Did you notice something missing from your life Saturday morning? Maybe it was Melissa Harris-Perry, who walked away from her own show on MSNBC, citing several weeks of election season pre-emptions and a loss of editorial control. Her gig as a professor at Wake Forest University is still on, though, and if you can swing the $2,020 per semester hour tuition, she’s currently offering a class inspired by the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
https://twitter.com/MHarrisPerry/status/710185493368074240
Credit where it’s due: whatever your opinion of contemporary academia, Harris-Perry is the real deal and doesn’t play around when it comes to course design. We do have a question, though; if the course is based on the #BlackLivesMatter movement, why does it purport to examine “the long history of racial justice, non-violent, and anti-racist political movements”? Is there a separate course this fall covering the violent history of #BlackLivesMatter?
Prominent on the reading list the the autobiography of Assata Shakur, the cop-killing fugitive who escaped from prison in 1979 and fled to Cuba in 1984, where she received political asylum. Even though the former Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army member has been in exile since before most #BlackLivesMatter activists were born, she’s experienced a renaissance of sorts.
What’s Behind The Renewed Attacks On African American Freedom Fighter Assata Shakur?
— Famous Naija (@famousnaija) March 19, 2016
Attacks? “Assata Taught Me” hoodies are the must-have fashion accessory at protests. Marquette University painted a mural of Shakur on the wall of its Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. Activists in Harlem holding what they called a “vigil” for the #Charleston9 recited a “prayer” by Shakur, as did a four-year-old addressing a walk-out at UCLA.
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Speaking of Cuba, isn’t President Obama headed there with his family today? CNN’s Jake Tapper didn’t get to go, but he did have a tip for his colleagues.
Journalists traveling to Cuba — see if you can grab an interview with Joanne Chesimard https://t.co/EN2UzLERl2
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 19, 2016
@jaketapper If you can't find her, look under "Assata Shakur."
— Joseph Toomey (@JosephEToomey) March 19, 2016
Maybe President Obama’s aides already found her and set up a quick meeting that didn’t make the official agenda.
Unless @POTUS plans to return cop-killer Joanne Chesimard aka Assata Shakur to justice, then his #CubaVisit is pointless.#BlueLivesMatter
— We're better than this (@johnoneillnyc) March 19, 2016
Will Senator Jeff Flake bring cop killer Assata Shakur back with him from Cuba when he goes with Obama?
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) March 18, 2016
Maybe, for the purpose of a personal apology from President Obama on behalf of the country at a special White House reception.
@KatiePavlich Great question.
— Dr. Rich Swier (@drrichswier) March 18, 2016
@KatiePavlich No. But I am sure there will be a meet and greet.
— Tav Pirocchi (@TavPirocchi) March 18, 2016
@KatiePavlich he could set up a trade like the bergdahl swap
— alan thompson (@athomcat0709) March 19, 2016
https://twitter.com/Gavin0503/status/710820187579125762
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