a Me
@amejx.bsky.social
Nerdy, Quaker, atheist, queer, neurodivergent human in NC. She/they. Lover of the natural world. Full of hope & grief about the Way Things Are.
I care a lot about prison communication justice & joined
https://benevolencefarm.org/connecting-families-nc/
I care a lot about prison communication justice & joined
https://benevolencefarm.org/connecting-families-nc/
Pinned
a Me
@amejx.bsky.social
· 3h
Families in #NorthCarolina bear the burden of exploitative prison communication expenses. No child should be prevented from talking to their parent because of the cost. benevolencefarm.org/connecting-f... #ncpol
Families in #NorthCarolina bear the burden of exploitative prison communication expenses. No child should be prevented from talking to their parent because of the cost. benevolencefarm.org/connecting-f... #ncpol
January 20, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Families in #NorthCarolina bear the burden of exploitative prison communication expenses. No child should be prevented from talking to their parent because of the cost. benevolencefarm.org/connecting-f... #ncpol
Budget stalemate contributes to ‘dire’ conditions in NC prisons, agency leader says ncnewsline.com/2026/01/15/b... FIRE safety upgrades needed. “If we do not address these issues, something bad will happen,” she said. “It is not a question of ‘if,’ it’s a question of ‘when.” #ncpol #NorthCarolina
Budget stalemate contributes to 'dire' conditions in NC prisons, agency leader says • NC Newsline
NC prisons are so understaffed that they're dangerous, the head of the state prison system told state lawmakers Thursday. Low starting pay makes it hard to hire.
ncnewsline.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:06 PM
Budget stalemate contributes to ‘dire’ conditions in NC prisons, agency leader says ncnewsline.com/2026/01/15/b... FIRE safety upgrades needed. “If we do not address these issues, something bad will happen,” she said. “It is not a question of ‘if,’ it’s a question of ‘when.” #ncpol #NorthCarolina
Prison labor is slave labor. "Missing work is categorized as a serious offense because prisons can’t operate without our labor." This story highlights how bad TN prison wages are: $0.24 to $0.59 per hour. #NorthCarolina is worse: $0.40 to $1.00 per DAY.
prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/01/13/t...
prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/01/13/t...
Tennessee’s First Prison Pay Raise in at Least 33 Years Isn’t Enough
The new salaries are still not enough for us to afford items from the prison commissary.
prisonjournalismproject.org
January 18, 2026 at 4:16 PM
Prison labor is slave labor. "Missing work is categorized as a serious offense because prisons can’t operate without our labor." This story highlights how bad TN prison wages are: $0.24 to $0.59 per hour. #NorthCarolina is worse: $0.40 to $1.00 per DAY.
prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/01/13/t...
prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/01/13/t...
Unlike in #NorthCarolina, where we pay exploitative costs to communicate, phone calls from prison in CA are free & easily accessible. Cameron Terhune in CA writes, "(N)ow, as I talk to people on the phone with regularity, my heart is awakening."
prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/01/13/h...
prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/01/13/h...
How Tablet Phone Calls Are Reshaping Life in Prison
Thanks to electronic tablets, we have the access and privacy needed for meaningful conversation.
prisonjournalismproject.org
January 18, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Unlike in #NorthCarolina, where we pay exploitative costs to communicate, phone calls from prison in CA are free & easily accessible. Cameron Terhune in CA writes, "(N)ow, as I talk to people on the phone with regularity, my heart is awakening."
prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/01/13/h...
prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/01/13/h...
"You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye" (Matt. 7:5)
January 16, 2026 at 5:21 PM
"You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye" (Matt. 7:5)
I'm in #NorthCarolina, but I am joining in this economic boycott on January 23, in solidarity with the state of Minnesota.
“Now is the time”: Minnesota calls for general strike on January 23 to drive ICE out
Faith groups, labor unions, community organizations, businesses, and more have come together to mobilize millions to withdraw from the economy on the day of action.
peoplesdispatch.org/2026/01/13/n...
Faith groups, labor unions, community organizations, businesses, and more have come together to mobilize millions to withdraw from the economy on the day of action.
peoplesdispatch.org/2026/01/13/n...
“Now is the time”: Minnesota calls for general strike on January 23 to drive ICE out : Peoples Dispatch
Faith groups, labor unions, community organizations, businesses, and more have come together to mobilize millions to withdraw from the economy on the day of action.
peoplesdispatch.org
January 16, 2026 at 12:34 PM
I'm in #NorthCarolina, but I am joining in this economic boycott on January 23, in solidarity with the state of Minnesota.
"As my PaPa testified during my trial, we are no longer living under slavery, and the government should not be able to steal Black babies away from their families." #NorthCarolina #ncpol @jeffjacksonnc.bsky.social
"Although I was eventually released from jail and all charges against me were dismissed, I still have never had my parental rights reinstated or been reunited with Mansa and Kimoni." Toia Potts's terrifying first-person account of the racist violence of family policing.
