Professor Emerita of English and Women’s Studies. Graduate of Mississippi University for Women. Mississippi Democrat. Mother of five; grandmother of five. Fan of history based on primary documents.
1,193 followers 941 following 751 posts
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I’m relieved that my husband and I have appointments tomorrow to get our flu and Covid shots at our local Walgreens. I’m also going to ask my pharmacist about whooping cough vaccines. With so many unvaccinated children in Mississippi, I think we might need more protection.
NEW: When Biden nominated Scott Colom to a federal court, U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith used the Senate's "blue slip" tradition to block his nomination. Now, instead of a federal judgeship, Colom is aiming to unseat her in the Senate. @heatherharrison.bsky.social reports on his campaign launch:
It's easy to pretend that you don't need a safety net when women are doing the work of keeping you safe, unseen.
Good for them. They know the perpetrators better than anybody.
Yes! Our Nora is a sassy 14 year old!
He has my total support.
A good day to bring my last essay back to the top in honor of the #EpsteinList survivors speaking up.
Yes, it is bad.
Nadler ‘said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel was committing mass murder and war crimes in Gaza “without question.”’
"Blueskyism" helped the Mississippi Free Press overcome algorithmic suppression on other platforms (Facebook, Threads) and ride out plummeting engagement on Twitter following Musk's X takeover. Thank God we took our eggs out of the X basket when we did.
I think I could take your opinion more seriously if you didn’t call yourself tinybaby.
🤦🏼 Funny, just today I was re-reading about disturbing publishing decisions of The Atlantic in its past. About as bad as it gets.
I got the shingles vaccine last year and it affected me like this. But 24 hours later I felt fine except for a sore arm.
Walking home from the coffee shop and someone tried to give me a free spider plant. Yeah, I know how this works. First ones free. Then before you know it you’re repotting succulents in back alleys
This is a bad AI rendition.
9 CDC Directors going back to 1977 speak out. What RFK Jr has done to our nation’s public health system "should alarm every American." It "is unlike anything we have ever seen at the agency, and unlike anything our country has ever experienced." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
Bless you. We white folks are all you here in Mississippi.
This.
Such a beautifully written and reported long-form piece by @shaunicymuhammad.bsky.social. Please read. And her gorgeous photos. #HurricaneKatrina was about real people losing everything, not politicians or power grabs. Never forget that.
so many people are going to die because not enough people were willing to believe that RFK jr would actually try to do exactly what he has said for decades that he wanted to do
I’ll never forget working with (and sharing a powerless house) with David Rae and fam in Jackson as we kept the journalism (and our #HurricaneKatrina “triage blog” of community assistance sources) going strong night and day at the Jackson Free Press.
I just saw someone refer to rfk jr as microwaved mel gibson & i can’t unsee it.
I hope people realize how absolutely fucked this situation is. This isn’t normal. People are resigning all over the place because the government is mishandling our data, ruining our public health services, and generally making Americans less safe.
Nothing more delightful than media dutifully facilitating a Haley Barbour rehabilitation tour. Read the rest of the story here, by Ellen Ann Fentress, about his #HurricaneKatrina games: www.mississippifreepress.org/before-missi...
The fact that children in America have to live in fear of mass shootings is far more important than Cracker Barrel's corporate logo decisions. But the White House only cares about tackling one of these issues.
Me too.
Not MERLE! 😳
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www.cbsnews.com/news/mississ... Mississippi is what, somewhere in the low 40s out of 50 states on maternal mortality?
Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is exporting his far-right agenda to Latin America. Through Madrid-based think tanks, CPAC, and alliances with leaders in Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil, his regime is promoting anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ+, and anti-gender policies across the region. Read more:
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Not every story has two equal “sides.” Report the *truth*: that’s our job protected by the First Amendment.
🚨Start the semester out right with academic freedom syllabus language, an academic freedom module, & an academic freedom reading list! Suitable for UG & grad classes, faculty workshops! Thanks to @isaac_kamola, @aaup for these great resources! www.aaup.org/about/progra...
Amen. They stink of privilege.
Me too, last week. There is nothing like the relief I feel when I get the letter saying “no cancer detected.”
Dear journalists: The President has not fired Lisa Cook. The President is *trying* to illegally fire her. Your words shape people’s reality. Please be accurate in your reporting.
TTTHHHIIIISSSSSSSS IS WHAT DEFENDING DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!!!!!!!!!
substack.com/@lavrietakwi...
Amen.
We’ve been doing Free Press journalism Mississippi for 23 years and despite repeated barriers. This is another we will weather with your help. Also, thank you, readers, for the donations coming in since this news broke. And the advice. Give at MFP.ms/donate+subscribe free at MFP.ms/subscribe
This is pretty fucked. I get it but states like Mississippi need information from independent sources way more than a lot of other states.
I wish to highlight @ashtonpittman.bsky.social and other OUTSTANDING journalists like him at the Mississippi Free Press. These are real reporters investigating & reporting on very important stories, defending democracy, shining a light on abuses of authority. 🥇🏆🙌🏻 Please follow him and others.
I agree with Bluesky’s decision because the law is insane, but we need to find a way to help these guys out. They do great work.
