Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon Twitter profile

Pinned Tweet

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Consolidated Linktree to the past few threads of resources:

ksvarnon | Twitter | Linktree

Resources: BIPOC & Slavic Ukrainian Refugees Resources: Disabled Ukrainians

linktr.ee

81

626

1K

Last Seen Profiles

@LOR4_14

@haletoke

@DeBuckal

@bokeplokalmalam

@BoletimDaNoite

@shingrass

@fahedalemadi

@CnpEb

@ihF5l5u49C7A5B

@Aypol_

@xEyc_

@bvulam

@glix

@0rikuna

@iamyouyiii_

@bokeplokalmalam

@_tinotino1

@pusat31_

@Pauli_tweet

@demet_erhan

@Fabio_souza42

@KayipRihtim

@findomaii

@theslumflower

@LookingRightAtI

@sadyamaa

@Gbarthez1

@how_ezi

@vo_masahiro

@_10four_

@bancaetica

@sudhakarjmi

@kolos_no

@aikawa_CH1987

@espabilate

@mshkshh

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

This is a brutal invasion of a PEACEFUL country. Ukraine, its cities, and its civilians are under attack. Ukraine has done nothing wrong. Remember this, no matter the Russian or any other propaganda. This is a war against innocent people.

99

7K

31K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Hello new followers. I'm a @Penn Ph.D. student in Soviet/Russian/E. European history. I've worked on Ukraine for nearly 10 years. I am a Harvard-educated regional expert on the former Soviet Union. I hope to engage the public and help y'all understand the region that I love.

401

2K

26K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I see my tweet w/my credentials angered some people. As one of the handful of Black people in my field, I’ve been through hell to earn my credentials. Many don’t believe a person who looks like me can be a Ukraine/Russia expert. So, go kick rocks if it bothers you.

514

1K

24K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

And while I’m here giving hot takes, I know everyone loves and is now thirsty for Zelenskyy. But let’s remember, this man is leading his country in an existential war against an invader who has made clear that they want to kill him. He has young children. This is real life.

104

2K

20K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I know many Westerners simply support Zelenskyy, but he is in serious danger. All of Kyiv is. This massive convoy news has made me feel physically ill. The immensity of this coming incursion should not be downplayed. The potential lvl of death & destruction is earth shattering.

364

3K

16K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Hi @Uber , your driver in Richmond, VA literally drove off with my luggage before I could go to his trunk and get it out. I ran behind in waving my hands and he never came back. I had to take my train or I would have no clothes and nowhere to stay. He didn’t answer his phone. HELP

166

1K

15K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Hi everyone. My driver and I have spoken, and he is sending me my bag back. Honest mistake.

127

136

13K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

This is important. It may not seem like much, but for Russians to be out in the street like this is huge. They are facing arrest and worse. Putin underestimated how much Russians would be true brothers to Ukrainians and protest his murders.

Alexander S. Vindman 🇺🇸

@AVindman

3 years

Pushkin Square, maybe less than 1000 meters from Red Square and the Kremlin, is the cite of a significant protest. These people know the risks of challenging the regime. They’re on the street in-spite of major personal costs.

4K

66K

299K

68

3K

13K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I’ve seen a worrying trend here in that people think Russia wasn’t a colonizer or imperial power because it didn’t colonize Africa. This is a gross bastardization of Russian imperial history& perpetuates the erasure of internal colonization. Thread later.

175

2K

10K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Nope. I know that smile. Black women know that smile. After we've been disrespected, we're expected to smile/not be angry in public. Campion knew what she did, and that's why she went and found Venus to hug. A picture to absolve her unnecessary and undignified remarks. Nah.

