Kenneth Nivison
@kennethnivison.bsky.social
Father, husband, New Englander. My kids laugh at all my jokes. U.S. historian specializing in slavery and the era of the Civil War. I write about history, leadership, and citizenship at A New Birth of Freedom: https://kennethnivison.substack.com
Here's a thought exercise: in place of ICE, substitute the NEH, or CDC, or the NEA, or the Parks Service, etc, then ask: how would Republicans respond?
ICE has violated almost 100 court orders.
Let me say that another way. 100 times ICE was caught brazenly ignoring the law. 100 times a court told them to immediately stop. And 100 times they ignored the order.
That's an out-of-control agency that shouldn't get another dime.
Let me say that another way. 100 times ICE was caught brazenly ignoring the law. 100 times a court told them to immediately stop. And 100 times they ignored the order.
That's an out-of-control agency that shouldn't get another dime.
April 24, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Here's a thought exercise: in place of ICE, substitute the NEH, or CDC, or the NEA, or the Parks Service, etc, then ask: how would Republicans respond?
Reposted by Kenneth Nivison
NEW: Profs. Martha Jones and @brennancenter.org Historians Council Member Kate Masur filed an amicus brief in the upcoming Supreme Court case involving Trump’s attempt to unconstitutionally strip birthright citizenship 🧵
February 26, 2026 at 8:24 PM
NEW: Profs. Martha Jones and @brennancenter.org Historians Council Member Kate Masur filed an amicus brief in the upcoming Supreme Court case involving Trump’s attempt to unconstitutionally strip birthright citizenship 🧵
The New Hampshire House has passed HR 1772, a bill that purports to prohibit:
February 20, 2026 at 10:47 PM
The New Hampshire House has passed HR 1772, a bill that purports to prohibit:
Reposted by Kenneth Nivison
The Project 2025 architect who promised to put federal employees “in trauma” is spending $15 million of former USAID funding—money that would have gone toward fighting HIV, polio, malaria, and other diseases—to bankroll his security detail. trib.al/TSV3cmb
February 16, 2026 at 12:10 AM
The Project 2025 architect who promised to put federal employees “in trauma” is spending $15 million of former USAID funding—money that would have gone toward fighting HIV, polio, malaria, and other diseases—to bankroll his security detail. trib.al/TSV3cmb
Reposted by Kenneth Nivison
So much of our present crisis is coddled, ignorant, and short sighted people tearing down the institutions that protect them because they don’t understand that bad things can happen.
February 14, 2026 at 8:37 PM
So much of our present crisis is coddled, ignorant, and short sighted people tearing down the institutions that protect them because they don’t understand that bad things can happen.
This is one of the best panels I’ve ever seen on television, emphasizing the power in the courage of ordinary people, who are the true leaders of our republic. Thank you @nicollewallace @esglaude @anneapplebaum2000 @radiofreetom and Mitch Landrieu. @deadlinewhitehouse
January 26, 2026 at 10:28 PM
This is one of the best panels I’ve ever seen on television, emphasizing the power in the courage of ordinary people, who are the true leaders of our republic. Thank you @nicollewallace @esglaude @anneapplebaum2000 @radiofreetom and Mitch Landrieu. @deadlinewhitehouse
Reposted by Kenneth Nivison
The reactionary centrist logic is simple: if the left does something bad it’s the left’s fault, and if the right does something bad, it’s also the left’s fault for making them do it. It’s a simple formula and once you see it every one of their arguments is the same
January 10, 2026 at 11:24 PM
The reactionary centrist logic is simple: if the left does something bad it’s the left’s fault, and if the right does something bad, it’s also the left’s fault for making them do it. It’s a simple formula and once you see it every one of their arguments is the same
I'm not sure who needs to hear this, but part of the reason Trump and the board can't rename the Kennedy Center is not just because Congress authorized the name; it also authorized it as the national memorial to President John F. Kennedy. The name stays.
December 19, 2025 at 12:58 AM
I'm not sure who needs to hear this, but part of the reason Trump and the board can't rename the Kennedy Center is not just because Congress authorized the name; it also authorized it as the national memorial to President John F. Kennedy. The name stays.