CPS Stole My Children - Toia Potts - Inquest
When I was falsely accused of abuse, North Carolina took away my sons. I was exonerated but I still may never see them again.
inquest.org
January 15, 2026 at 3:41 PM
"As my PaPa testified during my trial, we are no longer living under slavery, and the government should not be able to steal Black babies away from their families." #NorthCarolina #ncpol @jeffjacksonnc.bsky.social
@barryyeoman.com was always a bad-ass! barry-yeoman.beehiiv.com/p/flashback-...
Flashback to my baby journalist days
Standing up to authority in the face of intimidation. Plus, the places where I'm finding encouragement.
barry-yeoman.beehiiv.com
January 15, 2026 at 2:16 PM
@barryyeoman.com was always a bad-ass! barry-yeoman.beehiiv.com/p/flashback-...
Reposted by a Me
@cybelecanterel.bsky.social is making some of the best, most thoughtful, insightful, and CORRECT analysis videos of our moment.
you get smarter by watching them.
you get smarter by watching them.
We’re Not Living in the Same Reality Anymore
YouTube video by Cy Canterel
youtu.be
January 13, 2026 at 5:15 PM
@cybelecanterel.bsky.social is making some of the best, most thoughtful, insightful, and CORRECT analysis videos of our moment.
you get smarter by watching them.
you get smarter by watching them.
A story about chosen family. A story about health care. A story about NC prisons. "An Unlikely Prison Friendship: How Strangers Bonded Through Hardship," by Phillip Vance Smith II open.substack.com/pub/prisonli...
An Unlikely Prison Friendship: How Strangers Bonded Through Hardship
It’s a little after four a.m.
open.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 12:35 PM
A story about chosen family. A story about health care. A story about NC prisons. "An Unlikely Prison Friendship: How Strangers Bonded Through Hardship," by Phillip Vance Smith II open.substack.com/pub/prisonli...
I love this so much. ncnewsline.com/2026/01/06/f...
Former inmate buys NC prison to help others who have served time • NC Newsline
Kerwin Pittman is laying claim to an unusual title — he says he’s the first formerly incarcerated person in the U.S. to purchase a prison.
ncnewsline.com
January 11, 2026 at 4:36 PM
I love this so much. ncnewsline.com/2026/01/06/f...
I only learned recently that all in NC can get a library card with statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/search-libra.... Thanks to that digital card, I got to learn more about what a brilliant, hilariously dirty mind Jane Austen had: www.jstor.org/stable/2903126 #NorthCarolina
SLNC Government and Heritage Library Card | SLNC
Apply for a library card to the Government and Heritage Library, part of the State Library of North Carolina.
statelibrary.ncdcr.gov
January 11, 2026 at 1:37 PM
I only learned recently that all in NC can get a library card with statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/search-libra.... Thanks to that digital card, I got to learn more about what a brilliant, hilariously dirty mind Jane Austen had: www.jstor.org/stable/2903126 #NorthCarolina
Reposted by a Me
And here's some ways to find out whether companies you support profit off off surveillance, detention, mass incarceration and more:
American Friends Service Committee investigate.afsc.org/all-companie...
As You Sow www.asyousow.org/invest-your-...
and www.facingsouth.org/2025/12/whos...
American Friends Service Committee investigate.afsc.org/all-companie...
As You Sow www.asyousow.org/invest-your-...
and www.facingsouth.org/2025/12/whos...
Who's making big money off Border Patrol and ICE contracts?
In the wake of high-profile immigration operations in Louisiana and North Carolina, a Facing South/Institute analysis looks at more than 50 businesses in both states receiving money from U.S. Border P...
www.facingsouth.org
January 10, 2026 at 3:39 PM
And here's some ways to find out whether companies you support profit off off surveillance, detention, mass incarceration and more:
American Friends Service Committee investigate.afsc.org/all-companie...
As You Sow www.asyousow.org/invest-your-...
and www.facingsouth.org/2025/12/whos...
American Friends Service Committee investigate.afsc.org/all-companie...
As You Sow www.asyousow.org/invest-your-...
and www.facingsouth.org/2025/12/whos...
TextBehind has increased its pricing dramatically. In 2025, I could send a scan of a 1-pg black & white pdf letter to an incarcerated loved one in NC for $0.10. Today it's $1.04! WTF?! 🤯@ncgovernor.bsky.social @jeffjacksonnc.bsky.social @prisonpolicy.org @worthrises.bsky.social
January 8, 2026 at 4:12 PM
TextBehind has increased its pricing dramatically. In 2025, I could send a scan of a 1-pg black & white pdf letter to an incarcerated loved one in NC for $0.10. Today it's $1.04! WTF?! 🤯@ncgovernor.bsky.social @jeffjacksonnc.bsky.social @prisonpolicy.org @worthrises.bsky.social
Reposted by a Me
"We faced shrinking food portions, high prices for communication, & solitary confinement, but we didn’t write about them... No warden ever said, ‘You can’t print that,’ yet the threat of retaliation kept us in check." Phillip Vance Smith II on running a prison newspaper.
