Blog | A Peace of My Mind

Water is Life

May 5, 2021 by johnnoltner

I spent last week in northern Minnesota with a camp of Water Protectors along the Mississippi River. The Indigenous, women-led movement is currently working to stop construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline. I went, specifically because I wanted to learn more. I went because I want to get better at hearing Indigenous voices. I went because I have heard the Water Protectors called radical, and I’ve been around the block often enough to know that when that word is […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: environment, indigenous rights, mississippi, oil, protest, water protectors

Signs of the times

April 26, 2021 by johnnoltner

It was a quiet drive from Oxford to Sumner, Mississippi. Karen was busy and I drove the 70 miles by myself. I don’t think I said more than a few words all day. Mostly, I read signs. And I’m going to let the signs do most of the talking today. A sign in front of the Tallahatchie County Courthouse says: “Emmett Till Murder Trial. In August 1955 the body of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black youth from Chicago, was found […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: Emmett Till, History, Lynching, mississippi, race, storytelling, Tallahatchie River

Justice

April 20, 2021 by johnnoltner

It stopped me in my tracks. On Sunday, we visited the Peace and Justice Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama. It pays tribute to the 4,000 plus Black people who were lynched in America during a campaign of racial violence that has changed over time, but never really ended. Above your head as you walk through the memorial, large steel beams are suspended, engraved with the names of the victims and the county in which they were lynched. Along the walls are […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: blm, George Floyd, justice, Minneapolis

Grief

April 18, 2021 by johnnoltner

My heart is heavy. It’s the news. It’s the trial in our home town for the death of George Floyd. It’s Daunte Wright. It’s Atlanta. Kenosha. Indianapolis. It’s gathering stories under the shadow of a Confederate statue. It’s visiting lynching sites. But it’s more than that. It’s how quickly each event is spun and re-spun, then spun again. It’s how animosity instantly takes root in the space compassion should claim. It’s how tragedies are weaponized and turned on the victims. […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: civil rights, EJI, grief, justice, Montgomery, peace, Selma

Oxford, Mississippi

April 14, 2021 by johnnoltner

A Peace of My Mind visited Oxford, Mississippi’s country courthouse, where a contested Confederate statue stands at the center of the town square. We asked people, “What does this statue mean to you?” Over two afternoons, 36 people chose to participate and these are the stories they shared.

Categories: Blog • Tags: Confederate, History, mississippi, oxford, public art, race, storytelling

Statues

April 12, 2021 by johnnoltner

It was more awkward than I had imagined—as a white guy—to stand in the middle of a busy intersection to take a photograph of the Confederate statue. It was the reason we had come to town, to have conversations about monuments and race. But somehow, the moment I raised my camera, I felt conspicuous. It’s the same feeling I had when I pulled over in my pickup truck in Idaho and stepped out to ask the woman feeding her chickens […]

Categories: Blog

Truth

April 4, 2021 by johnnoltner

I suppose there is a line to be drawn from the Easter story to Dr King’s assassination in Memphis in 1968 to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis a year ago. Perhaps a learned theologian could articulate conclusions more clearly than me. Maybe a great philosopher could connect the dots in a way that would help everyone see the light. I’m still working on it. Last week I stood outside the Hennepin County Government Center at the start of […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: civil rights, Easter, George Floyd, Jesus, listening, memphis, MLK, truth

Where the water meets the land

March 14, 2021 by johnnoltner

This one’s going to be raw and unpolished. What’s new, you might ask. As we pack up to leave southern Louisiana, my mind is full. It’s a complex region full of complex challenges. But like most things, these are not Louisiana’s problems. They belong to all of us. What follows is less journalism than it is reflection. It’s a Cliff Notes version of the science, history and sociology of the area, and for an outsider, I feel reasonably confident I […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: bayou, cultural, culture, delta, environment, History, indigenous, louisiana, Mississippi River, storytelling, stprytelling

20,000 miles

March 4, 2021 by johnnoltner

20,000 miles. That’s how far we’ve driven since October to explore issues, listen to stories, and imagine new possibilities. All with our trailer / house in tow. We’ve stayed at state parks, horse ranches, RV campgrounds, and the back corners of distillery parking lots. We’ve met artists and activists, politicians and programmers, veterans and veterinarians. It’s true that our country is divided in many ways. Turn on the television and it doesn’t take long for both the rhetoric and your […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: America, dialogue, healing, justice, listen, peace, storytelling, travel, weavingcommunity

Proximity

February 17, 2021 by johnnoltner

If you want to understand the world, get closer. Bryan Stevenson, of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy, talks about the importance of proximity as we try to grasp the nuanced realities of life. “If you are willing to get closer to people who are suffering,” Stevenson says, “you will find the power to change the world.” We have spent the last month along our southern border, trying to live and learn closer to the issues, putting […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: arizona, border, border wall, borderlands, Bryan Stevenson, immgration, mexico, proximity, storytelling

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A Peace of My Mind

Building community and bridging divides through portraits and personal stories.

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