a Me
@amejx.bsky.social
Nerdy, Quaker, atheist, queer, neurodivergent human. She/they. Lover of the natural world. Full of hope & grief about the state of our union.
I care a lot about prison communication justice. Join me?
https://benevolencefarm.org/connecting-families-nc/
I care a lot about prison communication justice. Join me?
https://benevolencefarm.org/connecting-families-nc/
Pinned
a Me
@amejx.bsky.social
· Oct 19
I join with the millions of other frogs, chickens, dinosaurs, unicorns, bananas, corgis, sharks, humans, and other living beings in joyfully declaring #NoKings! Hurrah! 🎉
@klparmley.bsky.social this was one of my favorite photos at the Nasher's photography exhibit emuseum.nasher.duke.edu/objects/1187...
Speak, Memory of Pomegranate
Still-life with pomegranate branch and insects on strings
emuseum.nasher.duke.edu
December 9, 2025 at 4:50 PM
@klparmley.bsky.social this was one of my favorite photos at the Nasher's photography exhibit emuseum.nasher.duke.edu/objects/1187...
Loving the ice droplets covering the tiniest spider webs and muhly grass seeds and fronds this morning
December 7, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Loving the ice droplets covering the tiniest spider webs and muhly grass seeds and fronds this morning
@ncgovernor.bsky.social NC families can't afford this!
Walmart sells 11-ounce bags of Chex Cheesy Pizza Snack Mix for less than $4. In North Carolina prisons, a 4.25-ounce bag of that same product costs $8.75.
That's less than half the product for 2x the price.
Carceral greed at its finest.
That's less than half the product for 2x the price.
Carceral greed at its finest.
North Carolina Prison Officials Raise Prices for Those Who Can Least Afford It
An increased markup on canteen goods adds to the financial burden on incarcerated people and their families, highlighting how prison systems squeeze them for revenue.
boltsmag.org
December 6, 2025 at 4:47 PM
@ncgovernor.bsky.social NC families can't afford this!
I highly recommend following @boltsmag.org for excellent reporting, including by one of my favorite journalists, boltsmag.org/authors/phil...
December 6, 2025 at 4:44 PM
I highly recommend following @boltsmag.org for excellent reporting, including by one of my favorite journalists, boltsmag.org/authors/phil...
After seeing this tree filled with mistletoe yesterday in Chapel Hill, suddenly the seemingly bizarre tradition of balls hanging on an Xmas tree makes sense to me.
December 5, 2025 at 1:17 PM
After seeing this tree filled with mistletoe yesterday in Chapel Hill, suddenly the seemingly bizarre tradition of balls hanging on an Xmas tree makes sense to me.
Excellent reporting by Phillip Vance Smith II. I wanted to pull out a few good quotes, but I couldn't choose. Instead, I invite you to read every word. This is the reality of people I love. It breaks me. @ncgovernor.bsky.social boltsmag.org/north-caroli...
North Carolina Prison Officials Raise Prices for Those Who Can Least Afford It - Bolts
It’s 4:30 pm on a Monday as Colell Steele stands in front of the closed canteen window at Neuse Correctional, a medium-custody prison in North Carolina. He’s lined up to... Read More
boltsmag.org
December 2, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Excellent reporting by Phillip Vance Smith II. I wanted to pull out a few good quotes, but I couldn't choose. Instead, I invite you to read every word. This is the reality of people I love. It breaks me. @ncgovernor.bsky.social boltsmag.org/north-caroli...
Please read this entire thread. @ncgovernor.bsky.social
Food for thought: As families across the U.S. sit down for Thanksgiving dinner, it's hard not to think about the nutritionally inadequate slop that incarcerated people are fed every single day (including holidays).
It doesn’t just taste bad – it’s a public health concern 🧵
It doesn’t just taste bad – it’s a public health concern 🧵
November 27, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Please read this entire thread. @ncgovernor.bsky.social
Excellent analysis by @cybelecanterel.bsky.social youtu.be/9V3oDdaqmmc
Epstein, Elite Power Networks, and The Utility of Disgrace
YouTube video by Cy Canterel
youtu.be
November 27, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Excellent analysis by @cybelecanterel.bsky.social youtu.be/9V3oDdaqmmc
This precious tree in my neighbor's yard always blooms in late fall or early winter, as if it's just too excited about spring to wait.
