General Archives - Page 20 of 85 - Ellen Morris Prewitt

Do You Know Your Patterns of Racism?

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on April 7, 2021. Posted in General, Racism to Reconciliation. 18 Comments on Do You Know Your Patterns of Racism?

All the news about attacks on Asian Americans, I wanted to speak out. So I began writing a blog post, and soon enough, I took a hard turn and found myself re-hashing our national history of white racism toward Black folks, with some scant references to indentured Chinese. I wrote, and I revised, and somehow I couldn’t get it right. Then I realized,...

Beignets, Names, and Future Wins

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on March 28, 2021. Posted in General, LOVE. 2 Comments on Beignets, Names, and Future Wins

Today, we took our grandsons to the cafe au lait and beignets place. Inside the place, I mean. Except for one, two times, I haven’t been inside a restaurant for 12 months. We ordered three plates of beignets and one croissant because it was an after-school snack, and the beignets might not have been sufficient, thus the croissant....

The Gifted Young Professional

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on March 25, 2021. Posted in General, GOD. 4 Comments on The Gifted Young Professional

In the summer of 1981, when I was clerking at the Wise Carter law firm in Jackson, Mississippi, and living at my grandmother’s house, I walked the five blocks to my job in downtown Jackson. Pedestrian commuting was not the rule in Jackson, but my other option was to drive Bigmama’s 1965 land shark Cadillac, fondly known as “Big Blue.“ At that time,...

Ha, ha! My Own Purple Martin House!

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on February 28, 2021. Posted in General, LOVE. 8 Comments on Ha, ha! My Own Purple Martin House!

Generations ago, the Morris family became hosts for Purple Martins. When the ladies and gents of the Purple Martin family would travel through Jackson, Mississippi, on their way from South America to the eastern United States, they always stopped over at the Morris Ice Company. Grandaddy Morris made sure of that. He put up houses for the travelers....

Lent 2021: Update

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on February 24, 2021. Posted in General, GOD, HOMELESSNESS. 2 Comments on Lent 2021: Update

It’s really interesting. Most Lents, my disciplines don’t come easy. I have to be very intentional about observing them. After a bit, they will become a new habit, but it takes a while. This Thumb Prayer discipline is different. As I talked about last week, this Lent I’m working on Thumb Prayers each day. Each day,...

No More Giving Up

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on February 19, 2021. Posted in General, GOD, HOMELESSNESS. 12 Comments on No More Giving Up

This is the way it goes: Christmas, Epiphany, Mardi Gras, Mardi Gras Day, Ash Wednesday, Lent. We are now in the 40 days of Lent. (This is a religious calendar, but life in New Orleans revolves around it; there’s a season of Mardi Gras for a reason). This year, I’ve made a hard shift on Lent, one many of you might disagree with. Traditionally,...

Yay!!!

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on February 16, 2021. Posted in General, LOVE. 5 Comments on Yay!!!

The temperature dropped to 26 degrees. In New Orleans. But our pipes didn’t burst. The sun came out. Yes, it took its own sweet time, but by 2:00, the sky was blue. The kids came over. They, as a group, were dangerous insects. (Think thorn bug and dung beetle plus two more). I, as David Bowie’s Major Tom, handed out Space...

Mardi Gras Waiting

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on February 15, 2021. Posted in General, LOVE. 4 Comments on Mardi Gras Waiting

We sit in the dark the night before Mardi Gras Day. If you’re not from New Orleans, it’s hard to understand what the season means to the city. This 2021 pandemic Mardi Gras has been both muted and astounding. House floats have taken the place of crowd-packed parades and rolling monsters of creativity. The houses are magical. “Yardi...

I Love You

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on February 9, 2021. Posted in General, GOD, GRIEF, LOVE. 6 Comments on I Love You

I see you looking at my mask with disdain. You think I’m a coward, afraid of getting a virus that is no worse than the flu. One that probably doesn’t even exist, anyway. And if it does, masks sure don’t work. I’m just being a sucker. I envy you the freedom to believe that way. I’m jealous of your luxury of theory because you’ve known no...

If We Don’t Know about Racism, Maybe it’s Our Own Fault

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on January 24, 2021. Posted in General, Racism to Reconciliation. 4 Comments on If We Don’t Know about Racism, Maybe it’s Our Own Fault

The Public Defender broke the news: the DA was dismissing the charges against my friend. We were seated in his office, a small, square space with a desk and chair and not much else. I was there in my year-long wade through racism and incompetence in support of my friend. A white woman had claimed—three months after the fact—he had stolen her purse....