Mónica A. Jiménez

Mónica A. Jiménez

@monijimenez.bsky.social

Writer, baker, and prof. Caribbean history, race, law & empire. Puerto Rico, poetry & pilates. Reluctant soccer mom and lover of plants. Author of Making Never-Never Land @UNC Press.

885 followers531 following39 posts

Mónica A. Jiménez
@monijimenez.bsky.social

We fought hard to keep our majors, even in the face of our departments closing, b/c we know what it took to create them in the first place. Decades of work by elders to ensure this knowledge would have a place at the "best" public university in TX. www.kut.org/education/20...

kut.orgUT Austin plans to cut Mexican American, African, women's and gender studies majorsThe decision comes after university officials consolidated seven ethnic studies departments into two earlier this year. Faculty within the College of Liberal Arts were told most majors could be consol...
Mónica A. Jiménez
@monijimenez.bsky.social

None of us are surprised that UT's admin unilaterally and with zero knowledge or expertise in these fields decided they were unnecessary. None of us are surprised that the racists who run this university and state would decimate two of the most decorated and high performing depts. in the College.

Mónica A. Jiménez
@monijimenez.bsky.social

I'm teaching Race, Law and US Society, which is on this list and has been deemed "too narrow." Some readings: US Constitution, Federalist Papers, Notes on the State of Virginia, Cherokee Nation Cases, Scott v. Stanford, Brown v Board... so US legal history... too narrow? Or just too about race?

AAUP chapter @UT Austin@utaustinaaup.bsky.social

Chaos and authoritarianism at UT Austin. Faculty have just days to show how their courses meet vague requirements of breadth and foundationalism. Proposals will be reviewed by an unspecified entity. No guarantee at all that those who review the proposals have expertise in the field.

Mónica A. Jiménez
@monijimenez.bsky.social

Why, oh why, is anyone seeking advice from John Yoo, he of the Yoo-Bybee Torture Memos?!

PBS News@pbsnews.org

On the other hand, John Yoo, a professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley and former Justice Department official during the George W. Bush administration, says the consolidation of power in a strong executive is a return to previous norms.

Mónica A. Jiménez
@monijimenez.bsky.social

As a faculty member of UT's distinguished African and African Diaspora Studies Department, I am angry at the disingenuous way UT is characterzing us and our scholarship. But as an alum of UT (MA, JD, PhD) I am sad to see my alma mater debase itself to curry favor with the ignorance of the right.

Texas Observer@texasobserver.org

Scholarship that challenges white supremacy, colonialism, or state violence is labeled as divisive. Programs rooted in Indigenous, Latinx, and Black knowledge are consolidated, put under review, or dismantled. The result is not balance—it is containment.

texasobserver.orgThe UT System's New 'Controversial Topics' Policy Is About Policing KnowledgeWhen politically appointed regents and administrators determine which topics are “germane,” academic freedom quietly shifts into political compliance.
Mónica A. Jiménez
@monijimenez.bsky.social

Before you rush off to buy your tix to PR, please educate yourself a bit. You can read my book (Making Never-Never Land: Race and Law in the Creation of PR) & my homie's @jmelendezbadillo.bsky.social (PR: A National History) & many others, just do your homework. consequence.net/2026/02/bad-...

consequence.netBad Bunny's Super Bowl Halftime Show Leads to 245% Spike in Travel Interest to Puerto RicoBad Bunny's halftime show has caused a major increase in flight searches to Puerto Rico and other Latin countries.
Mónica A. Jiménez
@monijimenez.bsky.social

Necessary reading from my brilliant college roomie and former prosecutor of dirty cops, Sam Trepel. Cities and states must hold ICE accountable for violence. The feds won’t | Kristy Parker and Samantha Trepel www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.comCities and states must hold ICE accountable for violence. The feds won’t | Kristy Parker and Samantha TrepelAs former federal prosecutors, we know an incident like the Minneapolis shooting must be followed by a credible inquiry

Mónica A. Jiménez reposted

Naomi Klein
@naomiaklein.bsky.social

"An Elegy for My Neighbor, Renee Nicole Good" - by Danez Smith "Neighbor, you should have made it home to your child, to the bright warmth of his laughter, but our country is at war with its people, and your goodness makes you an enemy, a citizen insurgent." www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/feat...

harpersbazaar.comAn Elegy for My Neighbor, Renee Nicole GoodFellow poet Danez Smith memorializes the Minneapolis mother's call to witness
Mónica A. Jiménez
@monijimenez.bsky.social

Been doing oral exams for the past few years and the students and I both love them. Its a heavy lift up front but the payoff is worth it. 10/10 totally recommend.

