Writer Ellen Morris Prewitt Blog

How to be a Winner in the New Normal

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 12, 2016. Posted in General, Racism to Reconciliation. 11 Comments on How to be a Winner in the New Normal

I’ve never been with a winner. Well, except that streak when the North Carolina Tar Heels won the NCAA Basketball tournament and the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series and Peyton Manning and the Colts won the Super Bowl. That was an outlier. The problem is, I don’t tend to pick my “teams” based on winner criteria....

My Patriotism, Who Knew?

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 6, 2016. Posted in General, GRIEF, LAWYER, LOVE. 2 Comments on My Patriotism, Who Knew?

For almost a week now, creeping unbidden into my brain is the image of me early voting. I keep seeing me walking across the voting precinct floor. I pause, touching the arm of the poll worker who is leading me to my machine. He is older, African American, and he pauses too. “I feel like I did when I voted for President Obama,” I tell...

My Choice, One Way or Another

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on November 2, 2016. Posted in General, GRIEF. 5 Comments on My Choice, One Way or Another

For some of you this might be too much information, but for too long we haven’t shared then complained when others don’t understand. So here goes: During the abortion wars of my youth (and by “youth” I mean when I was in my 30s) when the airwaves were filled with demands to ban abortion even in the case of rape or incest,...

Dressing Up My Vote

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on October 21, 2016. Posted in General, LAWYER. 6 Comments on Dressing Up My Vote

Usually, when I vote, I dress to scare the other voters standing in line. I want them to look at me and think, “Dear God—she’s got the right to vote?” But this morning when I thought about casting my vote to elect our next president, I went back to 1982 when I arrived at Wise Carter law firm in Jackson, Mississippi as a new associate. I’d brought...

Toppled from My High Perch of Holiness

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on October 21, 2016. Posted in GOD, HOMELESSNESS. 4 Comments on Toppled from My High Perch of Holiness

The alarm went off, and I drifted, reliving my dreams. Startling awake, I checked the time. I still had an hour to make it to church. Until I looked closely. The secondhand was stuck on the 4, click, click, clicking. After I hurriedly dressed, I ran downstairs where real clocks exist. I had 8 minutes to make it to St. Mary’s. I was only...

Courtesy of the Dog

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on October 16, 2016. Posted in General, LOVE. 4 Comments on Courtesy of the Dog

Because we all need a little break:

Put Him Back in His Place

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on October 10, 2016. Posted in General. 21 Comments on Put Him Back in His Place

Why am I so mad about the presidential race? Because I’ve lived through this shit. I’ve been stalked while riding my bike, cutting and swerving through the neighborhood, trying to get away from the pickup truck, pedaling as fast as I could, realizing I couldn’t outrun him, couldn’t keep up my flight much longer. I’ve...

The Morris Girls

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on October 3, 2016. Posted in General, LOVE. 10 Comments on The Morris Girls

Her face is alive with joy. And beauty, such beauty. In her fitted navy dress that hugs every curve, with Bigmama’s diamond bar pin sparkling in the vee of her neckline, she walks down the aisle with perfect poise. And confidence. She has such confidence. My heart swells with love for, and pride in, my sister. My big sister. The mother of the...

We Can Fix Police Shootings

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on September 24, 2016. Posted in Racism to Reconciliation. 12 Comments on We Can Fix Police Shootings

Those cities in the US experiencing dramatic declines in police shootings, how did they do it? Did they round up the citizenry and instruct them on the proper way to react during a police encounter (“Nope, nope, nope—hands on the wheel”)? Or did they go into African-American neighborhoods and distribute fliers (“When stopped...

Sic ‘Em, Brain

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on September 11, 2016. Posted in General. 15 Comments on Sic ‘Em, Brain

The young woman squirmed in her seat, responding to the hypnotist’s questions. She and I were students at North Carolina’s Governor’s School in the 1970s. In the lecture halls of Governor’s School, I first learned of quantum mechanics and the theory of general relativity. I also first experienced hypnotism. Put under,...