109

1K

8K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

BJG’s comments on Ukrainians as “blue-eyed and blonde” shows immense ignorance of anything about Eastern Europe. It erases the Afro-Ukrainians, Romani Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, and dozens of mixed-race Ukrainians who are victims of this war. 1

3

1K

7K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

My research on race and experience in Ukraine, Russia and the Soviet Union has taught me: Race is fluid and contextual, and the American racial paradigm too often shapes the global discourse. Ukrainians are often at the bottom of the European racial hierarchy. 1/

2

2K

7K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

I, a Soviet historian, am begging Americanists to stop calling the Soviet Union "Russia." I have read this in so many articles and monographs. I don't call the United States "Alabama" in my work.

448

668

7K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

"The Devil's cleverest wile is to make men believe that he does not exist." This is Russian imperial history. I don't have time to go over ALL of Russian colonization and imperialism, so here are some highlights: 1/n

105

2K

7K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

Still angry about those videos and images. I truly didn’t want to see that. And I think it’s disgusting that TMZ monetizes the deaths of Black men: Kobe’s accident, now Takeoff’s murder.

18

938

6K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

No, your post is what imbibing Russian propaganda looks like. Russia started this war. It invaded Ukraine. It is pursuing a brutal neo-colonial war and is tanking the world food supply. It’s all on Russia. If Russia withdraws, the war is over. I have no patience for this bull.

95

739

6K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

@Uber I have gone through the contact process and you’ve washed your hands of it. But I’m a grad student. I need my clothes, my jewelry, my hair care products. My suitcase! And I had to leave RVA b/c I would have been stranded.

29

247

5K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I've said this a few times in interviews, but here it is: Putin is betting on Ukraine not being important enough to the West to substantively aid Ukraine. These reports on the EU is struggling to put together a hell-on-earth sanctions package is exibit A.

34

690

5K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I may lose followers for this thread, but understand this: I am a historian, and one of less than five Black people in my discipline. I’m here to contextualize what is happening for those who want to know more. I educate, and I’ll do that long after I’m back to 3k followers.

8

283

5K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

As I navigate this public presence, I’m learning that I can’t make everyone happy, answer every question, or expect good-faith engagement. But I don’t think I’ll ever get used to people being mean/rude because they can. That part sucks, and honestly hurts.

299

98

4K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I am trying to only retweet confirmed information/sources for and from Ukrainians. We have to be careful with propagating Russian disinformation at this juncture.

34

461

4K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I’m on my train back to Philadelphia, and haven’t heard anything. I don’t have the driver’s contact info b/c we messaged through the @uber app. He was a nice older man, and I truly think he wasn’t paying attention vs. any malice.

20

132

4K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I had an entire 3k followers last week and thought that was something. I’m truly in awe that so many of you find my opinions informative. I’m still learning the Twitterati ropes, and the trolls/haters are going to take some time to get used to, but I appreciate you all.

107

45

4K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

This isn’t a denial of the racism. It’s a recognition that Russia can use the racism to undermine Western support for Ukraine. Understand that Ukraine falling to Russia will be catastrophic for BIPOC in Ukraine. We can condemn the racism and support Ukr. Both are possible.

The ReidOut

@thereidout

3 years

Putin is likely to exploit reports of discrimination faced by Africans and other non-Ukrainian groups at some border crossings to create anti-Ukraine sentiment and distract from his unprovoked invasion, expert @ksvarnon says. #reiders

54

82

281

72

1K

4K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Happy update: nearly all of the students I am in contact with from Sumy were able to leave during the ceasefire. I'm still waiting to hear from a few, but unexpected travel during wartime can lead to comm. issues. This is a good thing. Their patience and perseverance are heroic.

54

320

3K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

One: perhaps the freedoms you enjoy here are denied to people who look like Brittney, which is why she took a knee. Two: Brittney and her family have already expressed their gratitude. You do not get to dictate how Black and LGBTQ people feel about their country.

Ivana Stradner

@ivanastradner

2 years

Now Brittney Griner should be in every single news in 🇺🇸 telling young Americans what 🇷🇺 dictatorship is and how blessed we are in 🇺🇸 to enjoy all our freedoms. Hopefully this l experience in Russia will make her more grateful for everything she has in the US.

