@JoshClarkDavis

Author POLICE AGAINST THE MOVEMENT (2025) on civil rights activists vs. state violence, surveillance | Historian @ubaltmain | Bylines @thenation @jacobin @slate

 Baltimore, Maryland
JoshuaClarkDavis.com
Joined April 2014
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  • Followers5.4K
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Wrote a preview of my book. 60 years ago today, the March on Washington captured America's attention--including the attention of police spies from NYC, Chicago, Birmingham + Philly. Histories of the March should mention this surveillance. slate.com/news-and-politics/…

A Dark, Untold Story About the March on Washington Has Just Been Revealed

Police from as far away as Alabama were watching.

slate.com
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Joshua Clark Davis retweeted
Tejasvi Nagaraja@TejNagarajaJun 2
My book is out by Sep. Robin DG Kelley says — "TROOP MOVEMENTS will profoundly change how we think about the 1940s." This week — PennPress dot org has 40%-off sale! [ Use code PENN-SUMMER26 ] If you may want to do an event, or a review — be in touch! pennpress.org/9781512829907/…

Troop Movements – Penn Press

The story of how the mass mobilization for World War II catalyzed the national and international political movements and conflicts of the postwar periodIn th...

pennpress.org
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Joshua Clark Davis retweeted
John J. Lennon@JohnJLennon1Apr 14
That the Guggenheim folks saw me worthy of a fellowship is, I hope, a testament to the idea that people in prison can create successful careers and we don't have to wait for someone to set us free before we make our mark. #guggfellows2026 gf.org/stories/announcing-th…
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Stuart Schrader@stschrader1Apr 8
Less than a week until the publication of Blue Power: How Police Organized to Protect and Serve Themselves! You can still preorder it from @BasicBooks with discount code BLUE20 at basicbooks.com/titles/stuart….
Blue Power blurb from Ruth Wilson Gilmore: "BLUE POWER IS A TOUR DE FORCE. BEAUTIFULLY RESEARCHED AND WRITTEN, THIS BOOK SHOWS HOW POLICE OFFICERS TRANSFORMED WHINING ABOUT RESPECT INTO WIELDING POLITICAL CLOUT."

ALT Blue Power blurb from Ruth Wilson Gilmore: "BLUE POWER IS A TOUR DE FORCE. BEAUTIFULLY RESEARCHED AND WRITTEN, THIS BOOK SHOWS HOW POLICE OFFICERS TRANSFORMED WHINING ABOUT RESPECT INTO WIELDING POLITICAL CLOUT."

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'In this excerpt from Joshua Clark Davis's new book Police Against The Movement, the author explains how "local law enforcement and their allies perpetrated a far-reaching erasure of history".' Police Departments Tracked Activists in the 1960s and 70s — Then Erased Records teenvogue.com/story/police-d… | @TeenVogue

Police Departments Surveilled Activists in the 1960s and 70s — and Erased The Records

"Just as police tracked civil rights, Black Power, feminist, and anti-war protesters in the 1960s and ‘70s, today they snoop on organizers taking a stand against ICE, Israel’s war on Palestine, and...

teenvogue.com
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Joshua Clark Davis retweeted
Piper French@PiperSFrench3 Dec 2025
People usually associate law enforcement repression of black activism w/ the naked brutality of Birmingham or the Panthers vs the FBI. That's not the whole story. I reviewed a new book about local police surveillance of the civil rights movement for @newrepublic 's new issue:
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Stuart Schrader@stschrader14 Dec 2025
If you'd like to read more about this very point—how police veto elected officials' decisions—I've written a whole book on the topic, called Blue Power! It's now available for preorder from @BasicBooks, 20% discount with the code BLUE20. hachettebookgroup.com/titles…
Cover of Blue Power: How Police Organized to Protect and Serve Themselves, with blue and red letters and police walking away from viewer in formation

ALT Cover of Blue Power: How Police Organized to Protect and Serve Themselves, with blue and red letters and police walking away from viewer in formation

The Drift@thedrift_mag4 Dec 2025
“I find it ridiculous and inimical to democracy that police have veto power over elected officials’ decisions, and that politicians therefore need to walk on eggshells so as not to offend them.” Read our interview with @stschrader1 in Issue Sixteen. thedriftmag.com/our-diminish…

“Our Diminished Epoch”