Ken Burns’s choice to feature the poetry of Phyllis Wheatley, and for those words to be read by Amanda Gorman, is breathtaking. And with all that fractures us in our present moment, it is a reminder of the good that we have, that we are, and that we can be again.
November 17, 2025 at 3:42 AM
Ken Burns’s choice to feature the poetry of Phyllis Wheatley, and for those words to be read by Amanda Gorman, is breathtaking. And with all that fractures us in our present moment, it is a reminder of the good that we have, that we are, and that we can be again.
Reposted by Kenneth Nivison
one of the single best deals in streaming. i've been paying for PBS Passport for years. it rules
August 2, 2025 at 8:20 PM
one of the single best deals in streaming. i've been paying for PBS Passport for years. it rules
We all know what this is. As Franklin Roosevelt said of Nazism, this is not new, and it is not order.
But I can also say this: we historians will not forget. We will preserve. We will teach. We will speak. And the truth will out. It always does.
We will, as always, play the long game.
But I can also say this: we historians will not forget. We will preserve. We will teach. We will speak. And the truth will out. It always does.
We will, as always, play the long game.
You absolutely cannot tell an accurate story of Charleston history without discussing slavery. Go back and look at any old newspaper from the time and you’ll see it was foundational to virtually everything.
www.postandcourier.com/charleston_s...
www.postandcourier.com/charleston_s...
Autobiographies and books on slavery at risk for removal from Charleston historical site gift shops
National Park Service staff marked 10 books sold at gift shops in the Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie and Charles Pinckney historic sites for content review.
www.postandcourier.com
August 2, 2025 at 12:50 AM
We all know what this is. As Franklin Roosevelt said of Nazism, this is not new, and it is not order.
But I can also say this: we historians will not forget. We will preserve. We will teach. We will speak. And the truth will out. It always does.
We will, as always, play the long game.
But I can also say this: we historians will not forget. We will preserve. We will teach. We will speak. And the truth will out. It always does.
We will, as always, play the long game.
Reposted by Kenneth Nivison
We are living in an age of bullies. Those with power are less constrained today than they have ever been in my lifetime.
The question is: how do we lead moral lives in this era? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/28/bullies-moral-lives-robert-reich
The question is: how do we lead moral lives in this era? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/28/bullies-moral-lives-robert-reich
How do we lead moral lives in an age of bullies? | Robert Reich
In my lifetime, I have witnessed a shift from support of decency to tolerance of cruelty. Where do we go from here?
www.theguardian.com
July 28, 2025 at 4:08 PM
We are living in an age of bullies. Those with power are less constrained today than they have ever been in my lifetime.
The question is: how do we lead moral lives in this era? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/28/bullies-moral-lives-robert-reich
The question is: how do we lead moral lives in this era? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/28/bullies-moral-lives-robert-reich
A little reminder from Henry David Thoreau, especially for my friends at Columbia University.
July 24, 2025 at 11:57 PM
A little reminder from Henry David Thoreau, especially for my friends at Columbia University.
Reposted by Kenneth Nivison
I am no constitutional scholar, but I can't help but feel that "the President gets to dictate what every university can teach and what every television station should broadcast" is closer to what the founding fathers were worried about when it comes to free speech than trigger warnings on syllabi.
July 23, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I am no constitutional scholar, but I can't help but feel that "the President gets to dictate what every university can teach and what every television station should broadcast" is closer to what the founding fathers were worried about when it comes to free speech than trigger warnings on syllabi.
Reposted by Kenneth Nivison
If this isn’t genocidal, nothing is.
July 24, 2025 at 3:49 PM
If this isn’t genocidal, nothing is.
Reposted by Kenneth Nivison
i have been stuck on JD Vance's claremont speech for almost two weeks now because it is structurally identical to roger taney's opinion for the court in dred scott
July 21, 2025 at 2:22 PM
i have been stuck on JD Vance's claremont speech for almost two weeks now because it is structurally identical to roger taney's opinion for the court in dred scott
With the CPB now free from Fed funding, what’s to stop them from going full Team Democracy in their work? Maybe bring on @stephencolbert.bsky.social and pick up @thedailyshow.com (sure to get the boot from Paramount)? There is an opportunity in this moment. Maybe @karaswisher.bsky.social can help?
