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sjzimmerman.bsky.social
Historian, gender, West Africa, French imperialism, militarization, Author of Militarizing Marriage (Ohio UP 2020). Past-présidente of French Colonial Historical Society, BCDSS alum, recovering Oakland As Fan, PNW hiking/backpacking
222 posts 5,820 followers 3,933 following
Prolific Poster

New reading list... continent.substack.com/p/review-spe...

West Africa's coastal islands and sand bars.... www.economist.com/middle-east-...

I'm still waiting for a comparison between RFK jr. and the South African's government's preference for pseudo-science in relation to HIV/AIDS treatment in South Africa in the late 1990s/early 2000s...but this comparison is also worth reading. www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/...

Numbers posted recently show over 8,500 deaths since the beginning of Rwandan-backed DRC militias have occupied Goma...and these market women.... continent.substack.com/p/selling-to...

Sonko, really? www.lemonde.fr/afrique/arti...

This is absolutely wild.... "vehicles...carrying migrants across the desert to Algeria to Europe when it encountered Russian mercenaries accompanied by a few Malian soldiers. The soldiers and mercenaries opened fire on the vehicles and executed at least 24 passengers." www.bbc.com/news/article...

Had a first this week, a PhD candidate said to me, "I think I've already Zotero'd you." A new hallmark of scholarly fame/infamy!

My friend and colleague Rozy Fredericks' documentary on the recuperateurs/rices (and their union Bokk Diom) at Mbeubeuss was highlighted on couple of news outlets here in Dakar. liiquotidien.com/decharge-de-...

In the latest news on Thiaroye, PM Sonko announces plans to begin archaeological excavations.... www.jeuneafrique.com/1660472/poli...

Algeria, Nigeria, & Niger agree to advance plans for a 4000km trans-Saharan natural gas pipeline...this makes me this of the French colonial dreams to bridge the Sahara with a rail line. The plans exist in the archives, but it never came to fruition. al24news.com/fr/gazoduc-t...

Chadian soldiers have served in multinational forces across the Sahel and Central Africa--most often coordinated by international organizations. This is a bilateral request... www.reuters.com/world/africa...

Somewhere on this vast marble, Rougned Odor is shaking his head in disbelief.... www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/s...

This week on the podcast, Dr @carolinesequin.bsky.social joins us to discuss the intersection of racial politics & sex. She's the author of a new book, Desiring Whiteness: A Racial History of Prostitution in France & Colonial Senegal, 1848–1950. creators.spotify.com/pod/show/inf...

The Bonneville damn in on the Columbia River...for those that don't know, Hanford is nuclear energy. www.koin.com/news/politic...

My apologies, I have circulated inaccuracies published in a Malawian new reporting agency. South Africa has not suspended American business and mineral exports. Instead, there are ongoing debates about how SA & US will engage with AGOA in light recent US sanctions... ustr.gov/issue-areas/...

Framing climate crisis as a threat to V-day chocolates....I guess? www.cbsnews.com/news/climate...

Vaccination campaigns at work... www.gavi.org/vaccineswork...

This will not be limited to Africa/ns.... www.voanews.com/a/ai-driven-...

www.semafor.com/article/02/1...

All Protocol Observed Welcome to Issue 190 of The Continent The world order is disintegrating. Whose interests will the African Union serve now? Read it here: bit.ly/TC190

"Officials with Washington’s Department of Natural Resources say they are unable to access more than $200 million in federal funding for wildfire prevention and response after the Trump administration moved to freeze some Biden-era spending."

www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

On that big commerce site, my book is currently paired with what I think is a civil war-themed bodice ripper? Is my book more risqué than I originally imagined? Should I try my hand at harlequin novels?

Deux textes d'auteurices recommandables 2) Et l'entretien avec l'historienne Joan W Scott dans @revuemouvements.bsky.social mouvements.info/la-resistanc...

C'est... J'ai plus les mots, en fait.

US aid freeze claims first victims as oxygen supplies cut off. Seventy-one-year-old woman dies after being sent home from USAID funded hospital. Others die after hospitals close in refugee camps www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...

Just catching up to this..... thehill.com/homenews/adm...

and donate them to a thrift store so nearby Millennials can have them

A lot of people are feeling overwhelmed by the news lately. It can get to be so much that people are turning off their cellphones. That is not an option for 77-year-old Patti Gorman, a service learning coordinator at Seattle Central College. She has never had a smartphone. (via @kuow.org)

Meta illegaly downloaded 80+ terabytes of books from LibGen, Anna's Archive, and Z-library to train their AI models. In 2010, Aaron Swartz downloaded only 70 GBs of articles from JSTOR (0.0875% of Meta). Faced $1 million in fine and 35 years in jail. Took his own life in 2013.

"The only man willing to publicly own M23’s actions, Corneille Nangaa, told Reuters on Monday: “Our objective is neither Goma nor Bukavu but Kinshasa, the source of all the problems.” Scroll down to the M23 in Goma article by Lydia Namubiru. www.thecontinent.org/_files/ugd/2...

WOW... "Senegal will give $15,800 to the family of each person killed during political strife between 2021 and 2024 that left about 80 dead and compensate people detained during the troubles, a minister said Saturday." www.barrons.com/news/senegal...

Out with the French and in with the....I'm not surprised by this transition. If I remember correctly, the US drone base in Agadez was built by a Turkish contractor when no US firms would build it. Also...Turkey wants in on the African security sector. english.almayadeen.net/news/politic...

After seeing more wild US policy decisions related to South Africa/ns, I found this recent article with a few taps on the keyboard--Tesla guy & Paypal guys. The Bannon quote in this article is just, WOW. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

ANALYSIS: Events beyond the frontlines are shaping the war in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as much as the fighting itself, writes @cobbo3.bsky.social

Afrique de l'Ouest: Adhésion du Togo à l'Alliance des Etats du Sahel - Un pari semé d'embûches

(standing ovation) Bonus points for alliteration.

Colonial archives hold the violence of the past, but they also carry the potential for anti-colonial futures—if radically reimagined for justice and accessibility. africasacountry.com/2025/02/for-...

How long will the demographic majority in South Africa contend with the legacies of Apartheid? I hadn't thought about how diasporic figures of a "certain class" would influence contemporary US policy there. This is WILD. www.msn.com/en-us/news/w...

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Cascading consequences of US conservatism & policies.... www.theguardian.com/global-devel...