Racism to Reconciliation Archives - Ellen Morris Prewitt

Mrs. Wells

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on July 6, 2026. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 4 Comments on Mrs. Wells

Ellen started it. Not me. Ellen Hebron, the Vicksburg writer who in the 1800s was devoted to the Southern cause. Her honorary membership in the Mississippi Press Association led me to ask if the MPA had so honored Ida B. Wells, who was from Holly Springs and wrote around the same time as Ellen. Two Mississippi writers, one a Confederate married...

It’s Official!

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 1, 2026. Posted in General, Racism to Reconciliation. 19 Comments on It’s Official!

It’s official! The Mississippi Press Association will induct Ida B. Wells into its Hall of Fame. Mrs. Wells is by many accounts the greatest journalist Mississippi has ever produced. Born in Holly Springs, she moved to Memphis to teach school. In 1892, when a white mob lynched Mrs. Wells’ friend and successful grocery man Thomas...

Lies of History

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 8, 2026. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 18 Comments on Lies of History

Rarely do I write a book review mid-book. But W. E.B. Du Bois’s Black Reconstruction in America: 1860-1880, has so fascinated me, I need to share. Of course, lies of history are gonna rivet me. Besides, the book is over 700 pages, so I might actually need three posts to cover it. Here’s a primary premise of the book: Americans of...

MEMPHIS, y’all

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on October 3, 2025. Posted in General, LOVE, Racism to Reconciliation. 10 Comments on MEMPHIS, y’all

Hand-in-hand, we strolled down Front Street, the Memphis sky as blue as the air was crisp. At the new bakery, I ordered lox and bagel, cafe au lait, and, for Tom, a breakfast sandwich with drip coffee. The small bakery space was almost empty, quiet, until we stepped back to wait on our order, and the people poured in. At 9:30 on a Friday...

Our Federal Court System

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on July 15, 2025. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 2 Comments on Our Federal Court System

I’m biased, I admit. I grew up in a time when the sea wall against the flood of fascism was our federal court system. In Mississippi in the 1960s, the state had lost its mind over the end of segregation. Officials declared federal law null and void inside Mississippi. According to this myth, anything the state did in response to the...

Granddaughter of the Instigator

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 16, 2025. Posted in Featured, Racism to Reconciliation. 9 Comments on Granddaughter of the Instigator

We get many names during our lives, some given to us and some assumed. I didn’t ask for “granddaughter of the instigator,” but it’s true. Here’s the origin story: https://www.salvationsouth.com/granddaughter-of-the-instigator-vicksburg-massacre-ellen-morris-prewitt

The Unveiling

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 13, 2025. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 4 Comments on The Unveiling

Down to the Lick Log

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 12, 2025. Posted in General, Racism to Reconciliation, Writing. 14 Comments on Down to the Lick Log

Sometimes, the rubber hits the road. Or, to use a more personal metaphor, sooner or later, we get down to the lick log. I know a lick log because the cows at Mamo and Papo’s farm had salt licks. My Uncle Jimmy put the blocks of salt on stumps in the field behind the barn. The cows, for God knows what reason, liked salt. They would low...

Fix the Creative Writing Workshop

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 15, 2025. Posted in General, Racism to Reconciliation, Writing. 6 Comments on Fix the Creative Writing Workshop

Are you a writer? In the course of “learning to write,” have you participated in a writing workshop? How did it go? Was it fun? Did it make the piece you were workshopping better? Did you learn something profound that stuck with you? Or were the teachings smothered by the acidic emotions of being “critiqued” by those who...

Origin of Black History Month

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on February 28, 2025. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 6 Comments on Origin of Black History Month

Today, the last day of February, we’re going to give credit where credit is due. The origin of Black History Month. Q: Who started it? A: Carter Woodson. Woodson was a major American historian living and working during the first half of the 20th century. He founded the predecessor to the Journal of African American History, one of the...