Jonathan W. Gray

@elmcitytree

Chair @cunyenglish.bsky.social I study books, Blackness & pop culture! Leftist & left handed 🇰🇳 🇵🇸 🏳️‍⚧️ One of many Jonathan Grays I maintain #Blackademics, the scholarly side of #Blacksky Personal account

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Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· 21d

Every time I see this product in the store I think that someone in marketing read Invisible Man and decided to have a laugh.

Colgate Optic White toothpaste.

A high impact white

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· 22d

Two members of Yale’s board, one Gen X one an older millennial. Neither of them has ever taught a class, or even taken a class in decades. Their primary qualification is the wealth they have accrued since graduating.

A photo of Carter Brooks Simonds & David Sze, two members of Yale’s board eager to suck up to Trump.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· 23d

That's so interesting given that the teenager who leads the Spanish team was doing this in May, and the Prime Minister is arguably the most leftist in all of Europe.

Lemine Yamal waving a Palestinian flag while being paraded through Barcelona

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· 24d

This is Lamine Yamal the 19 year old star of the Spanish National team & FC Barcelona. He did this in May at the parade when Barca won the league. In case you’re not sure whom to root for tomorrow. ⚽️

Lamine Yamal in May at the parade after Barcelona won the league title. Children are the future.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· 27d

Ah yes, when Zidane head butted a racist Italian for calling him a sand n***** that was too much for you. Got it.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Jun 16

Wow. TIL

Although Mukhtar was defeated, his movement would have far-reaching consequences. After his death, his followers formed a radical Shiala] sect, later known as the Kaysanites, who developed several novel doctrines and influenced later Shia ideology. Mukhtar raised the social status of mawali (non-Arab local
converts to Islam) and they became an important political entity. The mawali and Kaysanites went on to play a significant role in the Abbasid Revolution sixty years later.
Mukhtar was important as an early proponent of treating Arab and non-Arab Muslims on an equal footing. He is a controversial figure among Sunnis; condemned by them as a false prophet, but revered by most Shias because of his support for the Alids. Modern historians' views range from regarding him as a sincere revolutionary to an ambitious opportunist.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Jun 15

One bloke, who writes for the Financial Times, said that the England women have reached parity with the rest of the world in ⚽️ I’m sorry but I don’t see how this can possibly be true:

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Jun 13

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Jun 6

Y’all. These prices are resellers. My homegirl shares two season tickets at MSG for $400 a seat. So yes pricey. For the playoffs they triple the price so $400 becomes $1200. She’s going to game 3 but the couple next to her got rid of their seats for $12k each. So a 100X markup.

A chart from Stubhub displaying crazy prices at MSG.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Jun 3

Those interested in archival research and trans studies should join us at @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social tomorrow for a stimulating conversation w. @profmasha.bsky.social @ldevun.bsky.social and others. Lmk if you’d like a link to participate remotely.

June 4, 2026
Ghosting & Alienation
1345-1660

Masha Raskolnikov
(English, Cornell University)
Leah DeVun
(History, Rutgers University)
Sophia Núñez
(Spanish and Iberian Studies, Grinnell College)
Christopher Richards
(Art History, University of Alaska-Anchorage)
C. Libby
(Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Penn State)
Miles Grier
(English, CUNY Queens College)
Jes Boon
(Religious Studies, UNC-Chapel Hill)
Mel Cowdery
(English and Comparative Literature, UNC-Chapel

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· May 28

And that’s before you dangle the prospect of generational wealth in front of parents who have nothing. Posting this picture again so that you can see that I’m slouching because I’m TALLER THAN THE DOOR. Guess what everyone wanted me to do growing up?

A picture of Jonathan at the dissertation defense of Dr. Dasharah Green. He’s slouching so as to not look over everyone even more than usual

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· May 26

Wow. The scene outside the Garden right now.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· May 13

Adam makes an important point here, one that we should keep top of mind. Life isn’t fair but these are the circumstances under which we struggle.

Adam Serwer from his latest article: One might object that demanding that activists and protesters remain peaceful in the face of violence wielded by state officials and right-wing groups is a double standard.
Well, that's true. But it's always been true.
That double standard is written into both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, documents whose references to "insurrections" included slave revolts.
Americans have always been more tolerant of state and right-wing-vigilante violence— lynchings, soldiers firing at striking workers, the New York City police riot of 1992, the January 6 insurrection—than of violence from the left. That double standard is part of Americas political topography and cannot be wished or argued away. It can only be outmaneuvered.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Apr 26

Please join us for a discussion of Scholasticide in Gaza. The resilience of Prof. Junina defies attempts to erase Palestinians. Please LMK if you have any issues with links. Attn: @diplomatofnight.com @erinbiba.bsky.social @observer46664.bsky.social

From Scholasticide to Knowlash:
Reimagining Academic Freedom in Gaza
Dr. Ahmed Junina
Al Aqsa University, Gaza
Respondents: Siraj Ahmed (CUNY),
Karim Mattar (U of Colorado),
Vasuki Nesiah (NYU), & Sara Pursley (NYU)
Moderators: Britt Munro (CUNY)
& Tony Alessandrini (CUNY)
Register:
https://tinyurl.com/EducationGaza
APRIL 30 ONLINE | 9AM PT / 12PM ET / 7PM PALESTINE
COBL YOE
CUNY
FACULTY
& STAFF
For Justice in Palestine
DGSC
T PALESTINE
CUNY *CPCP
CENTHER FOR PLACE,
CULTURE, AND POLITICS

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Apr 15

I'll be discussing this crazy book on April 28 at 6pm @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social as part of the launch of Peter Hitchcock's new book Seriality and Social Change. The event is open to the public, the next post will include registration info. 1/2

The cover for the English language translation of Capital in Manga

It features a man with a determined look on his face planting a red flag.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Apr 7

There was a lot of well meaning criticism of this book when it came out but I think US society as a whole needs to grapple with the idea of grievable lives that Butler outlines here.

