Prof J
@profjch.bsky.social
Scholar - Writer - Editor - Book & Movie Lover
My take in @msmagazine.com: Christopher Nolan’s 'The Odyssey' Reclaims the Diversity of the Ancient World msmagazine.com/2026/07/21/c...
Christopher Nolan’s 'The Odyssey' Reclaims the Diversity of the Ancient World
The diversity of the ancient world is our collective heritage. Scholars say the controversy over The Odyssey reflects a centuries-long effort to whitewash the ancient world.
msmagazine.com
My take on #IsGodIs in @msmagazine.com
Black Women, Beauty Politics and the Power of Rage in 'Is God Is'
In one of the film’s most surreal scenes, the twins at the center of *Is God Is*—Racine, “the Rough One,” and Anaia, “the Quiet One”—pretend to be strippers for a room full of men. But while Racine is...
msmagazine.com
I'm happy to share with you the new launch of a @msmagazine.com series on "Founding Feminists" that I guest-edited to mark this 250th anniversary year:
Feminist 250
America turns 250 this year. Who actually built this democracy? Founding Feminists centers the women and gender-nonconforming people written out of the origin story—from Phillis Wheatley to Ona Judge ...
msmagazine.com
I had the pleasure of writing this with a mentee at @msmagazine.com, Simone Jacques, about the halftime show. Enjoy!
Who’s American? Whose America? Bad Bunny’s Radical Halftime Message
ICE raids intensify, Donald Trump circulates racist videos of the Obamas; Bad Bunny’s Spanish Super Bowl halftime show asked, who is America?
msmagazine.com
My @msmagazine.com Q&A with Susana Morris on her biography of Octavia Butler:
Octavia Butler Saw This Coming
A conversation with "Positive Obsession" Octavia Butler biographer Susana M. Morris explores the writer’s process, imagination and lessons.
msmagazine.com
In her latest works, Tamura Lomax reimagines mothering as a radical act of Black feminist love. @profjch.bsky.social spoke with her about her latest works and the radical vision that guides them.
'Freeing Black Girls' and 'Loving Black Boys': Tamura Lomax on Revolutionary Mothering During Troubled Times
Black Feminist in Public: Author of Freeing Black Girls and Loving Black Boys Tamura Lomax in Revolutionary Mothering During Troubled Times
msmagazine.com
In light of current news (which I should be digesting less of), I'm recycling this great interview I did with Mary N. Elliott, who curated the "Slavery and Freedom" exhibit at Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture:
A Conversation with Mary N. Elliott, Curator of American Slavery at the Smithsonian Museum
The Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Project features Mary N. Elliott, museum specialist and curator of American slavery at the Smithsonian Museum.
msmagazine.com
Had the opportunity to meet and work with a young intern at @msmagazine.com this summer: Simone Jacques, a Spelman grad, doing that great Black feminist work. Check out her take on the "great jeans" debate:
White Femininity Is Still the Poster Girl for American Capitalism
The Sydney Sweeney American Eagle campaign shows how capitalism still packages whiteness as purity and sells it as Americana.
msmagazine.com
My @msmagazine.com article's take on the jeans/genes debate:
The Great American Jeans Debate: Racializing Beauty and Democratizing ‘Good Genes’ in Commercial Media
A viral American Eagle ad pits Sydney Sweeney against Beyonce, revives eugenicist undertones and reignites questions about beauty in America.
msmagazine.com
In light of the news of Adriana Smith, I want to share my interview with artist Autumn Breon who created a performance art around her situation:
Artist Autumn Breon’s Requiem for Reproductive Freedom: Honoring Adriana Smith Through Performance
Autumn Breon is using performance and mixed media art to both celebrate Black women's achievements and honor their struggles. Her latest performance, Dignity Denied, shines a light on the case of Adri...
msmagazine.com
I had a great conversation with A’Lelia Bundles about her new book Joy Goddess about her great-grandmother A’Lelia Walker: msmagazine.com/2025/06/11/a...
A'Lelia Bundles Claims Family History and Black Cultural Legacies With New Book 'Joy Goddess'
'Langston Hughes called the 'Joy Goddess' of Harlem's 1920s,' said A’Lelia Bundles, great-great-granddaughter of Madam C.J. Walker and author of Joy Goddess: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance...
msmagazine.com
Today marks the 162nd anniversary of the Harriet Tubman-led Combahee River Raid. I'm proud to have interviewed Edda L. Edda Fields-Black who won the Pulitzer Prize in history for her book Combee about this historic milestone, featured in @msmagazine.com:
Documenting Harriet Tubman’s Leadership: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Edda L. Fields-Black on the Combahee River Raid
Historian Edda L. Fields-Black and Janell Hobson reflect on Harriet Tubman’s revolutionary Civil War raid and the power of preserving Black history in the face of political pushback.
msmagazine.com
I finally wrote about #Sinners. Here's my @msmagazine.com article:
Blood Money, Blues Women, and the Power of Price: How 'Sinners' Rewrites the Gothic South
Sinners is rightly recognized as a Black Southern gothic tale, with a plot driven by its male characters. Indeed, the film highlights the camaraderie and community of these men as sharecroppers workin...
msmagazine.com
"Last year, the Heritage Foundation, the think tank responsible for the Project 2025 roadmap for Trump’s second term, recommended that the government defund higher education, claiming that more educated women tend to have fewer babies."
Ms. Magazine@msmagazine.com · last yr.“If Vice President JD Vance has his way, our whole electoral process may be recalibrating around this new pronatal biopolitics.” #MsReads via @motherjones.com
Did a quick map of academics targeted by ICE/State Dept wtih @lindsaythomas.net this morn. @goldfarb.bsky.social was there in spirit. We're gonna hand this over to We Are Higher Ed and contribute to them going forward. More polished version might follow if it becomes useful to y'all.
The klan, the police, the butcher, baker and candlestick maker in every little Southern hamlet used to disappear Black people too. When they didn't step off the street. When they whistled. When they bought a new suit and stood too straight. Fascism isn't new here. It's coming for you too.
"I don't know anything about it" In a functioning democracy, Hegseth would resign and Trump would be impeached over this. OVER JUST THIS.
Justin Baragona@justinbaragona.bsky.social · last yr.Trump asked about his Cabinet officials including Jeffrey Goldberg on a secret war plan Signal exchange: "I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of the Atlantic. To me, it's a magazine that’s going out of business. It’s not much of a magazine, but I know nothing about it."
If the Democrats don’t make an absolute buffet out of this group chat national security scandal, primary each and every one of them. It’s literally on a silver platter.
Remember that this is where his discussions with El Salvador began. The migrant detentions there are the dry run. He wants to ship U.S. prisoners to El Salvador.We cannot sleepwalk through this.
This did make me tear up. Beautiful rendition of "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and nostalgic recreation of "Killing Me Softly."🥲
Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Stevie Wonder perform at Roberta Flack's Homegoing Service 3/10/25
YouTube video by Sed Et
youtu.be