This is an obvious attempt to use 'safety' as a way to duck the hard choices a university has to make to protect student speech.

U.S.C. Cancels Its Main Graduation Ceremony, Citing Security Concerns nytimes.com/2024/04/25/us/…

Like many, I'm deeply troubled how Jeffery Williams' case has been handled by the Fulton DA. It's already the longest trial in GA history with years to go.

My new article on the use of rap lyrics as evidence in legal cases. Open access. Race & Class thread.

Joseph . Skillz ghost writing credits would shame folks

Check out this picture of the eclipse. The crescent actually shows in the lower part of the frame. Then I zoomed in to show it more clearly.

“With rap lyrics targeted in prosecutions, issues of racial and cultural bias have emerged. Researchers have found roughly 700 cases nationwide in which rap lyrics have been used as evidence” -Delegate Marlon Amprey & RAP ON TRIAL's Erik Nielson in The Baltimore Banner ow.ly/BgV850QX7nx

State/federal courts are officially all over the map when it comes to using rap as evidence. This ruling from Iowa supreme court overturns an appellate court & allows rap as evidence. This after a string of good decisions doing the opposite. #rapontrial

iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/su…

Professor & liberal arts program chair Erik Nielson co-wrote this op-ed encouraging Maryland to pass the PACE act to prevent unjust uses of rap lyrics in prosecutions & ensure that creative expression is protected & encouraged. #spcs #urichmond #rapontrial thebaltimorebanner.com/opinion/commun…

spoke to someone today who had his lyrics used against him in court in 2005. damn nearly 20 years ago! he was famous and signed to a label! we can't let this go on.
cc Art Not Evidence

Sadly this seems spot on for what used to be America’s preeminent defenders of free speech. nytimes.com/2024/03/22/us/…

AS WE SPEAK, the documentary adaptation of RAP ON TRIAL by Erik Nielson and Andrea L. Dennis, was listed by @Marieclaire as one of the “best documentaries of 2024 (so far).” ow.ly/jZZC50QSB7x

“. . .like the book, it covers miles and miles of socio-historical ground without getting bogged down.” - Read a review by reality blurred of AS WE SPEAK, the documentary adaptation of RAP ON TRIAL by Erik Nielson and Andrea L. Dennis! ow.ly/r31X50QSBf9

Never understood how a single person voted for him (whether this is true or not).

Mayor Adams Is Accused of Sexually Assaulting a Colleague in 1993 nytimes.com/2024/03/18/nyr…

“Mac’s art was the evidence that DNA, solid confessions, or a missing weapon couldn’t provide. An all-white jury bought it.” - Read a review in the The Guardian of the documentary As We Speak, an adaptation of Andrea L. Dennis and Erik Nielson’s RAP ON TRIAL. ow.ly/t4uF50QLRuo

I certainly hope this gets more attention. Because it's sad/insane. Losing body parts to watch a football game. theathletic.com/5326973/2024/0…

Happy Pub Date to Patrice! 'Theater and Crisis:
Myth, Memory, and Racial Reckoning in America, 1964-2020' is #openaccess and essential reading for scholars of theater studies, classics, and American studies. Read it here: doi.org/10.3998/mpub.1…

Big. #rapontrial

fox5atlanta.com/news/georgia-s…

Testified before the Maryland Senate and House of Delegates yesterday to support this bill. Thanks to ⁦Delegate Marlon Amprey⁩ and ⁦Kevin Liles⁩ for their leadership on this issue and their dedication to protecting free expression. #rapontrial thebaltimorebanner.com/opinion/commun…

Violence shows up in the lyrics of almost every kind of music, but these words are more likely to be used against an artist as evidence of criminal behavior if the accused is a rapper, according to the documentary “As We Speak: Rap Music on Trial.” nyti.ms/3V3n0RI

Catch me on “As We Speak: Rap Music on Trial” it’s now streaming on Paramount+ ☦️ #MICHAEL