Alabama Democrats

For Alabama Democrats, calling out Trump a tough choice: Anniston Star – June 3

Adia McClellan Winfrey believes Congress should keep up the probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election —  and she says impeachment of President Donald Trump would be a “viable response” if collusion did happen. “This is an issue too big to drop, and it has long-term implications that could affect future elections,” wrote Winfrey, a Democratic candidate for Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District seat, in an email to The Star. . . . While Rogers has become increasingly vocal in his support of President Donald Trump in recent weeks — calling, among other things, for an end to the Russia probe — talking about Trump and Russia is altogether trickier for Alabama Democrats, political science experts say. “You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see that Donald Trump has a following in Alabama,” said Stephen Borrelli, a professor of political science at The University of Alabama. “Attacking him is probably not going to be a winning strategy in a general election.”

Animal Flatulence

A book that bills itself as “the definitive field guide to animal flatulence”: Scientific American – June 5

Perhaps the most surprising thing to be found in the new book Does It Fart? The Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence is that not all mammals do … Caruso “is an ecologist … at The University of Alabama, where he studies the role of climate in population biology of Appalachian salamanders.” We also learn that “while researching the various animals for this book, he has found a new appreciation for farts.”

Summer Reading List

Seasonal reading: Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette (Indiana) – June 5

Summer is the time when author Michael Martone picks up his reading. Not that the Fort Wayne native ever really stops, but now that The University of Alabama professor’s classes are finished for the summer, he has more time to check off his reading list. Author of such books as “Fort Wayne is Seventh on Hitler’s List” and “Four for a Quarter,” the North Side High School graduate just released “Brooding,” a collection of essays that include references of growing up in Fort Wayne.

Running for Office

Black women are running for office in Alabama at a historic rate & this might only be the start: Bustle – June 5

Across the United States, citizens are mobilizing to run for elected positions, often citing the the increasingly polarized political climate. Such is the case in the southern state of Alabama, where more black women are running for office than ever before … “Alabama is not a state that is known for electing women to office, so, in some sense, this is surprising, historic and much needed,” Richard Fording, a professor of public policy at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, told The Hill back in March, when it became clear that many black Democrat candidates were signing up to campaign.

Tuskegee Institute

Tuskegee’s Silent Histories: The Jennie C. Lee papers and the visual archive: Project Muse – June 5

Jennie Cheatham Lee, the second choir director at the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama, served at the historically black college during a crucial moment in its history … Lee’s personal archive in the A. S. Williams III Americana Collection at The University of Alabama offers a chance to remedy this lack but also suggests some of the challenges that gender and media pose to the reconstruction of history.

Ira Berlin

World: Ira Berlin, groundbreaking historian of slavery, dies at 77: Ghana Nation – June 9

In books like “Slaves Without Masters: The Free Negro in the Antebellum South” (1974) and “Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America” (1998), Berlin, a longtime professor at the University of Maryland, upended simplistic notions of how slavery was practiced and what happened after it ended … His masterpiece was “Many Thousands Gone,” Joshua D. Rothman, history department chairman at The University of Alabama, said by email.
New York Times – June 9
Eveyo.com – June 9
Pulse.org – June 9
SF Gate (California) – June 9
WRAL.com (Raleigh, North Carolina) – June 9