Racism to Reconciliation Archives - Ellen Morris Prewitt

Nearing Vicksburg

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on September 7, 2024. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 2 Comments on Nearing Vicksburg

I drove the narrow, wooded road until nearing Vicksburg where the green overhang opened up to cotton and soybean fields. The road into town, Clay Street, drops you right off at the Vicksburg National Park. The Civil War siege of Vicksburg, and the city’s July 4th, 1863, surrender gave Union forces control over the Mississippi River. The Park...

How I Forgot 2023

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on December 30, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation, Writing. 6 Comments on How I Forgot 2023

Going back through my 2023 date book to add recurring appointments to the 2024 book was eye-opening. It made me see how I forgot 2023. I could easily remember some wonderful new developments in my life in 2023. The Contemplative Writing Group, for one. My informal group of NOLA women asking the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana to own up to its founding...

American Racism

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on August 24, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 8 Comments on American Racism

If you think racism in America is a Southern problem, you are not paying attention. American racism has never been a Southern problem. Our federal government has always enforced racist norms. When Nat Turner rebelled, the federal government sent in the United States Navy to stop the uprising. Both the American Navy and Army were used to crush perhaps...

What Makes You Come Alive?

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 24, 2023. Posted in Featured, General, Racism to Reconciliation. 4 Comments on What Makes You Come Alive?

It dawned on me (ha, ha—pun alert) sitting here staring out the window at the breaking morning light (what has happened to me? why am I waking up so early? who the hell knows): I have sorta/kinda become the family historian. How can I not admit this when I recently THREE times told to family members the story of the Mississippi ancestors, a story...

White Christian Fear of Racism

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

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 on The Devil You Know

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 on White People’s Fake Fear

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 on Where Do We Go Now?

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 on Banned Books are Just A Tool

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 on Examining White Privilege: Inventory

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...