Stuart Schrader, ​​Associate Professor of History and the Director of the Chloe Center for the Critical Study of Racism, Immigration, and Colonialism at Johns Hopkins University, is a leading scholar...

thedriftmag.com
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My new Intercept piece on the NYPD’s targeting of MLK is up today, with never-before-published police surveillance photos of King.
Newly Unveiled Photos of MLK Jr. Show Depth of NYPD’s Surveillance After J. Edgar Hoover cast the civil rights leader as a “liar,” NYPD’s spy unit heeded the call. by Joshua Clark Davis

ALT Newly Unveiled Photos of MLK Jr. Show Depth of NYPD’s Surveillance After J. Edgar Hoover cast the civil rights leader as a “liar,” NYPD’s spy unit heeded the call. by Joshua Clark Davis

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theintercept.com/2025/11/29/…

Newly Unveiled Photos of MLK Jr. Show Depth of NYPD’s Surveillance

After J. Edgar Hoover cast civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. as a “liar,” the New York City Police Department’s spy unit heeded the call.

theintercept.com
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Joshua Clark Davis retweeted
The Intercept
@theintercept29 Nov 2025
After J. Edgar Hoover cast the civil rights leader as a “liar,” NYPD’s spy unit heeded the call. interc.pt/4pCLk9a

Newly Unveiled Photos of MLK Jr. Show Depth of NYPD’s Surveillance

After J. Edgar Hoover cast civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. as a “liar,” the New York City Police Department’s spy unit heeded the call.

theintercept.com
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I'll be in Brooklyn to discuss POLICE AGAINST THE MOVEMENT with Chenjerai Kumanyika this Thursday, 11/06 at The Word is Change!
Please join us as we help launch Police Against the Movement: The Sabotage of the Civil Rights Struggle and the Activists Who Fought Back by Joshua Clark Davis in conversation with Chenjerai Kumanyika, Thursday November 6th. Police Against the Movement shatters one of the most pernicious myths about the 1960s: that the civil rights movement endured police violence without fighting it. Instead, activists confronted police abuses head-on, staging sit-ins at precinct stations, picketing department headquarters, and blocking traffic to protest officer misdeeds. In return, organizers found themselves the targets of overwhelming political repression in the form of police surveillance, infiltration by undercover officers, and retaliatory prosecutions aimed at derailing their movement.

ALT Please join us as we help launch Police Against the Movement: The Sabotage of the Civil Rights Struggle and the Activists Who Fought Back by Joshua Clark Davis in conversation with Chenjerai Kumanyika, Thursday November 6th. Police Against the Movement shatters one of the most pernicious myths about the 1960s: that the civil rights movement endured police violence without fighting it. Instead, activists confronted police abuses head-on, staging sit-ins at precinct stations, picketing department headquarters, and blocking traffic to protest officer misdeeds. In return, organizers found themselves the targets of overwhelming political repression in the form of police surveillance, infiltration by undercover officers, and retaliatory prosecutions aimed at derailing their movement.

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Politics & Prose Bookstore (5015 Connecticut Avenue, NW) Saturday, October 18 at 3:00 – 4:00 pm First come, first seated @joshuaclarkdavis @politicsprose
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In a @TeenVogue excerpt from POLICE AGAINST THE MOVEMENT from @PrincetonUPress , @JoshClarkDavis reveals how police departments illegally spied on civil rights activists and then burned the records. teenvogue.com/story/police-d…

Police Departments Surveilled Activists in the 1960s and 70s — and Erased The Records

"Just as police tracked civil rights, Black Power, feminist, and anti-war protesters in the 1960s and ‘70s, today they snoop on organizers taking a stand against ICE, Israel’s war on Palestine, and...

teenvogue.com
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Have a piece today in TEEN VOGUE from my new book POLICE AGAINST THE MOVEMENT about how the NYPD, LAPD, cops in Chicago and Memphis surveilled the civil rights movement—and then destroyed millions of surveillance files in the ‘70s, including ones likely on MLK’s assassination.
Police Departments Tracked Activists in the 1960s and 70s — Then Erased Records

ALT Police Departments Tracked Activists in the 1960s and 70s — Then Erased Records

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Article: teenvogue.com/story/police-d…

Police Departments Surveilled Activists in the 1960s and 70s — and Erased The Records

