/8
Drawing on his analysis of Garifuna NYers from the 1950s to the present
@BlackCatrachoBK
theorizes Afro-Latinx Studies as “an intellectual and political response to the erasure and negation of Black people and Blackness in the field of Latinx Studies.”
In Nicaragua Election, Ortega Crushes Dissent. “He detained the credible challengers who planned to run against him, shut down opposition parties, banned large campaign events and closed voting stations en masse.”
From a review in the Inter-American Journal of Philosophy: "Juliet Hooker’s Theorizing Race in the Americas: Douglass, Sarmiento, Du Bois, and Vasconcelos is a sophisticated, original and rich account of the work of these four hemispheric American thinkers."
@LASACONGRESS
#NewBook
So I decided to channel my anxiety into phone banking for the TX Dems today and it was amazing. I talked to some folks in the Rio Grande valley in Spanish and to voters who’d already voted and left voicemails for many others that I hope were useful not annoying. 2/8
Many Cubans, Venezuelans, and Central Americans in FL, for example, may see themselves as exiles rather than immigrants and may be reflexively opposed to “socialism.”
Latin American Studies Association statement condemning repression in Nicaragua and asking for an end to violence against students and attacks on university campuses
#SOSNicaragua
@LASACONGRESS
While the streets have now been cleared of barricades...over 550 Nicaraguans are still imprisoned, and the government continues to track and capture its opponents. Last month, police recently released a statement that banned protests without authorization.
In short order his wife was screaming, the Doctor was in the room delivering the baby, and he was telling me that he needed to stay on the phone or he was going to pass out. 4/8
Great article showing that the racial disparities in the impact of the pandemic weren’t only the result of pre-existing medical conditions but also of state decisions about where to distribute testing, etc. that disadvantaged black communities
A travesty of justice in Nicaragua. In a trial full of irregularities, Brandon Lovo and Glen Slate, two young creole men, found guilty in the death of journalist Angel Gahona, killed during anti-government protests. According to witnesses & the victim’s family it was the police.
whether it will remain a mainly white party with the occasional black or brown face, or whether it can become a truly multiracial, anti-racist party with a vision of social justice for all.
The InnterAmerican Human Rights Commission calls on the Nicaraguan government to cease repression of protesters and opponents and to investigate, sanction, and dismantle paramilitary forces
One of the things that sustained me through this AY on zoom was the co-taught
@CogutInstitute
course on Loss and Political Activism with my colleague Emily Owens and a group of amazing, thoughtful students. Thanks
@ProfAAnderson1
for the opportunity to reflect on the experience!
How do we understand experiences of loss politically? On Meeting Street, Amanda Anderson
@ProfAAnderson1
, Juliet Hooker
@Creoleprof
& Emily Owens discuss public feelings of grief, rage, & exhaustion, & the power of numbers & art in political movements.
Thanks
@ProfessorTKH
for this generous review of Black and Indigenous Resistance in the Americas, a collective analysis of anti-racist mobilization in Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, and the US
#ERSBookReview
@creoleprof
examines the question of what caused the contemporary white supremacist surge of racism in a region that has long touted itself as racially enlightened as compared to the rest of the world. Review by
@ProfessorTKH
@RLPGBooks
#AHORA
: La marcha ya pasó el puente El Edén y se estima que aún hay personas en el área de la Rotonda Cristo Rey. Son miles y miles de nicaragüenses, algunos visten de negro, en memoria de los fallecidos. No se reporta presencia policial:
“media coverage continues to reinforce stereotypes of black incivility and denigrate the legitimacy of black outrage” as well as downplay or obscure police violence
Nicaragua Has a Simple Message for Protesters: Don’t - The New York Times.
“As pro-government activists sow violence in the streets, voices of dissent are silenced by arrest and assault.”
Nicaraguan citizens wounded and 1 killed at the latest march on Sunday to demand the release of political prisoners. As the head of the OAS human rights commission points out this kind of violence doesn’t happen at pro-government marches.
Las marchas de oposición sufren ataques resultando en personas heridas/muertas. Situaciones que no pasan en las marchas probierno. Está claro elobjectivo de la violencia.
#Nicaragua
falla en su obligación de asegurar el derecho a las protestas y de proteger a todxs sus ciudadanxs
“Hooker writes that often the only script that Black victims…are permitted is a kind of saintly martyrdom, a sacrifice to keep the peace for the common good…Forgiveness then becomes a burden imposed on Black people, obscuring the need to act for change and protest injustice”
Some of what I said: In an era when white grievance and growing economic inequality go hand in hand, eschewing race (in order to court disaffected white voters) or focusing only on class (because progressive economic policies will address racism and sexism) are not the solution.
Thanks
@KiaLCaldwell
! Not only are Afro Latin American intellectuals a part of the broader tradition of black political thought, black activism in the US in many cases relied on diasporic connections & drew on black folk in Latin America for models & inspiration
Also, and Latino politics scholars like
@ProfCZM
know more about this, but while younger Latinx voters are very progressive in states like CA, NV, and AZ, older Mexican-Americans in TX for ex can be very conservative.
In
#Nicaragua
there are 777 political prisoners as a result of the protests that began in April, 138 have been sentenced to lengthy jail sentences and appeals are being shelved.
Final point: this is not an argument about where progressives or racial justice activists should invest their energies. The essay is part of a symposium on challenges facing the democratic party, so these are my reflections on what *it* should do. The whole issue is worth a read.
In the past I have argued that black people and other disadvantaged groups should not be expected to do the work of democratic repair—that is, taking on the burden of activism on behalf of racial justice for the benefit of the polity as a whole.
Un promedio de tres nicaragüenses por día han sido asesinados en el país producto de la represión gubernamental, al cumplirse cien días de resistencia pacífica