July 19, 2025 at 1:50 AM
With the CPB now free from Fed funding, what’s to stop them from going full Team Democracy in their work? Maybe bring on @stephencolbert.bsky.social and pick up @thedailyshow.com (sure to get the boot from Paramount)? There is an opportunity in this moment. Maybe @karaswisher.bsky.social can help?
Reposted by Kenneth Nivison
If you were to sum up the entirety of my late life (re) education about SCOTUS in one post, this would be it.
Many liberals and progressives understand the Supreme Court to be a bastion of rights and a bulwark against the excesses of an oppressive majority.
But, for most of its history outside the Warren Court, the Supreme Court has been a bastion of oligarchy and white supremacy. This is its normal.
But, for most of its history outside the Warren Court, the Supreme Court has been a bastion of oligarchy and white supremacy. This is its normal.
🚨By a 6–3 vote, the Supreme Court UPHOLDS Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, concluding that it does NOT discriminate on the basis of sex, is not subject to heightened scrutiny, and survives rational basis review. All three liberals dissent. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
June 18, 2025 at 3:21 PM
If you were to sum up the entirety of my late life (re) education about SCOTUS in one post, this would be it.
Reposted by Kenneth Nivison
98. March 18, 2025 – An article about Baseball Hall of Famer and Civil Rights hero Jackie Robinson’s military career was removed from the DoD’s website as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on DEI-related material. #LestWeForgetTheHorrors
Lest We Forget the Horrors: An Unending Catalog of Trump’s Cruelties, Collusions, Corruptions, and Crimes: March 2025: Atrocities 69-133
Early in President Trump’s first term, McSweeney’s editors began to catalog the head-spinning number of misdeeds coming from his administration. We...
buff.ly
June 18, 2025 at 12:02 PM
98. March 18, 2025 – An article about Baseball Hall of Famer and Civil Rights hero Jackie Robinson’s military career was removed from the DoD’s website as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on DEI-related material. #LestWeForgetTheHorrors
Reposted by Kenneth Nivison
When you worship power, compassion and mercy will look like sins.
When you worship power, the harsher the treatment towards your "enemies," the more righteous it will look.
When you worship power, the value and dignity of others is solely measured by their conformity to you.
When you worship power, the harsher the treatment towards your "enemies," the more righteous it will look.
When you worship power, the value and dignity of others is solely measured by their conformity to you.
June 13, 2025 at 5:36 PM
When you worship power, compassion and mercy will look like sins.
When you worship power, the harsher the treatment towards your "enemies," the more righteous it will look.
When you worship power, the value and dignity of others is solely measured by their conformity to you.
When you worship power, the harsher the treatment towards your "enemies," the more righteous it will look.
When you worship power, the value and dignity of others is solely measured by their conformity to you.
This is what accountability looks like. More like this in more media outlets about more of those who supplant decency with cruelty in public life is needed. Thank you @profgalloway.com
Does spectacular wealth excuse depravity? Some thoughts on Elon Musk and moral character.
June 5, 2025 at 1:50 PM
This is what accountability looks like. More like this in more media outlets about more of those who supplant decency with cruelty in public life is needed. Thank you @profgalloway.com
If there is any justice left in this world, @chrismurphyct.bsky.social will become the Democratic leader in the Senate ASAP. No one else in that body is as pitch perfect for this moment.
June 2, 2025 at 1:37 AM
If there is any justice left in this world, @chrismurphyct.bsky.social will become the Democratic leader in the Senate ASAP. No one else in that body is as pitch perfect for this moment.
Truth and reconciliation. Amen.
More than a century after the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, one of the most horrific episodes of racial violence in U.S. history, the city’s mayor announced a $105 million reparations package on Sunday. It is the first large-scale plan committing funds to address the impact of the atrocity.
$105 Million Reparations Package for Tulsa Race Massacre Unveiled by Mayor
www.nytimes.com
June 2, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Truth and reconciliation. Amen.
Drew Gilpin Faust on the meaning of Memorial Day--in history and in the present:
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/26/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/26/o...
Opinion | We Are Not Being Asked to Run Into Cannon Fire. We Just Need to Speak Up.
www.nytimes.com
May 26, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Drew Gilpin Faust on the meaning of Memorial Day--in history and in the present:
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/26/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/26/o...