"Just as police tracked civil rights, Black Power, feminist, and anti-war protesters in the 1960s and ‘70s, today they snoop on organizers taking a stand against ICE, Israel’s war on Palestine, and...

teenvogue.com
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Today, I spoke w @JoshClarkDavis about his new book, Police Against the Movement. In it, Joshua recounts how local police departments infiltrated, surveilled, and sabotaged civil rights orgs, how those orgs fought back, and what it means for modern police reform movements
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My book, POLICE AGAINST THE MOVEMENT, comes out 10/7 and I'm going on a book tour! 10/07, SF: City Lights 10/09, LA: Skylight 10/16, Baltimore: Red Emma's 10/18, DC: Politics & Prose 11/06, NYC: The Word Is Change 12/02, Baltimore: Enoch Pratt 12/04, Atlanta: A Cappella
Cover of Police Against the Movement: The Sabotage of the Civil Rights Struggle and the Activists Who Fought Back by Joshua Clark Davis

ALT Cover of Police Against the Movement: The Sabotage of the Civil Rights Struggle and the Activists Who Fought Back by Joshua Clark Davis

Police Against the Movement Book Tour October 7, 2025 City Lights Bookstore In conversation with Daphne Muse San Francisco, CA October 9, 2025 Skylight Books In conversation with Elizabeth Hinton Los Angeles, CA October 16, 2025, 7PM Red Emma’s In conversation with Judy Richardson Baltimore, MD October 18, 2025 Politics & Prose In conversation with Judy Richardson Washington, DC

ALT Police Against the Movement Book Tour October 7, 2025 City Lights Bookstore In conversation with Daphne Muse San Francisco, CA October 9, 2025 Skylight Books In conversation with Elizabeth Hinton Los Angeles, CA October 16, 2025, 7PM Red Emma’s In conversation with Judy Richardson Baltimore, MD October 18, 2025 Politics & Prose In conversation with Judy Richardson Washington, DC

Police Against the Movement Book Tour November 6, 2025, 7PM The Word is Change Bookstore In conversation with Chenjerai Kumanyika Brooklyn, NY November 10, 2025, 7PM Zinn Education Project—Teach the Black Freedom Struggle Online conversation with Jesse Hagopian Zinn Education Program December 2, 2025 Enoch Pratt Central Library, Wheeler Auditorium In conversation with Jill Carter Baltimore, MD December 4, 2025 Acapella Books at the Auburn Avenue Research Library Atlanta, GA

ALT Police Against the Movement Book Tour November 6, 2025, 7PM The Word is Change Bookstore In conversation with Chenjerai Kumanyika Brooklyn, NY November 10, 2025, 7PM Zinn Education Project—Teach the Black Freedom Struggle Online conversation with Jesse Hagopian Zinn Education Program December 2, 2025 Enoch Pratt Central Library, Wheeler Auditorium In conversation with Jill Carter Baltimore, MD December 4, 2025 Acapella Books at the Auburn Avenue Research Library Atlanta, GA

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Pre-order from @PrincetonUPress: t.ly/p3Wym
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Joshua Clark Davis retweeted
John J. Lennon@JohnJLennon112 Aug 2025
I had the pleasure of meeting @realmattnadel a couple months ago. In this moving op-doc for the @nytimes, he discusses making videos for prisoners in New York who are seeking clemency from @GovKathyHochul, who has not kept her promise to overhaul clemency. nytimes.com/2025/08/12/opini…

Opinion | An Unlikely Last Resort for Getting Out of Prison (Published 2025)

One filmmaker’s playbook for helping people get clemency.

nytimes.com
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Joshua Clark Davis retweeted
Stuart Schrader@stschrader130 Jul 2025
Today’s beach read: Police Against the Movement, by @JoshClarkDavis. It is SO good! Out in October.
Cover of Police Against the Movement with waves and sand in background

ALT Cover of Police Against the Movement with waves and sand in background

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🎙️ 5 Years Since George Floyd Looking back at five years of community and abolitionist organizing since the police killing of George Floyd Featuring @avitale, Chauntyll Allen (BLM- Twin Cities) and @DocMellyMel (@blmgrassroots x @BLMLA) open.spotify.com/episode/6dY…
Protesters and police face each other during a rally for George Floyd in Minneapolis on Tuesday, May 26, 2020

ALT Protesters and police face each other during a rally for George Floyd in Minneapolis on Tuesday, May 26, 2020

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