The book cover for Judith Butler’s 2009 book Frames of War: When is Life Grievable?

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Mar 29

When you and the homies are chopping it up. But with an audience.

Ben Passmore, John Vasquez Meijas & Jonathan Gray talking about comics at MoCCA Fest.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Mar 29

John Vasquez Mejias work is so beautiful.

A woodcut image of a page from Puerto Rican War that describes being in nature on the island

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Mar 25

This is a ridiculous claim for many reasons not the least of which is that CBS News was chugging along just fine prior to BW taking over.

A screenshot of a rage bait girl boss post.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Mar 17

I would be remiss if I didn’t post the mural to Ruthie that’s up in her home town. Ideas are material.

A mural of Ruth Wilson Gilmore in New Haven

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Mar 15

Ah, so this is a career appreciation award. Which is fitting on a night when Paul Thomas Anderson will win best picture and best director for his (at best) fourth best film.

A screenshot from Vulture with the headline

Give Amy Madigan an Oscar for Weapons.
Why Not?
By Louis Peitzman, a freelance writer

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Mar 15

Been that way all season.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Mar 15

This quote claims that Zohran’s appeal derived “in part” from his opposition to Israel’s conduct in Gaza. But Zohran won over voters thanks to his focus on affordability. Free buses, freeze the rent, child care for all. He mentioned Israel or Gaza when asked by the media. 2/

Mayor Mamdani's campaign was built in part on his support for Palestinians and opposition to Israel's war in Gaza, a position he shares with his father. While public opinion has shifted toward the mayor, he continues to walk a tightrope in the face of persistent criticism from some voters.
That challenge has not diminished the father's pursuit of thorny subjects or his appetite for debate and provocation. In the interview with The Times, he said his next book would be about Israel, Palestinians and the campus protests against the war in Gaza at Columbia University in 2024.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Mar 8

No. This guy is on every “top 5 dead or alive” list in Nepalese Hip Hop. See below. Zohran isn’t even the best S. Asian rapper from his neighborhood in Queens.

The country's youth included 800,000 first-time voters, making them a key voter bloc.

Shah, who is popularly known as Balen, has been a member of the Nepali hip hop scene for several years, with one of his songs "Balidan" about sacrifice in the Nepali language cultivating millions of YouTube views.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Feb 18

Say what???? 😳😮🤯

Pensini has experimented using the gel on her own hands to heal skin abrasions from rock climbing. She imagines it installed in flooring, generating clean energy when activated by natural movements such as compression.

There are also possibilities for medical training, drug delivery and wearable technologies; piezoelectric materials can create sensors that monitor health and
movement or measure ph levels or lactate content in sweat or even monitor one's gait
and contact force.

"The applications are vast and each one of them requires optimization," Pensini says, motivated by the knowledge gap researchers have found in exploring soft electric materials.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Feb 13

And this is where we are now: white folk have to do the work of saving democracy by abandoning their comforts & organizing for justice.

For activists and organizers and everyday people struggling against this administration's policies, the race traitor label evokes an inspiring and hopeful lineage: white people who are willing to give up the protection whiteness offers to stand for justice with those who are fewer in number and have far less power.
After the election of 2024, many Black Americans and members of other marginalized groups felt deeply betrayed by a white majority (and a near Latino majority) that sent Trump back to the White House. As Trump has done what they had warned he would do - eviscerate civil rights protections, target L.G.B.T.Q.
Americans, round up immigrants, erode democratic institutions — Black activists have largely moved their organizing underground, leaving it to white people to get in the streets this time.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Jan 30

Thatcher said this in 1987 in an interview with Women’s Own (think conservative Ms. Magazine with Fleet Street aesthetics). It continues to undermine Anglophone folk’s sense of community from Australia to the USA.

Famous Margaret Thatcher quote: 'There is no such thing as society: there are individual men and women, and there are families.'

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Jan 27

BARS!!

The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they're the ones who are alone. In Minnesota, all of the ideological cornerstones of MAGA have been proved false at once. Minnesotans, not the armed thugs of ICE and the Border Patrol, are brave. Minnesotans have shown that their community is socially cohesive-because of its diversity and not in spite of it.
Minnesotans have found and loved one another in a world atomized by social media, where empty men have tried to fill their lonely soul with lies about their own inherent superiority. Minnesotans have preserved everything worthwhile about
"Western civilization," while armed brutes try to tear it down by force.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Jan 27

This is SUCH an important point! Feckless liberals in leadership positions gave the impression that none of us cared about anything deeply except for our careers. Ordinary people are proving this wrong.

A second MAGA assumption is that the left is insincere in its values, and that principles of inclusion and unity are superficial forms of virtue signaling. White liberals might put a sign in their front yard saying IMMIGRANTS WELCOME, but they will abandon those immigrants at the first sensation of sustained pressure.
And in Trump's defense, this has turned out to be true of many liberals in positions of power—university administrators, attorneys at white-shoe law firms, political leaders.
But it is not true of millions of ordinary Americans, who have poured into the streets in protest, spoken out against the administration, and, in Minnesota, resisted armed men in masks at the cost of their own life.

Jonathan W. Gray@elmcitytree· Jan 26

What do you mean Ruth Wilson Gilmore isn’t my Aunt? Did anyone tell our faces?