November 25, 2025 at 7:16 PM
This precious tree in my neighbor's yard always blooms in late fall or early winter, as if it's just too excited about spring to wait.
"(I)t has become a light-hearted tradition for the president and some governors to “pardon” turkeys before the Thanksgiving holiday...But...it’s hard not to think about the chronic underuse of clemency powers across the U.S., especially for people on death row." www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/11...
November 24, 2025 at 5:22 PM
"(I)t has become a light-hearted tradition for the president and some governors to “pardon” turkeys before the Thanksgiving holiday...But...it’s hard not to think about the chronic underuse of clemency powers across the U.S., especially for people on death row." www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/11...
A neighbor has these planted at the end of their driveway, and I am always struck by how bright and cheery they are.
November 24, 2025 at 1:14 PM
A neighbor has these planted at the end of their driveway, and I am always struck by how bright and cheery they are.
Phillip Vance Smith II's essay about Thanksgiving in prison is both sobering and inspiring. I am so grateful this amazing human is in this world. I am praying he gets clemency from @ncgovernor.bsky.social
prisonlifeunlocked.substack.com/p/what-its-l...
prisonlifeunlocked.substack.com/p/what-its-l...
What It’s Like Spending Thanksgiving Behind Bars
The reality of serving life without parole weighs me down most during the holidays.
prisonlifeunlocked.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Phillip Vance Smith II's essay about Thanksgiving in prison is both sobering and inspiring. I am so grateful this amazing human is in this world. I am praying he gets clemency from @ncgovernor.bsky.social
prisonlifeunlocked.substack.com/p/what-its-l...
prisonlifeunlocked.substack.com/p/what-its-l...
One friend incarcerated in NC DAC has regular anaphylaxis for which he's gotten no diagnosis or treatment. Another has worsening brain damage but has been told w/o evidence that it's "just inherited" & given no treatment despite worsening symptoms. Horrendous. @ncgovernor.bsky.social
“Nobody should have to fear dying in jail for a treatable medical problem,” Cunningham said in a statement.
A Jail Nurse Said Willie Cunningham Had Heartburn. It Was Appendicitis.
“Nobody should have to fear dying in jail for a treatable medical problem,” Cunningham said in a statement.
buff.ly
November 23, 2025 at 6:51 PM
One friend incarcerated in NC DAC has regular anaphylaxis for which he's gotten no diagnosis or treatment. Another has worsening brain damage but has been told w/o evidence that it's "just inherited" & given no treatment despite worsening symptoms. Horrendous. @ncgovernor.bsky.social
Reposted by a Me
Next week, join us in hitting pause on buying from corporations that enable Trump’s fascist agenda: weaintbuyingit.com?utm_source=b...
November 22, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Next week, join us in hitting pause on buying from corporations that enable Trump’s fascist agenda: weaintbuyingit.com?utm_source=b...
Excellent newsletter today from Benevolence Farm, which - among other things - provides transitional housing and employment for women and gender expansive people returning home from prison and jail.
benevolencefarm.org/ice-out-of-o...
benevolencefarm.org/ice-out-of-o...
November 21, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Excellent newsletter today from Benevolence Farm, which - among other things - provides transitional housing and employment for women and gender expansive people returning home from prison and jail.
benevolencefarm.org/ice-out-of-o...
benevolencefarm.org/ice-out-of-o...
Google's default is to opt you in to allowing them to steal your email contents for AI training. This article shows you how to opt out.
www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
Gmail can read your emails and attachments to train its AI, unless you opt out
A new Gmail update may allow Google to use your private messages and attachments for AI training. Here's how to turn it off.
www.malwarebytes.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Google's default is to opt you in to allowing them to steal your email contents for AI training. This article shows you how to opt out.
www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
Excellent analysis of the ways in which the carceral system profits off the backs of those incarcerated and their families. NC's "public" prisons drain families w/exploitative canteen & communication expenses, paid to private companies that give kickbacks to NC DAC. @ncgovernor.bsky.social
"Since the mid-1980s, government and business interests have retrofitted criminal legal institutions so that they function as generators of revenue." @joshpage.bsky.social & @joesoss.bsky.social on what happens when you merge extractive capitalism + the carceral state
Indentured Citizens - Joshua Page & Joe Soss - Inquest
Making incarceration profitable—for both the state and corporations—generates untold hardship not only for incarcerated people but also for their families and communities.
inquest.org
November 18, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Excellent analysis of the ways in which the carceral system profits off the backs of those incarcerated and their families. NC's "public" prisons drain families w/exploitative canteen & communication expenses, paid to private companies that give kickbacks to NC DAC. @ncgovernor.bsky.social
Excellent reporting about the ways voices from inside are suppressed and silenced. "A free country needs a truly free prison press."