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com

Across the country, a small but growing number of educators are experimenting with oral exams to circumvent the temptations presented by powerful artificial intelligence platforms such as ChatGPT.

wapo.stTo AI-proof exams, professors turn to the oldest technique of allA small but growing number of educators are experimenting with oral exams to circumvent the temptations presented by powerful AI platforms.
Mónica A. Jiménez
@monijimenez.bsky.social

Mangroves are life-giving. They are abundance. For some time I have been trying to write poems into mangroves, into my respect and love of them. There are several organizations in PR that have been working hard at restoring them, this article covers one, another is COPI in Loiza copipr.com.

copipr.comCOPI – Corporación Piñones Se Integra (COPI)
Teen Vogue@teenvogue.com

Centuries of colonialism cost Puerto Rico's native mangroves. This group has planted over 22,000 since 2023. Read the full story:

teenvogue.comMeet the Group That Planted Over 22,000 Trees to Fight Colonialism's Impact in Puerto RicoCenturies of colonialism cost Puerto Rico's native mangroves. This group has planted over 22,000 since 2023.
Mónica A. Jiménez
@monijimenez.bsky.social

I am so very grateful for this honor from the Caribbean Studies Association. It is so very meaningful to me that the book resonated with my peers in Caribbean Studies.

UNC Press@uncpress.bsky.social

Congratulations @monijimenez.bsky.social 🎉👏 MAKING NEVER-NEVER LAND wins the 2025 Gordon K. and Sybil Lewis book award from the Caribbean Studies Association 🙌 www.caribbeanstudiesassociation.org/2025-gordon-...

Mónica A. Jiménez
@monijimenez.bsky.social

A beautiful and careful review of Roger Reeves' "Dark Days: Fugitive Essays" in Against the Current. This is the book we should all be reading and rereading in these terrible times. againstthecurrent.org/atc236/power...

againstthecurrent.orgPower in the DarknessDark Days By Roger Reeves Graywolf Press, 2023, 240 pages, $26 hardcover. IT IS QUITE possible that between the writing of this essay and your reading it, the United States will have entered a dark…
Mónica A. Jiménez
@monijimenez.bsky.social

Today's reminder that resistance is the only way through authoritarianism. Spotted today in Rome: las mariposas, the Mirabal Sisters, whose fight against Trujillo's dictatorship in DR cost them so much, but whose memory we still hold up to the light. ¡Que vivan!

Mónica A. Jiménez reposted

The Rumpus
@therumpus.net

"And the brush of grass against the lowering / Roof of the evening. The eye can eat the vanishing light" From "Late February," a new original poem by Roger Reeves for National Poetry Month. ➡️ buff.ly/LIgOgG4

Mónica A. Jiménez
@monijimenez.bsky.social

Went axe throwing last night to celebrate the fact that I've been tenured and also to work out some of the rage I feel at the haters who tried to stop me from getting it. That's a story for another day... but for now: I got tenure, yall!

Mónica A. Jiménez reposted

UNC Press
@uncpress.bsky.social

"Jiménez makes a good contribution to the seemingly never-ending discussion of what exactly is Puerto Rico’s political relation to the US . . ." Enjoy this review of MAKING NEVER-NEVER LAND by @monijimenez.bsky.social on the The Society for US Intellectual History blog 🙌 s-usih.org/2025/02/naid...

s-usih.orgNaida García-Crespo on Mónica A. Jiménez’s *Making Never-Never Land: Race and Law in the Creation of Puerto Rico* | Society for US Intellectual HistoryMónica A. Jiménez’s Making Never-Never Land: Race and Law in the Creation of Puerto Rico, offers a legal history of Puerto Rico’s colonial relation with the United States (US). The book further attemp...
Mónica A. Jiménez
@monijimenez.bsky.social

Couldn't be prouder of the homie @jmelendezbadillo.bsky.social on this collab and on managing to keep it under wraps for as long as he did! History is for the people and what a great way to bring it to them! ❤️❤️ www.latimes.com/delos/story/...

latimes.comBad Bunny's 'Debí Tirar Más Fotos' is a love letter to Puerto Rico. This professor helped him tell the island's historyReleased Jan. 5, the record pays homage to the island’s rich rhythms like plena and salsa, and delves into it’s seldom taught history.

Mónica A. Jiménez reposted

Blair LM Kelley, Ph.D.
@profblmkelley.bsky.social

So I’ve had my 1st Black History Month event cancellation because of “DEI concerns,” citing a fear of frivolous suits. Funny thing is, I don’t do DEI, I’m a historian of the Black American experience. A reminder that DEI is just a dog whistle about suppressing history, if you need a reminder.

Mónica A. Jiménez
@monijimenez.bsky.social

The latest from my intellectual partner in crime and in life, Roger Reeves.

Emergence Magazine@emergencemagazine.bsky.social

Poet Roger Reeves centers images of Muhammad Ali, John Coltrane, DMX, and Mike Tyson in postures of rest and repose, and reflects on the stillness of their interior worlds as a protest against the control of capitalistic time. emergencemagazine.org/essay/when-t...

emergencemagazine.orgWhen the Prince of Heaven Sleeps – Roger ReevesCentering images of Muhammad Ali, John Coltrane, DMX, and Mike Tyson in postures of rest and repose, poet Roger Reeves reflects on the stillness of their interior worlds as a protest against the contr...

Mónica A. Jiménez reposted

UNC Press
@uncpress.bsky.social

To make it easier to find new and existing members of Bluesky, we're compiling a list of UNC Press authors for easy findability 🦋 Comment to let us know you're here ↙️📚https://go.bsky.app/RKSF82c

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