Writer Ellen Morris Prewitt Blog

Black Authors in February

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on February 4, 2023. Posted in Writing. No Comments on Black Authors in February

It’s a mashup, I admit that. This February during Black History Month, over in the Fediverse, I’m sharing a recommendation a day on Black authors whose work I love. So, for all you folks not on Mastodon, I’ll occasionally re-share here these Black authors in February recs. If you follow this blog, some you’ll be familiar...

My Heart is in Memphis

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on January 28, 2023. Posted in Featured, Racism to Reconciliation. 7 Comments on My Heart is in Memphis

First, there is racism. I will keep reposting this until it is no longer true. Again. And again and again. Why do killings keep happening? Because, in America, first, there is racism. Tyre D. Nichols’ photography can be viewed here: T. Nichols Photography A photo of Tyre D. Nichols at his memorial service

White Privilege as Spiritual Discipline: When

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on January 22, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 8 Comments on White Privilege as Spiritual Discipline: When

When I wrote about examining white privilege as a spiritual discipline, I had no idea how unoriginal it was. Turns out, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Adventists, Unitarian Universalists, United Church of Christ, Mennonites, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists–all acknowledge examining white privilege as a spiritual discipline. Apparently,...

Our Different Realities

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on January 16, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 10 Comments on Our Different Realities

On this Martin Luther King Day, I acknowledge a truth. The years of us white folks embedding racism in American society has warped our perception. We whites see different realities from Black folk, every day, day-by-day. If I’m inside the white community, I experience life in America differently than those who aren’t. How Different...

White Privilege as Spiritual Discipline

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on January 4, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 9 Comments on White Privilege as Spiritual Discipline

White people hate the term “white privilege.” Why? Because life is hard for all of us. “Privilege” implies ease, and our lives have not, in fact, been easy. Also, as Americans, we value rugged individualism. Only those who made their own way in the world count as successful. No silver spoons for us, thank you very much. You...

New Cowboy Boots: A Conversation

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on December 19, 2022. Posted in Featured, General, LOVE. 8 Comments on New Cowboy Boots: A Conversation

Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with the need to buy a pair of new cowboy boots. Every Christmas when I was a little girl, we got a new pair of boots. In lucky years, we got the whole nine yards: turquoise jeans, snap shirt, belt, hat, and the boots. My beloved husband agreed to wedge this shopping trip into an already complicated, whirlwind trip...

Everett’s The Trees

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on December 12, 2022. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation, Writing. 4 Comments on Everett’s The Trees

Percival Everett’s The TREES is the most sarcastic, gut-punchingly funny novel about the Emmett Till lynching. As I type that sentence, I think, What the hell? In the apt words of one of the characters from The Trees, it is, “A sentence I never imagined myself saying.” Very on-brand that this book, which short-listed for the Booker...

The Grace of Leaves

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on December 7, 2022. Posted in General. 4 Comments on The Grace of Leaves

This afternoon, I swept the front porch. Air too soft for December swirled around my ankles. “The leaves keep falling!” called the across-the-street neighbor who I can’t figure out when he chooses to speak, or not. “Yes,” I responded. “We don’t have a tree on our property, but we’ve got leaves.” Too...

By Hands Now Known

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on December 6, 2022. Posted in Racism to Reconciliation. 2 Comments on By Hands Now Known

I have been reading about my American South’s racial violence for over twenty years, and yet, “By Hands Now Known,” caused me to go get a rosary to hold while reading. The full name of the book is a clue to its unsettling nature: “By Hands Now Known: Jim Crow’s Legal Executioners.” Margaret A. Burnham’s...

Stream of Life

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on December 3, 2022. Posted in Featured, General, GOD, Racism to Reconciliation. 6 Comments on Stream of Life

The stream of life is out in the country. You can only get to it by driving dirt roads. Then you have to walk a beaten path through pin oaks, pines, and hickories that will roll an ankle if you’re not careful. Just when you’ve given up, the trees open and a sandy-bottomed creek sparkles in the sun. We enter the water, startled by its...