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Ben Barber

@ben-barber

PhD student in American Studies at UNC–Chapel Hill. Researching land, democracy, and justice in the rural South. Contributor:‪ @southernstudies.bsky.social‬

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14.11.2024
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Latest posts by Ben Barber @ben-barber

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In Chapel Hill's historically Black neighborhoods, the spirit of protest persists across generations Whether it was fighting segregation or pushing back against development, residents in Northside, Pine Knolls and other historically Black neighborhoods in Chapel Hill have long used local activism as ...

“Change really flows from the bottom up, and I think that often kind of contradicts some of our notion of how political change happens throughout time, especially during times of crisis.”

www.dailytarheel.com/article/city...

21.01.2026 20:20 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1
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US citizen says ICE removed him from his Minnesota home in his underwear after warrantless search Federal immigration agents have detained a U.S. citizen in Minnesota at gunpoint without a warrant. That's according to ChongLy “Scott” Thao, who says agents forced open his door, entered with guns drawn and led him outside in his underwear in freezing conditions.

Federal immigration agents forced open a door and detained a U.S. citizen in his Minnesota home at gunpoint without a warrant, then led him out onto the streets in his underwear in subfreezing conditions, according to his family and videos reviewed by The Associated Press.

20.01.2026 13:40 👍 6216 🔁 3253 💬 319 📌 298
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Opinion | In Minneapolis, I Glimpsed a Civil War

"They seem unprepared for what they are facing. They have misjudged the ground beneath their feet: a state full of ordinary people — real estate agents, high school students — who’ve decided that watching their neighbors being dragged away is an intolerable sin..."

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...

19.01.2026 16:33 👍 2648 🔁 828 💬 70 📌 17

i think this MLK day the thing to focus on is the strategic focus and tactical brilliance of the civil rights movement and the way it was laser focused on a set of achievable goals

19.01.2026 15:05 👍 17490 🔁 3418 💬 201 📌 151
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Sunday thought: It’s time again for good trouble Time to take action against Trump’s mayhem

robertreich.substack.com/p/sunday-tho...

19.01.2026 19:56 👍 660 🔁 179 💬 18 📌 15

Half the battle with this guy is just reiterating government can and already does good things that are so ubiquitous they’ve become invisible. He’s able to remind you in a way that you understand that good government can exist outside of a 24/7 vengeance operation, and in NYC already does.

18.01.2026 22:47 👍 16471 🔁 2906 💬 164 📌 51
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www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/u...

15.01.2026 16:19 👍 9263 🔁 3825 💬 458 📌 221

I highly recommend watching this segment, not just because the CBS News execs and the White House didn’t want you to, but because these men were tortured and they deserved to have their voices heard.

22.12.2025 22:46 👍 5652 🔁 2015 💬 49 📌 19
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♥️ “ICE looked at that school, saw a community standing up for families, and decided it wasn’t worth it.”

08.12.2025 17:28 👍 14724 🔁 4746 💬 248 📌 275
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Know your rights. Protect your neighbors.

New York is — and always will be — a city for all immigrants.

07.12.2025 17:03 👍 29753 🔁 7286 💬 318 📌 368

The most precious commodity you have is your attention. You don’t have to waste it on poor-faith debates or arguments with strangers if you don’t think they’ll be productive. You can prioritize the things that matter to you and make your life richer.

30.11.2025 20:00 👍 11826 🔁 3005 💬 131 📌 196
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'We won’t let democracy die on our watch’: Gene Nichol on fighting authoritarianism in NC Facing South talks with author and scholar Gene Nichol about his new book and the path ahead for defending and expanding democracy.

Great to talk with UNC law prof & anti-poverty advocate Gene Nichol about his new book, the growing assault on democratic norms in NC and beyond, why hope matters in crisis, and how everyday people can push back to build a more progressive future.

www.facingsouth.org/2025/11/we-w...

26.11.2025 23:48 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Acton: I’m running against a guy, Vivek Ramaswamy, who has said that people are struggling in Ohio because they’re lazy, they’re mediocre, they’re not working hard enough. And I can absolutely tell you that is not the Ohioans I know or see. I think he’s completely out of touch.

15.11.2025 22:52 👍 16577 🔁 4737 💬 438 📌 176
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Starbucks’ CEO makes 6,666x what the average @sbworkersunited.org barista does. It would take less than one day of sales to finalize a fair contract.

Baristas at Starbucks corporate stores nationwide are on strike to fight this corporate greed and get the fair contract they deserve.

14.11.2025 19:09 👍 17144 🔁 5058 💬 534 📌 324
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Caving on a deal that doesn’t fix health care is, and always has been, a giant betrayal of the American people.

Hold the line. Save health care. I’m a NO on anything that doesn’t extend ACA subsidies.

09.11.2025 22:06 👍 15298 🔁 3763 💬 597 📌 225

In the 2 weeks after Mamdani won in June, 10k ppl signed up with @runforsomething.net to consider a run for local office - our biggest surge *ever*. Like it or not (& I do!!) he's shaping the future of the Democratic Party.