41

111

1K

61

466

3K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

If Germany or France or even Poland were being invaded like this, they would have support. Ukraine is multi-ethnic with a significant Roma population, and growing Afro-Ukrainian and African population. Not being European enough has been lobbed at Ukraine since it’s independence/2

1

431

3K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Unsurprising. As more American orgs mobilize to go to Ukraine, the conservative Christian orgs have too. Never mind the shady adoption practices from Ukraine&Russia for the past 15 years. This ain’t it. Ukraine’s been Christian since 988. They still think Ukraine is atheist.

Ben Lewis

@benlewismedia

3 years

At the Ukraine/Poland border. Tired women and children leaving their country. They’re being pestered by American preachers telling them they all need to accept Jesus as their saviour and their lives will be better. Receiving a lot of eye rolls in response.

4K

8K

42K

113

783

3K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

So, the recent jackass comments from Western European journalists not believing their eyes b/c these people are like them is incredibly new to the discourse. In 2014 when Crimea was taken, when Luhansk and Donetsk occupied, Ukraine was backward, not European enough. 3/

1

360

3K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Just woke up after a few hours of sleep. Trying to catch up on everything. But let me say, if you think this is the time to tweet smug comments, or somehow make this about US domestic politics-don’t. Ukraine is invaded. Ukrainians are dying. Ukraine’s survival is at stake.

15

393

3K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

In closing, we can have strong critiques of the racism in current media treatment of Ukraine, but please believe, this is new. Because Russia is doing this now because in 2014 the West decided Ukraine wasn’t European enough, and the 2014 conflict was just another E. Europe dustup

1

324

3K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Last thing: when you say Russia wasn’t imperialist you erase the history of the oppression of millions of people. You erase the ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity of the largest country in the world, and how it was made through imperialism.

18

617

3K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

I don’t watch #Eurovision but I heard Ukraine’s entry had hip hop. Check out Adriana Helbig’s “Hip Hop Ukraine” for some outstanding context and analysis on the connections between African migration to Ukraine and its hip hop culture.

28

433

3K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

7 months

Also, there are divergent reactions to the news of Navalny's death. He was both an opposition leader and a staunch Russian nationalist. I don't think these two elements contradict each other but mutually support each other. Ukrainians, Georgians, Kazakhs, Kalmyks, etc. 1/

50

714

3K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Vitali is Mayor of Kyiv, which is suffering from Russian missile fire. The Klitschko Brothers’ father was a first responder at Chernobyl. Their family has already sacrificed for Ukraine, and clearly, is willing to do so again.

ESPN

@espn

3 years

Former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Ukraine's capital of Kyiv, plans to take up arms to defend against Russia's invasion along with his brother, Wladimir. More:

736

9K

58K

20

437

3K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

Одеса, люблю тебе. Колі мені було 23, ти мене привітала. Слава Україні.

24

93

3K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Kenya’s powerful UNSC statement. The people formerly subjugated by a colonial empire know what imperialism looks like and its costs. Kenya leads here with a gumption that we haven’t really seen from the Western big names.

Permanent Mission of Kenya to the UN 🇰🇪 🇺🇳

@KenyaMissionUN

3 years

Kenya makes strong statement opposing the undermining of the sovereignty & territorial integrity of #Ukraine during the emergency meeting of the #SecurityCouncil at 9pm on 21st February. See full statement delivered below 👇🏿

574

7K

22K

26

742

3K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

I am a Black woman working on race in Ukraine and Russia. This type of monolithic thinking that tries to cut and paste American race relations onto Eastern Europe is why my work is so damn hard. It also shows a vast ignorance of the scale of the Black Diaspora. 2

2

222

3K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

1 year

Quick re-tweet as some people have forgotten my stance on the war. Crimea is Ukraine. Donbas is Ukraine. Ukraine fights for its sovereignty and its existence against a authoritarian and neo-colonial regime. May the lesson this Russian official just learned be an example.

