Tressie McMillan Cottom
@tressiemcphd.bsky.social
Professor. Sociologist. NYTimes Opinion Columnist. Books: THICK, LowerEd. Forthcoming: 1)Black Mothering & Daughtering and 2)Mama Bears. Beliefs: C.R.E.A.M. + the internet ruined everything good + bring back shame. “I’m just here so I don’t get fined.”
Because sometimes the universe smiles on me, I hung out with Frankye Adams-Johnson in Jackson, MS this week. In this photo she‘s just asked me how I make my hair “do that”. Then we proceeded to keekee for a hour. Maybe my favorite thing in the world is being a girlie pop with Black women legends.
This man might go to prison for allegedly wiping his phone before DHS officials could search it. No warrant for the phone, no specific claim of what 'evidence' might be on it. But he used a duress/wipe password, leading to the charge Watch more and subscribe here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmik...
The @mta.info is tryna get rid of my local bus stop (b103) so I signed up to go yell @mayor.nyc.gov the meeting tomorrow, but I ain’t get picked 😭 and they only tell you the address if you get picked so #womp
Tressie McMillan Cottom@tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 4h agoThey could always sign up to give comment at a public meeting.
Data centers (and detention camps!) — big box buildings on the edge of life —are THE ISSUE because they tangibly encapsulate every other issue—environment, corruption, accountability, social (media) fracturing, and a politics of impunity that drops disaster on locals, then claims to know 🚫 about it
Tressie McMillan Cottom@tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 4h agoI’ve been screening our documentary with organizing communities in the South. So far, the organizers mention data centers first at every single event. From racial justice orgs to old school activists who don’t usually think about tech policy. This has legs.
Also while we’re on it, someone who works at a housing nonprofit might actually be a part of a weird contract grift scheme that gets public $$ to offer substandard housing. We need to be discerning and critical!
Definitely important when candidates are crafting stories. An organizer for tenant rights, civil rights, unhoused people is even different than an organizer for a campaign.
This has broader ramifications. To (re)build a better information environment, the default legacy channels - broken, in decline, captured - won't suffice. If you are in politics but also if you have a publication or an NGO, you need organizers or an organizer's mindset to find your audience. (3/n)
If you’re hot and laud off - let’s link up! I am also hot and laid off lol!!!
Tressie McMillan Cottom@tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 2h agoMy 24-year-old cousin with a motif for our times.
That seems right. Several organizers in Jackson, MS last night talked about “keep the main thing the main thing”, which means learning how to knock doors, have human conversations, “make people happy you called”, etc.
Jacob Kramer-Duffield@jaykaydee.bsky.social · 2h agoEl-Sayed in particular describes himself as a proud capitalist so yeah it is not just DSA. People with organizing experience - inclusive of but not limited to DSA folks - are the ones who are best prepared to face our fractured media environment b/c they have experience going and finding ppl (1/n)
I always feel the need to spread props for @alexisgoldstein.bsky.social when I see student debt forgiveness wins.
Tressie McMillan Cottom@tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 4h agoCongratulations to everyone who worked their asses off for something that any semi-decent and ultimately self-interested government should have done in penance www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/b...
My 24-year-old cousin with a motif for our times.
So many people I encounter, especially in HigherEd, believe the only strategy for this moment is "keep your head down." @debtcollective.bsky.social didn't change priorities in 2024, nor in 2020, nor in 2016. They barreled ahead. There first big win was $800 million. This one is $11 billion.
Tressie McMillan Cottom@tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 4h agoCongratulations to everyone who worked their asses off for something that any semi-decent and ultimately self-interested government should have done in penance www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/b...
Yall have been relentless and we love to see it. Drinks would be on me but there’s a lot of yall
Luke Herrine@lookheron.bsky.social · 3h agoWhen we in the @debtcollective.bsky.social started to organize around this in 2014, the attorneys we talked to were supportive but skeptical that Dept of Ed would ever actually cancel even some of this debt. ...
I was on a visit in Southern Virginia and stopped at a nearby winery in a county that went 2-1 for Trump in 2024 and 2-1 Winsome Sears for Virginia Gov…. I was chatting with staff and a local came up to remind one of them about the anti data center meeting coming up Indeed this has legs
Tressie McMillan Cottom@tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 4h agoI’ve been screening our documentary with organizing communities in the South. So far, the organizers mention data centers first at every single event. From racial justice orgs to old school activists who don’t usually think about tech policy. This has legs.
I know we are chalking the success of some leftist candidates almost entirely to the DSA. However, it seems like the more common theme is that these are candidates with organizing experience?
NYPIRG canvasser in western upstate NY told me yesterday that he's getting tons of first-time conservative donors because NYPIRG 's #1 issue is data centers. They want Gov Hochul to go beyond her exec order and to sign the legislation passed.
Also becoming a major issue in Alabama, where Doug Jones has called for a moratorium and Tommy Tuberville is embracing data centers; calling concerns about them “bullcrap” and suggesting opponents are being swayed by China. Here’s @annabjournalist.bsky.social on Monday.
Data centers emerge as top Alabama election issue as community concerns grow | Alabama Reflector
Data centers have emerged as a top issue in Alabama’s midterm elections as concerns over public health impacts and a lack of transparency over the multibillion dollar facilities grow among communities...
alabamareflector.com
Tressie McMillan Cottom@tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 4h agoI’ve been screening our documentary with organizing communities in the South. So far, the organizers mention data centers first at every single event. From racial justice orgs to old school activists who don’t usually think about tech policy. This has legs.
Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, ep 82 www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/epis... … in which @savasavasava.myatproto.social joins @alexhanna.bsky.social and me for a good hard look at “harm reduction” as misapplied to “AI”.
I've lived in rural (and urban-ish) North Louisiana going on 15 years. Mostly deep red, pockets of light blue. I've not seen people organize around any issue like the data centers. They won't beat Amazon's and Meta's money in the short term, but they're ripe for mobilization.
Tressie McMillan Cottom@tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 4h agoI’ve been screening our documentary with organizing communities in the South. So far, the organizers mention data centers first at every single event. From racial justice orgs to old school activists who don’t usually think about tech policy. This has legs.
I’ve been screening our documentary with organizing communities in the South. So far, the organizers mention data centers first at every single event. From racial justice orgs to old school activists who don’t usually think about tech policy. This has legs.
One of my new charming behaviors is I will slowly and deliberately place my airpods in my ears when people refuse to honor my request to leave me alone.
Congratulations to everyone who worked their asses off for something that any semi-decent and ultimately self-interested government should have done in penance www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/b...
Education Dept. to Wipe Out Student Loans of 170,000 More Defrauded Borrowers (Gift Article)
The sprawling case, centered on students defrauded by for-profit schools, has now become the largest class-action settlement in American history.
nytimes.com
Yall don’t look now but ncpol is interesting
The Sgt Joker@thesgtjoker.bsky.social · 4h agoI’m withdrawing from my reelection to spend more time with my old ugly hag of a wife instead of those young beautiful staffers, who definitely will think I’m super hot if I keep propositioning them, because I don’t want to give my wife half my 💩 or pay alimony. ~ Chuck Edwards (NC-R)
They could always sign up to give comment at a public meeting.
The Wall Street Journal@wsj.com · 15h agoNew York City’s business elites are long accustomed to direct access to City Hall, where even Democratic mayors felt the need to court the city’s wealthiest and most influential corporate leaders. That access is getting shredded by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
