Racism to Reconciliation Archives - Ellen Morris Prewitt

White Christian Fear of Racism

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 4, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, GOD, Racism to Reconciliation. 7 Comments

I’ve hit a conundrum I can’t understand. I’ve been Christian since the moment my mother hit her knees and, against every fiber in her being, gave up her motherly control over me to have me baptized as “God’s own forever.” As such, I know sin as separation of God. I also know the good news that repentance leads...

The Devil You Know

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on April 25, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, In the Name of Mississippi novel, Racism to Reconciliation. 7 Comments

I saw the book at Novel Bookstore in Memphis. Its vivid orange and black cover drew me in. I realized the author was Charles Blow, who I had followed on Twitter before I got off Twitter. I always liked what he had to say. In the back of my brain, I seemed to recall he had moved from somewhere in the North to Atlanta. I picked up “The Devil...

White People’s Fake Fear

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on April 20, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 11 Comments

One of the major rites of passage in my young life was finally getting old enough to shop with my friends in downtown Jackson. We spent many a Saturday morning planning where we would shop as we walked up and down Capitol Street, the city’s main commercial artery. The plan was to ride the bus from our Belhaven neighborhood to downtown—all...

Where Do We Go Now?

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on April 14, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, GOD, Racism to Reconciliation, Writing. 8 Comments

Where do we go now? The Guns and Roses refrain keeps traveling through my brain. I’m in flux. We’re re-establishing a presence in Memphis, renting an apartment downtown until we can hopefully find a condo. I’m so place oriented, y’all. This splitting back into three parts—New Orleans, the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and Memphis—has...

Banned Books are Just A Tool

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on March 25, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 6 Comments

Recently, two things came together. A wonderful Mississippi author and friend recently won a prestigious award. Congratulating her, I mentioned I was going to the Mississippi Banned Book Festival. Then I thought: oh, lord, have your books been on those lists? She didn’t know, but her books, which include Civil Rights truths, experienced a...

Examining White Privilege: Inventory

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on March 7, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 8 Comments

This is the 3rd installment of examining white privilege as a spiritual discipline. I’ve talked in previous posts about the “why” of examining white privilege as a spiritual discipline and the “when.” This installment focuses on the inventory phase that traditionally begins spiritual disciplines, including that of examining...

Black History Month Recs: ALL

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on March 3, 2023. Posted in General, Racism to Reconciliation, Writing. 2 Comments

Here it is! What you’ve all been waiting for! All 28 recs for Black History Month on Black authors whose work I love! Seriously, that’s what it is. February 1 I’ll start with American fiction writer Charles Himes. He’s best known for his Harlem detective series with Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson. But I’d like to...

Black History Month Recs: Last

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on February 28, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation, Writing. 2 Comments

The end of February has arrived. Thus has my last installment on Black History Month recs. Go here for the earlier recs on Black Authors whose work I love. And now for the last! February 23 Mississippi author Linda Jackson’s Middle Grade novel Midnight Without a Moon is a delight. I fell in love with the protagonist from the get-go. The descriptive...

Black History Month Authors: Part 4

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on February 23, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation, Writing. 4 Comments

Or maybe this is part 3. I’m getting lost. Whatever, here’s the latest (and penultimate) installment during Black History Month with recommendations on Black authors whose work I love. You can read earlier recs here. February 16 I came to Octavia Butler so late in life it’s embarrassing. My only excuse is that I haven’t been much...

Recs on Black Authors: Part 3

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on February 16, 2023. Posted in General, Racism to Reconciliation, Writing. 3 Comments

it may not be time for the 3rd installment in my recs on Black authors during Black History Month, but I’m ready to do it. You can see the 2nd installment here which will link you to the first as well. February 10 I started Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones, and never finished it. I thought, to be honest with her plot, Ward couldn’t let...