What Is the Role of the Prison Journalist? - Phillip Vance Smith II - Inquest
A former editor-in-chief of a prison newspaper examines the responsibility of prison journalists, the constraints they work under, and why reporting from inside matters.
inquest.org
January 8, 2026 at 2:38 PM
"We faced shrinking food portions, high prices for communication, & solitary confinement, but we didn’t write about them... No warden ever said, ‘You can’t print that,’ yet the threat of retaliation kept us in check." Phillip Vance Smith II on running a prison newspaper.
Visited a loved one in prison. He's in high school, & his NC DAC SCIENCE teacher has been trying to teach the class that the earth is flat w/a dome over it so that humans cannot leave (i.e. couldn't have gone to the moon or sent drones to Mars). 🧨🧠🤯@ncgovernor.bsky.social
January 2, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Visited a loved one in prison. He's in high school, & his NC DAC SCIENCE teacher has been trying to teach the class that the earth is flat w/a dome over it so that humans cannot leave (i.e. couldn't have gone to the moon or sent drones to Mars). 🧨🧠🤯@ncgovernor.bsky.social
Today's @prisonpolicy.org newsletter alerted me to this new, sobering research re: NC DAC: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Nearly 25% of 2021-23 pop had been in solitary. "Those experiencing solitary confinement died at over twice the rate of others." @ncgovernor.bsky.social #ncpol
The use of solitary confinement and in-custody mortality in North Carolina State Prisons, 2021–2023
Solitary confinement is associated with increased mortality post-release. Little is known about its use following recent reforms and COVID-19 challeng…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 29, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Today's @prisonpolicy.org newsletter alerted me to this new, sobering research re: NC DAC: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Nearly 25% of 2021-23 pop had been in solitary. "Those experiencing solitary confinement died at over twice the rate of others." @ncgovernor.bsky.social #ncpol
@cybelecanterel.bsky.social , you had me at, "The US Healthcare IS socialism...just for corporations." www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxcZ...
The US Healthcare System Is Socialism for Corporations
YouTube video by Cy Canterel
www.youtube.com
December 29, 2025 at 3:26 PM
@cybelecanterel.bsky.social , you had me at, "The US Healthcare IS socialism...just for corporations." www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxcZ...
Yikes, Asheville! Et tu, Asheville?! Read the full thread. Then, if you haven't read it, read @brian-goldstone.bsky.social 's wonderful book, There is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America libro.fm/audiobooks/9.... #ncpol
December 29, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Yikes, Asheville! Et tu, Asheville?! Read the full thread. Then, if you haven't read it, read @brian-goldstone.bsky.social 's wonderful book, There is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America libro.fm/audiobooks/9.... #ncpol
This is way, way too familiar. My friends incarcerated in NC describe the same kinds of issues, for themselves and others. One friend has routine, untreated anaphylaxis. One has neuro symptoms & worsening brain damage per CT, but no diagnosis or treatment. @ncgovernor.bsky.social #ncpol
What does it mean to get sick behind bars, where care comes second to cutting costs and avoiding lawsuits?
For some, it means being ignored until an illness brings you to the brink of death:
chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...
For some, it means being ignored until an illness brings you to the brink of death:
chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...
December 28, 2025 at 2:48 PM
This is way, way too familiar. My friends incarcerated in NC describe the same kinds of issues, for themselves and others. One friend has routine, untreated anaphylaxis. One has neuro symptoms & worsening brain damage per CT, but no diagnosis or treatment. @ncgovernor.bsky.social #ncpol
White-banded crab spider #InverteFest
December 28, 2025 at 2:41 PM
White-banded crab spider #InverteFest
Michael Bell will no longer be able to receive a letter with the scent of his grandma's perfume greeting him with love. I am so sad to see that Illinois is joining NC in denying people the right to receive their own postal mail while in prison. @ncgovernor.bsky.social
When I and many of the men around me were at our hope’s end, letters and pictures were the knots at the end of the rope that we clung to.
In Prison, Holding Handwritten Cards Is a Rare Joy. Illinois Is Taking It Away.
When mail is digitized, it becomes sterile – no longer a precious handwritten card that smells like my gramma’s perfume.
buff.ly
December 25, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Michael Bell will no longer be able to receive a letter with the scent of his grandma's perfume greeting him with love. I am so sad to see that Illinois is joining NC in denying people the right to receive their own postal mail while in prison. @ncgovernor.bsky.social
Reposted by a Me
Phone calls home help maintain the connection when loved ones are separated maintaining that connection can translate into a softer landing when being released. This is just cruel and bad policy if you truly want people to be rehabilitated, which we know they don’t.
“Making incarcerated people pay for communication has a regressive effect on their well-being, on their improvement in prison, and after they are released,” says Wanda Betram, a spokesperson for the Prison Policy Initiative.
Priced Out of Phone Calls Home
The FCC blocked Biden-era limits on the exorbitant rates and fees charged by prison telecom companies, leaving incarcerated people and their families to fight for state-level reforms.
boltsmag.org
December 25, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Phone calls home help maintain the connection when loved ones are separated maintaining that connection can translate into a softer landing when being released. This is just cruel and bad policy if you truly want people to be rehabilitated, which we know they don’t.