I am in Mississippi and use this app every day. I apparently still have my account and can read and make posts. Will my account be deleted soon? Please explain.
I’m in Columbus.
We are all sinners, but James Dobson is in a class by himself. He dedicated his entire life to hurting children and making them afraid of an angry God. He ordered parents to whip their toddlers with belts. He told them to hit children until they cried. www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...
You know who this hurts? You know who this kills? Queer people and Black women. That's the point.
Fox 17 Nashville reports that Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been released from criminal detention in Tennessee and is on his way home to Maryland. “Today, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is free,” his attorney, @sean-hecker.bsky.social, said in a statement. fox17.com/news/local/k...
On December 14, 2012, a mass shooter murdered 20 children, ages 6 and 7, and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. Four days later, evangelical author James Dobson claimed the mass shooting was God's retribution for abortion and gay marriage. He died today at 89.
James Dobson dedicated his life to evil and the world is worse because he made it so on purpose. defector.com/james-dobson...
Yes. We need a stake through Dobson’s heart.
And good riddance.
James Dobson (RIH) once said that the Sandy Hook Elementary School deaths of little children was a judgement by God because of American acceptance of gay marriage. I wonder what James Dobson's death is a judgement of--and why that judgment was so long in coming after such a vile utterance?
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Yeah, I knew they’d eventually get around to us.
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I also apologize for my extreme partisanship when I say that slavery was bad. Very unprofessional of me as a journalist to take sides, I know.
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They both have eyes that are too close together. Who is his wife? There are dozens of Kennedy cousins.
Mississippi 👀
My 5 year old granddaughter has been visiting this month, and we’ve watched it eleventy billion times. I have to say I still like it.
What six wars does he say he’s ended?
Holmes County, Mississippi has the highest violent crime rate in the nation.
Do you not realize she died in September, 2024?
Somebody needs to call Child Protective Services and get the children away from this lunatic.
We have Episcopal church clergy and lay leaders who have signed guardianship papers for US citizen kids in case their parents, all of them part of our church communities, are detained. Kyrie eleison. I hate this timeline but we have to be prepared. ⚓️
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
I’m so sad. Greg was amazing in every way. We also appreciate his support of @mississippifreepress.org including a recent novel reference. So special.
😢
We had good attendance at our regular pro -democracy rally at noon. We aren’t staying quiet in Columbus, Mississippi. #rachelmaddow
Well done, Alaska.
With a choice quote from me. “It signals to the Black citizens in [Louisiana] that [Landry] thinks you’re second-class and he doesn’t care if you’re offended,” University of North Carolina Charlotte historian Karen Cox, a scholar on the legacy of Confederate monuments, said of Landry’s decision.
District Attorney of Philadelphia:
Yes. And it gets greedier every day until the narcissist dies.
Me too. Thank you.
😂
And this is the truth.
He’s my hero. I would have thrown the sandwich too, after I put extra hot mustard and jalapeños on it.
Our oldest son has always had a sharp sense of fashion, and is in his late fifties. By the time he was 14, he had very specific wants for cotton dress shirts (for church) and cotton polos. Although I kept the clothes ironed, he decided he wanted better, and started ironing. He’s a master.
Watching K-Pop Demon Hunters with my Tokyo Granddaughter for the 11th time. It’s really good—we know all the songs now.
Yes. That’s a no for me. Too ego driven.
I know you would!
Release the files. We don’t care if there are left wing rapists mingling with the right wing rapists. Put them all under the jail.
I happened upon a local rally for democracy in Cold Spring, NY. They’re out here at this intersection every Saturday morning. 50 patriotic folks out here today. Great stuff. #NoKings.👇
Only hateful, disgusting animals would do this.
Of course. They voted for a convicted rapist in 2024.
Good point. Before the vaccination for Rubella, my aunt caught the “German measles” when she was pregnant with my youngest first cousin. He is nearly deaf. It has affected his whole life negatively.
Bonnie Oppenheimer won the sign challenge at our protest today 😁 in Columbus, Mississippi.
On our lead story tonight:
A pleasant surprise to wake up and find myself cited in @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/comment/regi... @unibirmingham.bsky.social
I agree.
⬇️ Cuomo, btw, is a perfect example of power rehabbing a man who mistreated women and believes he has right to retake the reins of power. Everyone helping him try to regain power is complicit. My essay yesterday about men who won’t take no for an answer: www.mississippifreepress.org/democracy-th...
There was an actual tapestry. Inside the original double album cover is an image of the needlepoint I worked on when I wasn't playing or singing. You can see where I stitched the words "thank you" before I gave it to Lou. From "A Natural Woman" Photo by Jim McCrary Courtesy Lou Adler / Ode Records
Today at noon in downtown Columbus, Mississippi. 8/1/2025 @maddow.msnbc.com
He is the president of my country. I do my own organizing and speaking against what he says about America. Why is it hard to understand that there are Americans who aren’t 100 percent in support of him?
This is really interesting.
Yet another principled departure from an outlet I once loved ... "The Constitution gives us the inherent, unapologetically patriotic right to rail against such affronts to democracy and the rule of law. The First Amendment demands it." ‼️