Opinion | There Is No Returning to Hillman College (Gift Article)

J. California Cooper wrote that the future has a past. I reflected on the 1990s, the future of Black America after liberal democracy gives way to whatever we build today, & the many silences about what we’ve already lost. Oh, and A Different World. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

“Whatever the solution to the erosion of liberal democracy, it should be commonly held that no path back to power that does not consider Black America can be the American dream.” - @tressiemcphd.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

''It will not be enough to flip the Senate in the midterms (although I hope Democrats do) or to win the White House in 2028 if there is no new compelling vision of the American dream.'' As always, Dr @tressiemcphd.bsky.social speaks truth 🔥🔥🔥

Opinion: @tressiemcphd.bsky.social Whatever the solution to the erosion of liberal democracy, it should be commonly held that no path back to power that does not consider Black America can be the American dream. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o... #BlackskyNews

Excellent essay by @tressiemcphd.bsky.social, a profound mix of media criticism, political economy, elegy, & manifesto. The headline undersells what it's really about. Also, though I should know better by now, I was shocked at how repellent many of the comments are: a fetid, colorblind swamp of

"The truth is, it’s never been a great time for young Black people to come of age in this country." Great @tressiemcphd.bsky.social piece tying A Different World reboot to reality of the world as it is, not what we wish it to be. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

"The right is slicing through liberal democracy to ensure no debts to Black America are paid and no new promises are made....it should be commonly held that no path back to power that does not consider Black America can be the American dream." 🎁🔗 www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

"Whatever the solution to the erosion of liberal democracy, it should be commonly held that no path back to power that does not consider Black America can be the American dream." Such a brilliantly insightful but beautifully heartbreaking ode of an essay, @tressiemcphd.bsky.social.

Good essay. What was once aspirational and challenging is now just sad and depressing. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

"The world outside Hillman’s gates is actively resegregating the machinery of American progress. And the tools of resegregation now seem bigger, meaner and harder than the ones we overcame. Living the nightmare is enough..." Thank you, @tressiemcphd.bsky.social! Gift Link.

"The truth is, it’s never been a great time for young Black people to come of age in this country." A hard truth from @tressiemcphd.bsky.social in her stellar NYT article on various manifestations of TV's A Different World www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

Paired readings: www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o... from @tressiemcphd.bsky.social and www.insidehighered.com/news/institu... from @byoliviasanchez.bsky.social

“It doesn’t bode well for the next generation of Hillman graduates that neither our politicians nor our storytellers can concoct a vision of a future in which Black America is thriving. Nostalgia is fine for television shows. It is poison to progressive politics.” 😮‍💨 www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

Read it, weep, and then go out and vote like your life depends on it because it does. But more, so many lives depend on it. Vote with people you don't know in your mind and heart. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

"Audiences loved the Huxtables because they proved that the civil rights movement and Black Power movement had been worth it. With its emphasis on morality as the source of Black power, A Different World would promise that those would be the last social revolution white people would have to endure"

"The right is slicing through liberal democracy to ensure no debts to Black America are paid and no new promises are made." @tressiemcphd.bsky.social maps the gap between Hillman's Clinton-Obama-era promise of a Black Camelot and the post-Trump, post-VRA reality www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

“It doesn’t bode well for the next generation of Hillman graduates that neither our politicians nor our storytellers can concoct a vision of a future in which Black America is thriving. Nostalgia is fine for television shows. It is poison to progressive politics.” www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

Damn gutting www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

“Donald Trump’s election — and then re-election — was more than a symbolic injury to Black America. His administration has intentionally, skillfully devastated the foundations of Black security and mobility.” @tressiemcphd.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

“Whatever the solution to the erosion of liberal democracy, it should be commonly held that no path back to power that does not consider Black America can be the American dream.” ~ Tressie McMillan Cottom 🙏🏾 www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

Surely, @tressiemcphd.bsky.social is a voice for our time. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

I Believed in the Promise of Hillman College. What Happened? www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o... 💔

Opinion | What ‘A Different World’ Still Says About Black America (Gift Article) f the nyt

Great piece. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

Must Read by Dr.Tressie McMillan Cottom There Is No Returning to Hillman College www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

There Is No Returning to Hillman College www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

I Believed in the Promise of Hillman College. What Happened?

"...Black Camelot did come. America elected Barack Obama, twice. Then, Black Camelot died."

Quite the gut punch from Tressie McMillan Cottom: I Believed in the Promise of Hillman College. What Happened? www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

What ‘A Different World’ Still Says About Black America

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...