If you want something different, get other people to run.

04.11.2025 16:30 👍 1828 🔁 375 💬 12 📌 8
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Billboards outside US Southern Command urge troops not to 'break the law’ in Caribbean strikes “Don’t let them make you break the law,” reads a billboard along the road to U.S. Southern Command, one of several set up by veterans.

"The new billboards are designed to inform troops of legal resources … 'The [Southern Command] strikes … represent the most blatantly illegal act that this administration has had the military carry out.'"

taskandpurpose.com/news/vet-group-billboards-caribbean-strikes/

01.11.2025 12:43 👍 14093 🔁 5247 💬 313 📌 227
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Pritzker: "Imagine it. Children who woke up that morning, expectant with joy & excitement to put on their costumes & celebrate with their neighbors in what they thought was a safe place at their homes. Armed, masked agents, terrorizing innocent people, especially children, is unconscionable."

30.10.2025 14:47 👍 24546 🔁 8541 💬 627 📌 344

Wow. Based on the comments, a lot of people saw me on Maddow tonight!

To everyone asking me how they can help Democracy Docket fulfill its critical pro-democracy mission while receiving critical information ands analysis, it's easy. Sign-up now! hubs.ly/Q03M8rql0

28.10.2025 02:20 👍 10381 🔁 2787 💬 184 📌 37

this is exactly what's happening

26.10.2025 16:40 👍 8918 🔁 1901 💬 117 📌 21
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Pastor David Black was shot in the head with pepper balls while attempting to pray for and comfort ICE detainees in Chicago.

I asked him why he feels called in this dark hour to stand up for immigrants.

Please listen to his response. Especially you, Speaker Johnson.

24.10.2025 19:40 👍 438 🔁 211 💬 12 📌 13
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Voting Rights Act: SCOTUS Poised to Gut Law & Weaken Electoral Power of Black Americans The Supreme Court appears ready to strike down Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, threatening the equal representation of Black voters, and potentially greenlighting Republican gerrymandering ah...

“We have a wretched history of racial discrimination in voting in this country,” which the Voting Rights Act was intended to rectify, says ACLU attorney Megan Keenan. But the Supreme Court now seems poised to gut the landmark law.

19.10.2025 02:01 👍 181 🔁 86 💬 11 📌 6
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The Supreme Court has chipped away at the Voting Rights Act for years. Will this case be the final blow? The case centers on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the key provision of the law that broadly prohibits discrimination in voting practices on the basis of race or creed.

Today, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that could gut the Voting Rights Act by barring states from considering race when drawing district lines — an outcome that stands to upend next year's midterms.

15.10.2025 13:12 👍 140 🔁 60 💬 26 📌 5
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Pope Leo blasts economy that marginalizes poor while wealthy live in bubble of luxury Pope Leo XIV has blasted how wealthy people live in a “bubble of comfort and luxury” while the poor suffer.

Pope Leo XIV has blasted how wealthy people live in a “bubble of comfort and luxury” while the poor suffer. In his first teaching document Thursday, Leo confirms that he is in perfect lockstep with Pope Francis on matters of social injustice.

09.10.2025 12:00 👍 20383 🔁 5115 💬 513 📌 447
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Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

i desperately want everyone involved in the destruction of USAID to have to, st the very least, answer to the american people for the suffering and misery they have caused apnews.com/article/myan...

08.10.2025 14:59 👍 14335 🔁 5162 💬 281 📌 352
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Still waiting for it to trickle down...

06.10.2025 01:01 👍 12207 🔁 4179 💬 418 📌 200
Text card: Listen for dangerous words.
Be alert to the use of the words extremism and terrorism. Be alive to the fatal notions of emergency and exception. Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.
#OnTyranny

Text card: Listen for dangerous words. Be alert to the use of the words extremism and terrorism. Be alive to the fatal notions of emergency and exception. Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary. #OnTyranny

One of the lessons I discuss in "On Tyranny":
Listen for dangerous words.

05.10.2025 14:48 👍 5646 🔁 2131 💬 70 📌 67

Keep taking videos of what ICE is doing. @govpritzker.illinois.gov is right, document what’s happening. This is why they hate journalists so much.

05.10.2025 14:36 👍 13298 🔁 4182 💬 310 📌 107
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🗳️Democracy is strongest when everyone has a voice.

Last month we released the Blueprint for a Stronger Democracy — a bold plan to defend and expand democracy in NC.

40+ bipartisan policies to protect voting rights & ensure every voice counts.

Learn more: www.southernstudies.org/2025Blueprint

05.10.2025 19:00 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

I’m horrified by Trump’s order to send 300 National Guard troops to Chicago. We’re only nine months into a four year term and already the president is trying to invade an American city. If you’re in the Guard, you can and should refuse these orders.

05.10.2025 14:29 👍 32577 🔁 7742 💬 938 📌 252