Emerita Spalding Chair & Sr/Full Professor of English (Americanist/Interdisciplinary) & Africana Studies at Pomona College, Morrison, Afrofuturism, AuDHD
Joined October 2009
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I am and always have been AuDHD. Black, neurodivergent, 1st gen, working class, woman of indigenous descent. Let’s start there.
DrValThomas retweeted
the idea that Arday's reputation is restored in death is steeped in a logic of necropolitics. he didn't need to be sacrificed at the altar of "racial science" & "meritocracy" for his life to mean something. to quote Nikki Giovanni, the fact "that he [sic] breathed was enough."
DrValThomas retweeted
The media industry converted a Black professor into content, and Jason Arday in the middle of it was converted into a corpse.
Here is the story: morningstaronline.co.uk/arti…
DrValThomas retweeted
249 articles in 22 days on one Black professor.
188 in the 9 days from resignation to death.
Every stage was racism and profit. The dossier. The rebranding. The volume. The public lynching. The obituary. Now the debate about the pile-on. One media industry. Paid at every stage.
RIP Professor Jason Arday.👇🏾
DrValThomas retweeted
There's the trauma we experienced-- then there are the decades of people pressuring us to not see what see & know what we know about what happened to us.
THAT'S the essence of CPTSD: not just what happened, but the mind f*ckery around it.
DrValThomas retweeted
A message from Prof. Jason Arday's family
ALT Statement from Professor Jason Arday's family mourning their tragic loss, thanking supporters for kindness and solidarity, condemning the public cruelty he endured, and urging greater compassion.
ALT A family’s memorial statement asking for respectful, peaceful remembrances of their loved one, urging sharing of positive memories and quoting that “every human life has a purpose.”
ALT Invitation to share a message of condolence, memory, or support with Jason Arday’s family, with an email contact provided.
DrValThomas retweeted
Misan Harriman's full speech at Jason Arday's vigil in Trafalgar square, London @misanharriman
"The legacy media crossed every line in the treatment of Jason"
"They were gleefully enjoying racialised harassment which was started by an unapologetic ethno supremacist"
"Imagine being so lost in the business of cruelty, that you relish hurting another human for sport, with your own poisoned pen"
"Imagine an industry that rewards those who hold this pen for how cruel they can be"
DrValThomas retweeted
The fact people assumed he was a professor instead of a post doctoral researcher when nothing has suggested otherwise is exactly what we are talking about. He didn’t even correct them, and I thought he was against all types of fraud.
Hey @Channel4News @Channel4 , this fraud is NOT a Professor.
He was a PostDoc at Cambridge; basically, he was on a fixed-term contract. “Was”.
He’s mediocre & unable to get a permanent academic role anywhere. He’s still a PostDoc.
Correct this fraudulent misrepresentation.
DrValThomas retweeted
We cannot let this story fall to the way-side. We need urgent press regulation. Sign the open letter for a public inquiry into Jason's death. Repost and tag friends in the comments.
⬇️ Add your name ⬇️
goodlaw.social/oeza
DrValThomas retweeted
"This was a vicious campaign but it wasn’t just a campaign against the professor, it was a campaign against all of us and that’s why it is so important to come together and fight for justice for Professor Jason Arday.”
standard.co.uk/news/politics…
DrValThomas retweeted
How many sane, intelligent women have been called “crazy” simply because they refused to stay quiet and started exposing someone else’s lies? Sometimes the “unstable” woman is just the one who finally saw through the bullshit.
DrValThomas retweeted
BREAKING: Guardian's Katharine Viner was warned Arday was at risk - yet published anyway
Author Kelechi Okafor released a series of internal emails showing the Guardian knew how vulnerable Arday was, yet ignored warnings
thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/…
thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/…
DrValThomas retweeted
Nothing would make the narcissist happier than to see their victim commit suicide.
Please don’t ever give that to them.
DrValThomas retweeted
I called Jason Arday’s death a ‘digital lynching’, because it is. Existing behaviours & prejudices map onto new technologies…and are then perpetuated by them.
That’s what these platforms are built to do. Jason Arday isn’t an aberration. He’s the business model.
1/
broligarchy.substack.com/p/a…
DrValThomas retweeted
It's really important to understand the reality of this.
It was a digital lynch mob, and the thing about lynch mobs is that they are known for getting a taste for it.
EXCLUSIVE: Jason Arday was targeted in a coordinated campaign by an anti-black race science network with ties to Cambridge and pro-Trump billionaire Peter Thiel, whipping up a catalogue of systemic misinformation across the British press 🧵/1 bylinetimes.com/2026/08/18/t…
DrValThomas retweeted
🔴 NEW
The Peter Thiel-Linked Race Science Network that Penetrated Cambridge University and Targeted Jason Arday
By @NafeezAhmed
The media's coverage of the academic's life was fuelled by the campaign of an established far-right network
Subscribe to support fearless independent journalism.
bylinetimes.com/2026/08/18/t…
DrValThomas retweeted
There was a pivotal moment when a responsible & resourced news org could have investigated the race science network behind the Jason Arday allegations.
It is a tragedy that hasn’t happened until now but this is a much needed corrective from @NafeezAhmed & @BylineTimes
bylinetimes.com/2026/08/18/t…
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Times Higher Education investigated Jason Arday plagiarism claims in 2025, producing a dossier before spiking it after threats from his lawyers Carter-Ruck.
retractionwatch.com/2026/07/27/cam…