"Prison journalism should not be starved, stifled, or silenced. In a free society, attendant to the needs of all its people, including most especially wards of the state, government institutions should be held accountable to the public—by a free press."
When Reporting Is a Crime - Corinne Shanahan & Andrew Crespo - Inquest
States have restricted, surveilled, and punished prison journalism for decades, with dire consequences—for incarcerated people and for democracy.
inquest.org
November 16, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Excellent reporting about the ways voices from inside are suppressed and silenced. "A free country needs a truly free prison press."
Reposted by a Me
NC peeps!
OJO Obrero (ojonc.org) is now available. This website features information about confirmed ICE operations in our state to help parents and workers get to school and work safely. OJO Obrero only features sightings that we can confirm involve federal agents, rather than crowdsourced reports
November 15, 2025 at 7:16 PM
NC peeps!
Read this. It's infuriating. Period products are limited. If you bleed on your bed b/c of that? Get punished for damaging state property. Got a pad from a friend? Get punished for having contraband. @ncgovernor.bsky.social
Prison disciplinary policies often target menstruators and make it even harder for them to access menstrual products. My analysis with @prisonpolicy.org dug into this widespread issue.
Menstruation as misconduct: How prisons punish people for having their periods
Our analysis of prison rules and sanctions across all fifty states and the federal system — as well as accounts of incarcerated people — reveal ...
www.prisonpolicy.org
November 13, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Read this. It's infuriating. Period products are limited. If you bleed on your bed b/c of that? Get punished for damaging state property. Got a pad from a friend? Get punished for having contraband. @ncgovernor.bsky.social
Reposted by a Me
Families shouldn't have to go into debt to stay connected.
The FCC affirmed this last year when it voted to end exploitative phone and video calling rates in jails and prisons—but now it has reversed course and raised price caps. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/u...
The FCC affirmed this last year when it voted to end exploitative phone and video calling rates in jails and prisons—but now it has reversed course and raised price caps. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/u...
November 10, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Families shouldn't have to go into debt to stay connected.
The FCC affirmed this last year when it voted to end exploitative phone and video calling rates in jails and prisons—but now it has reversed course and raised price caps. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/u...
The FCC affirmed this last year when it voted to end exploitative phone and video calling rates in jails and prisons—but now it has reversed course and raised price caps. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/u...
I've never been pregnant myself, but I cannot imagine being pregnant in a NC prison and not even getting extra pillows. @ncgovernor.bsky.social, surely NC DAC can do better than this.
Each year, thousands of pregnant people are incarcerated – yet some states fail to provide basic care and necessary accommodations during pregnancy.
Locking up pregnant people does not leave anyone better off.
Locking up pregnant people does not leave anyone better off.
November 9, 2025 at 8:58 PM
I've never been pregnant myself, but I cannot imagine being pregnant in a NC prison and not even getting extra pillows. @ncgovernor.bsky.social, surely NC DAC can do better than this.
This writer is in NY. NC prison canteen prices (plus markups/kickbacks) charged by @ncgovernor.bsky.social 's DAC are painful, especially given the low wages earned by able-bodied folks who are incarcerated ($0.40 to $1.00 per DAY, or zero for those unable to work).
www.vera.org/news/too-lit...
www.vera.org/news/too-lit...
November 9, 2025 at 4:47 PM
This writer is in NY. NC prison canteen prices (plus markups/kickbacks) charged by @ncgovernor.bsky.social 's DAC are painful, especially given the low wages earned by able-bodied folks who are incarcerated ($0.40 to $1.00 per DAY, or zero for those unable to work).
www.vera.org/news/too-lit...
www.vera.org/news/too-lit...