Terrell Jermaine Starr 🇺🇦🌻🇵🇸🍉✊🏾🇬🇪

@terrelljstarr

1 year

Ukrainians got them hands.

351

624

8K

47

358

3K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Going to get a few hours of sleep, or try to. Someone wake me up when Germany or the US or Britain slaps some yellow and blue paint on a batch of Javelins and gets them to Ukraine instead of this performative self-soothing.

17

241

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Finally made it back to my husband and pups in Texas (yes, I’m doing this PhD over 1000 miles from my husband). Going to get some much needed rest, but I’ll be up in the morning to raise hell for Ukrainians and the residents of Ukraine.

37

51

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

I’ve never believed “Putin is insane.”. He isn’t. Putin being crazy (this discourse is incredibly harmful to people w/mental illness) does a lot of work to relieve Western powers of the responsibility to deal with Russia, and it ignores just how precedented these atrocities are 1

1

614

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

Not going to lie. I am in my feelings about the Jimmy Carter news.

61

58

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

My next few national media appearances will discuss the racism and chaos on the border w/Poland. These conditions represent the culmination of many processes. Please trust my words and intentions. My dissertation is literally about the form & functions of race in USSR/E. Europe.

51

301

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

Let's be clear—if you are hosting an event/discussion about the war in Ukraine, and most of your questions and topics are about Russia/how the war will impact Russia, realize you are hosting an event about Russia. Then, ask yourself why you are centering Russia.

20

327

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

1 year

So, Russia funded terrorism? Russia funded genocide in Ukraine, mass sexual assaults in the Central African Republic, massacres in Mali, and human rights violations in Syria. Thanks for the confirmation, VVP.

max seddon

@maxseddon

1 year

Putin says Wagner was entirely financed by the Russian state through the MOD and the state budget. From May 2022 to May 2023, the state paid Wagner 86 billion rubles and Prigozhin's catering company earned a further 80 billion, Putin says.

291

835

3K

45

721

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

I found out that I am on the infamous Antifa account list. Tweets are protected for now. My family’s safety and privacy are my primary concerns.

69

0

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

So this is happening again, but I’m no longer hiding the message sender details. If you can send messages like this, you don’t deserve anonymity.

21

274

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I have class, but I will write a longer piece on this. Russia did not participate in the Scramble for Africa because it already had a massive, land-based empire with the resources it wanted. It had used violence to repress the myriad of ethnic groups who lived there. 8

12

325

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

When Ukraine was invaded, Zelenskyy was working on expanding health care, the badly-needed census, and schools. Russia has destroyed hospitals, schools, made millions homeless and murdered thousands. This is Russian apologist bunk detached from the reality of this war.

Jeremy Corbyn

@jeremycorbyn

2 years

Every million dollars spent on major armaments is a million dollars not made available for schools, hospitals, housing and to feed the very hungriest in the world.

737

2K

5K

2

471

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Re: Brittany Griner. I don’t think this is a case of drugs being planted. They are vape pen cartridges that are legal in the US. Every year profs in Slavic Studies have to help students navigate the vast list of medicines, etc. that are considered controlled sub. in Russia 1/2

82

289

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Taking a Twitter break. I need to catch up on my homework, and I need to step away from the onslaught. At the end of the day, I’m a human being-a doctoral student trying to use my knowledge to help people. I’ll continue to do that, but not on here. Not right now.

86

29

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

Catching up on The Guardian interview w/ a Russia soldier. It is a lot, and my immediate reaction is confusion. Why center him? What crimes his unit commit while invading Ukraine? He is alive and enjoying freedom in Moscow. Humanizing him makes his behavior more disgusting.

53

354

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Hoping and praying the Kyiv air defense systems hold, and NATO or anyone in the West with some gumption sends help. Lethal aid and humanitarian aid. Western Gov. tweets about concerns and disappointments don’t do a damn thing for Ukraine.

