“UT Austin, like many universities, has rolled out new DEI initiatives and has sought to restructure everything from curriculum to faculty training to university recruitment policies [and] has alienated the institution from the population it serves....”

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Hangs Its Hat in Texas by National Association of Scholars | NAS
Press Release
www.nas.org
Pakistan threatens to shut down Wikipedia for unspecified content.
Blasphemy is just one example of criminalization of speech. But it is useful to look at it closely--it serves up all the issues in crystallized form, issues that apply to all speech laws.
https://www.plebity.org/article/blasphemy-a-notion-that-crystallizes-so-many-of-the-issues-around-free-speech/
Psst...putting the final touches on an extra-special update over here.... ✨
"To our knowledge, however, no one has ever compiled a comprehensive list specifically featuring the finest literary works produced by African American women authors. We decided to undertake that effort..."

The ZORA Canon: 100 Best Books by African American Women Authors
Celebrating more than 150 years of African American literature with 100 books written by African American women
zora.medium.com
Yes, we are more than just trauma!

Please Don‘t Forget About Black Joy this Month
We are more than just our trauma
zora.medium.com
"Progressive bigotry relies on victimhood, otherwise it fails. If there is no victim to save, no one to 'center,' then the progressive bigot has nothing left to do—no 'work' to 'do.'"
“I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO”
A Black History Month Manifesto
—@76brandy76

"I Am Not Your Negro"
A Black History Month Manifesto
freeblackthought.substack.com
"Real diversity has less to do with the color of students’ skins, their native languages, or their gender identities than the degree to which they fully realize their distinctive potential to know and care for other human beings."

Fostering True Diversity for Excellence in Medicine
How can we rethink medical education where students can fully realize their distinctive potential to know and care for other human beings?
heterodoxacademy.org
Boston University's @JPYGold and FBT's @Rhetors_of_York debate based on the question,
"Is Opposition to CRT Legitimate Criticism or an Assault on Social Progress?"
Who has the better argument?

Should Critical Race Theory Be Taught in Schools? — Divided We Fall
Jonathan Feingold (Professor, Boston University) and Erec Smith (Co-Founder, Free Black Thought) debate the impacts of critical race theory.
dividedwefall.org
Great conversation about The New Puritans...and how identity politics is anything but a 'progressive' or 'leftist' movement.
On the Lean Out podcast today, @andrewdoyle_com joins me for a conversation about his latest book, The New Puritans, and the critical social justice movement - which, he argues, presents itself as progressive when in fact its ideas are deeply regressive.
And so it begins!
In Arizona, contention around ethnic studies is nothing new; it happened with Mexican American Studies 10 years ago. 👇
Is this "new" push to BAN CRT legitimate or just more illiberalism?
https://arizonaagenda.substack.com/p/the-daily-agenda-history-repeats?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=373521&post_id=100143804&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email
🗣Join us for the Anti-Race Workshop!
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-anti-race-workshop-tickets-448005716157?fbclid=PAAaZJFpKFnx3RrPSkCMMEPQq95jqz9ksYPbLdJGctLio1D1025zvukv3pALw
@SheenaMasonPhD @Racelessness
GREAT NEWS for Chicago:
@McCormick_Fdn has given @ProjectHood1 $8.5MM toward its goal to raise $35MM to build a state-of-the-art Leadership & Economic Opportunity Center in what has been known as one of the most violent areas in Chicago.
Read more:
https://projecthood.dm.networkforgood.com/emails/2393123
Learning for Justice "will provide guidance on how to have relevant and rigorous conversations with students about race, racism and other important topics. Learning for Justice’s resource Let’s Talk!"
Is "Let's Talk" a step in the right direction?

Let's Talk! Discussing Race, Racism and Other Difficult Topics With Students
Join NEA and Learning for Justice for our second of three school-climate webinars. This time, we will provide guid...
www.learningforjustice.org
Neither. It is high time for a new cultural paradigm. Let's leave woke and ugliness behind and freely create.

Which way, Western man?
This could be interesting. How different is African wisdom from African American wisdom?

Afrikan Wisdom Summit - Free Online Summit February 1-7, 2023
Join thought leaders for conversations of liberation, inspiration and transformation for everyone. Featuring 40+ speakers. Register for free.
www.afrikanwisdomsummit.com
The sad state of Western culture continues its inexorable descent into meaninglessness, with virtue signalling by people who've had tremendous careers and are living proof the system is not rigged. Isn't high time we leave this corrupt system and make our own culture? @netflix
Rufo seems to be speaking from what many call classical liberal standpoint. So why are some calling him illiberal? Should we revisit the conversation on what "liberal" does (or should?) mean today?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYyTkO4Ef9s&t=17s
Bryan Betancur writes, "If we are serious about using language that promotes progressive reform, it is time to drop the term Latinx in favor of “Latine,” an ethnic identifier that fosters genuine inclusion."
Would this be an improvement?

Why I hate the term "Latinx" (opinion)
If we’re serious about inclusion, it’s time for academe to drop “Latinx” in favor of the term ...
www.insidehighered.com
"The DeSantis brand of “anti-wokeism” is classic right-wing illiberalism [and] is also bad news for those of us who oppose left-wing illiberalism from a liberal, libertarian, or classical conservative perspective."
What are your thoughts?

Ron DeSantis, Chris Rufo, and the College Anti-Woke Makeover
The Florida governor’s plan to transform a liberal school turns it into a political kickball.
www.thebulwark.com
International Holocaust Remembrance Day was Friday, January 27.
FBT's @11Drtlee11 put together a 3-minute video explaining that any "anti-racism" that is silent on the Holocaust and antisemitism is a phony anti-racism.
Check it out:
https://youtu.be/xbgXwcFNlic
So Defund the Police = Reallocation of funds FROM police. Is this description more plausible?
Since the Middle Ages, we have come to at least theoretically expect our elite institutions of higher learning, i.e. universities, to be the last places that would discourage reading or what hopefully goes along with it, learning.

Universities that punish reading–even of books from their own libraries - Plebity
Article In the abstract, people mostly agree that book banning is a bad thing. The Nazis did us the favor of ...
www.plebity.org