A former lecturer at Columbia University, a school that has been in President Donald Trump’s line of sight since it became the staging ground for pro-Palestinian protests, has announced the independent launch of her course, “Race, Media & International Affairs,” after the university canceled it, which it likely did to get on the commander-in-MAGA-miseducation by falling in line with his war against so-called “improper ideology.”
Meet Karen Attiah.
Attiah was supposed to be teaching the course in person at the university, and she explained on her Substack blog tilted “The Golden Hour” that she is now offering the course for free online due to Columbia administrators “pre-emptively caving to pressure, especially in placing departments such as Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies under special provost supervision or receivership.” (So, basically, white history continues to be the only subject that goes unaffected by Trump’s bid to censor and whitewash academia.)
“This is not a time for media literacy or historical knowledge to be held hostage by institutions bending the knee to authoritarianism and fear,” Attiah wrote.
“In a moment of crisis and repression, we do not have to wait for elite permission to share knowledge, create community, and help those in need,” said Attiah, echoing a similar sentiment expressed by Dr. Marvin Dunn, a former psychology professor at Florida International University who began teaching Black history under a tree on FIU’s campus without the university’s permission in order to combat Trump’s agenda.
In fact, the GOP-led war on Black history, critical race theory and “wokeness” has prompted a trend of Black educators taking the initiative to offer courses to community members who wish to receive Black history lessons that have not been run through the pro-white sanitation machine. For example, since at least 2023, Black churches across the country have been taking up the practice of educating their communities on Black history and social studies to combat red state lawmakers who keep prioritizing the eternally fragile feelings of white people over the truth.
Black church leaders have also embarked on a campaign to promote membership of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) at the Smithsonian Institution, which is currently purging itself of African artifacts to fall in line with Trump’s anti-“improper ideology” order.
The Trump administration has fostered an environment where white people are deciding how much Black history is too much Black history. Shout out to Karen Attiah and all the other leaders engaging in active resistance by offering alternative means to educate the populace on Black history and other ethnic studies. You are much needed and much appreciated.
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Columbia University Cancelled A ‘Race, Media & International Affairs’ Course. This Educator Is Teaching It Anyway
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