34

276

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I have no hot takes, or deep analysis right now. I’m horrified, nervous, and feel sick. This represents irreversible change for Ukraine and Russia. Слава Україні.

13

188

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

Her comments are also a clear dogwhistle about Ukrainians as Nazis by using the same tired trope to stereotype Germans (who, surprise, also have a large Afro-German, Turkish-German population). But let’s be coy about the targeted killing of civilians from the safety of America.

1

124

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

8 months

It is no longer a whistle, it is a loud bark. The same alt-right talking points that assume Black female athletes are not feminine/not women are being replicated by official Russian state accounts. Russia has participated in and replicated these ideas for decades.

37

365

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

Yes, I have to be a NATO plant for thinking critically and for studying what I study. How is this not racist? You can’t come for my expertise, so I must be a government plant.

9

159

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

Hi Twitter peeps, this is just a note to say that I do not need anyone to explain that Russia stokes racial issues in the US for its gain. It’s literally what I’ve worked on for eight years, and I have written about it in public forums. My PhD work is on Blackness in the USSR. 😬

25

201

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

And as @irinikostyshina and I have both pointed out: her comments show ignorance about the shifting and unstable definitions of whiteness east of Germany. I made this point in February. Ukrainians, Poles, etc. are not seen as the same “European” as French, Germans, Brits.

2

144

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

1 year

Let me go ahead and resign from my PhD program, pack up the Soviet history books, and start my knitting circle because I’m a woman, and I cannot specialize in Stalinism.

Joyce Carol Oates

@JoyceCarolOates

1 year

are there instances of women becoming obsessed with historic events? definitely a male preoccupation with certain phases of history (Civil War, Nazis, Hitler) & reenactments of battles. women may obsess over reading, music & dance, kitties, doggies, clothes, gardening, men.

1K

49

930

57

126

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

The racial and ethnic hierarchies the Russian empire utilized to oppress indigenous groups in Siberia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Far East exist. Their legacies have continued. The Devil is a lie, and so is the idea that Russia wasn't a brutal imperial power. Fin.

9

256

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

1 year

I no longer argue/engage with people who refuse to see that Russia caused this war. I won't entertain people who believe that this war can end if the West just wants it to. Those people have had over 18 months to come to grips with reality. Nothing I say will change their minds.

33

253

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Apparently a YouTube video is out suggests I’m lying to help Ukraine kill foreign students. These people have already started attacking my FB and Twitter. Trying to keep my private contact off the internet. Block and report as you see. Please. May go private to head this off.

102

165

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Now this is the type of “strong response” I expect from Europe and the United States. Targeted sanctions against the oligarchs and their funds in FR, GR, UK, too.

max seddon

@maxseddon

3 years

Wow! Germany is killing the new $10bn Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia. That's a huge step after refusing to be drawn on it in public for months. It'll have major consequences for European energy security and suggests the western sanctions against Moscow will be tough.

178

1K

5K

29

263

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Best news after a couple of truly hellish days: students are getting food supplies in Sumy. Some electricity has been restored. Water is still a problem, but just these developments are huge.

15

167

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Update: We have gotten direct help for this situation. Thank you!

15

54

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Siberia: Siberia is home to a myriad of indigenous groups who practice(d) pagan and naturalist religions. Throughout the 16th-19th centuries, the Russian imperial state used settler colonialism to Russify these areas and to force the indigenous peoples to become Orthodox.

13

196

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Please refer to experts who work on race and racism in this region. This is not new in Poland, and there are people (including Black scholars) working on this now. What we are seeing at the border is a continuation of the racism that has long been here.

Guardian World

@guardianworld

3 years

People of colour fleeing Ukraine attacked by Polish nationalists

69

382

557

46

407

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I keep seeing misinformation and poor Russian/Ukrainian translations. At this point, I’m consuming nearly all my information from Russian or Ukrainian sources, besides @KyivIndependent . If you don’t know these languages, try to follow people/reporters who do.

24

253

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

I have chosen not to share the video of the murdered civilians in Bucha (outside of Kyiv) as it has been shared widely. But that video is the latest example of the myriad of war crimes Russia has committed in Ukraine, and less than six weeks from the start of this war.

1

302

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

1 year

Okay, major developments: -conformation that Wagner has taken the Southern Military Command District -Wagner downed a Russian Air Force plane in Voronezh -Putin called this treachery, Prigozhin said Wagner are the real patriots. -Rapid advances w/success for Wagner 1/

17

387

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Remember my thread about Ukrainians in the European white racial hierarchy? I know what I’m talking about.

Samuel Ramani

@SamRamani2

3 years

BREAKING: Britain will not agree to visa waivers for Ukrainians fleeing the war

23

100

289

37

274

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I’ve seen a worrying rumor that the students in Sumy are being kept on purpose. This is fundamentally FALSE. No one, including Slavic-looking Ukrainians are getting out right now. No one in Sumy has running water. Stop preying on the extreme emotional distress of these students.

22

349

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

1 year

This person has a blue check, hundreds of thousands of followers, and not a damn clue about what is happening in Russia. BUT thanks to “the algorithm” his misinfo floods the timeline. The US is not the main character here.

84

289

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

With these egregiously bad takes coming from big names in my field, I’m reminded who gets to make mistakes and who doesn’t. How many of us are afraid to be public voices b/c of the fear that making a mistake will ruin us (myself included). While the others get book contracts.

18

147

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Still can’t believe I won.

Penn Arts & Sciences

@PennSAS

3 years

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon of @PennHistory is the Humanities winner of this year's #PennGradTalks for, "Blacks Like Us: African American Encounters With Soviet Central Asia." @ksvarnon Watch all of the 2022 Penn Grad Talks ▶️

12

24

142

35

72

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

This is incredibly important. Remember the cause of Euromaidan and the initial Russian aggression toward Ukraine—it was Ukraine joining the European Union, not NATO. May Putin's nightmares become reality.

Samuel Ramani

@SamRamani2

3 years

BREAKING: Poland endorses an express path for Ukraine's European Union membership

302

7K

50K

19

331

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

It was never and has never been about NATO.

Isabelle Khurshudyan

@ikhurshudyan

3 years

And after everything, this Putin speech has nothing to do with NATO and everything to do with challenging Ukraine’s legitimacy as a state.

125

2K

9K

21

273

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I think of Arsenalna, the deepest metro station in the world (or it was). It scared me b/c it took so long to get underground, but this is why. These stations were literally built for this during the Soviet period, to protect against foreign enemies.

olexander scherba🇺🇦

@olex_scherba

3 years

Kharkiv. Civilians hide in the subway. The same in Kyiv.

12

235

732

8

439

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

A huge thank you to everyone who has messaged/commented support. Each positive word has helped me. I realize if I avoid talking about this issues, the bullies win, but most imp. it doesn’t help any of the Black and Brown Ukrainian residents. So the block button is my friend.

55

41

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I’m wondering how realistic it is for me to ask for some excused absences/extensions for this week. I’m trying to do everything I can for ALL Ukrainians right now, but I’m also a doctoral student…and I can’t actually focus on the academics right now. Just being real for a moment

52

41

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Moreover, I watched&hoped in 2014 there would be a robust response to the blatant Russian occupation in the Donbas and the forced annexation of Crimea. Understand 2022 is a direct result of the West's appeasement in 2014. Ukraine wasn't worth the bother to them then. Is it now?

12

172

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

The Caucasus: Home to dozens of peoples incl. Muslims. This region was last Russia colonized (19th c.) in a brutal, violent series of conflicts that sought to destroy the Islamic faith and practices of the people who called it home. Native languages were oppressed. 3

5

161

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I fully support American and Western Europeans creating opportunities for higher education for displaced Ukrainians. I would like to see the same opps. for displaced Black&Brown scholars/students in Ukraine. They too have had their educations disrupted and want to continue.

26

248

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

With reports pouring in from Kyiv, I am trying to be careful and selective with what I retweet. I do not, in any way, want to contribute to the spread of disinformation, or compromise any Ukrainian defenses, or reveal targets. We should all be careful.

7

164

2K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Me. 23 years old in Kyiv on a beautiful summer day. My friend took me on a tour of her city. She and her 3 babies are in Lviv now. They are safe. Kyiv and Ukraine will be this beautiful again. Слава Україні.

11

71

1K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I don’t have internet on the train, so this may take hours. I am working on a list of resources for the Black and Brown communities in Ukraine. Please understand, Ukraine is all colors. Racism is clearly an issue. But we can’t just let Ukraine fall b/c of it. They will die too.

38

343

1K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I’ll write my piece and put together a short reading list on Russian imperial history (b/c Soviet is another thing) sometime this week.

22

66

1K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

And before you come at me, I brought up the potential of anti-Black racism in a migration crisis days ago. I’ve kept the Afro-Ukrainian and African citizens of Ukraine in my mind. What we see at the borders is racism-the hierarchy shifts, and Black and Brown is at the bottom. 1/

2

233

1K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Main themes: violent settler colonization, oppression of minority languages and faiths (like beating Georgians and Ukrainians for speaking their languages in school), divide-and-conquer methods of rule, Russianization, deportation, resource extraction. 7

6

162

1K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

1 year

This is what happens when you don’t know a damn thing about foreign policy or world history. “Ukraine’s sovereignty in tact” like do you know think that’s what they have been fighting for all this time? This parochial isolationism requires fantasy, and it’s deadly for others.

Ostap Yarysh

@OstapYarysh

1 year

After the GOP Debate, I asked Vivek Ramaswamy why he was against supporting Ukraine. Here's his answer.

3K

704

4K

49

239

1K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

And the Pale of Settlement: Russia had forced settlement of Jews in today's Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus. Jews were subject to official anti-Semitism and incredible public violence for centuries. Read Dostoyevsky for a glimpse of cultural popularity. 6

5

158

1K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Ukraine: Russianization of Ukraine began long before the Soviet period. The Valuev circular made it illegal to publish in Ukrainian. The government oppressed Ukrainian writers and scholars. 5

6

166

1K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

This isn’t to equate anti-Eastern European sentiment with anti-Blackness, but rather, to show that all of this is serving white supremacist hierarchies. And Russia has welcomed these sentiments:

White Nationalism in the United States and Russia: Transnational Ties, Domestic Impact

"The transnational ties between white nationalists pose an important question: how do we curb the threat of violent extremism and its globalization?"

hir.harvard.edu

1

127

1K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

I’m often asked what we #BrittneyGriner supporters should remember about her case, and it is this: we have to stop applying our assumptions of law onto Russia. It doesn’t matter what is legal in the US. What matters is what the Russian law says, and how the judge interprets it. 1

3

308

1K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Speaking as a Texan, I need y’all to understand something about this law in Texas. This is not men policing women’s bodies. There are a significant # of women who support this. Don’t remove the responsibility of white women. Supporting oppression is their empowerment.

12

407

1K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

2 years

This is your local humanities PhD student once again asking you not to compare the completion times of history programs and STEM programs. We do different work. We have different expectations. I literally cannot finish this degree in three years, even with a MA. Thanks.

16

90

1K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

Kazakhstan: During the Imperial and Soviet period there were concerted efforts to destroy the nomadic practices and non-Orthodox religious practices on the Steppe. A reasonable comparison (in the goal) to the Dawes Act in US History. 4

3

148

1K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon

3 years

I’ve been thinking about the leak and circulation of Brittney Griner’s mugshot in Russia. Feels gross and exploitative. People want proof of life, but I’d trust her team on this. In general in the US there is a perverse use of Black mugshots for entertainment/viral clicks.

17

202

1K