American Stories | A Peace of My Mind

Mother Emanuel

January 6, 2021 by johnnoltner

We stood in front of Mother Emanuel AME church in Charleston, one of the oldest Black churches in America. On June 17, 2015, Dylann Roof walked into a Wednesday evening Bible study. He sat with the clergy and congregants as they talked about their faith and when they closed their eyes to pray, he pulled out a handgun and killed nine people. He was welcomed into the community of faith and he violated that trust in the most horrific way. […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: american history, American Stories, Charleston, History, Mother Emanuel

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Alphonso Brown

December 30, 2020 by johnnoltner

Alphonso Brown is the founder and owner of Gullah Tours, in Charleston, South Carolina. Born and raised in Rantowles, a dozen miles south of Charleston, he is a retired band director. With a deep love for his city, Alphonso started a tour company dedicated to telling the stories of the many contributions Black Charlestonians made to the area. “When you know better, you do better.” -Alphonso Brown I interviewed Alphonso on his bus after he had given a tour. His Gullah […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: a peace of my mind, alphonso brown, American Stories, Black History, Charleston, Gullah, gullah tours, oral history, South Carolina

Dr. Elijah Heyward III

December 26, 2020 by johnnoltner

Dr. Elijah Heyward III is the Chief Operating Officer for the International African American Museum being built in Charleston, South Carolina, and due to open in 2022. The museum is being built on the site of the historic Gadsen’s Wharf, where up to 40% of enslaved Africans brought to America against their will disembarked after the transatlantic journey. “There is power in learning from the past…the mistakes, the triumphs and examples of inspiration and perseverance.” -Dr. Elijah Heyward III “Our […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: american history, American Stories, Black History, Charleston, Dr. Elijah Heyeward III, Gadsen's Wharf, History, IAAM, Slavery, South Carolina, storytelling, Transatlantic slave trade

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A Guided Tour

June 8, 2017 by johnnoltner

We continue to add new stories to our website, and new resources to help foster meaningful discussion and dialogue. In case you are new to our website, or haven’t visited in a while, I want to walk you through some of what you’ll find. When you go to our home page, you’ll find the latest additions of stories and blog postings, and it will look like the image above. The navigation tools will remain the same (at the top of […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: American Stories, Blog, dialogue, discussion, peace, resources, tour, website

This will be short

December 16, 2016 by johnnoltner

Pardon the broad, sweeping generalizations…but here’s the thing… If all the non-white people are saying, “um…there are some issues we need to discuss regarding race.” And all the white people are saying, “Everything is fine…just get over it and let’s move on.” Then…we might have some work to do regarding race. If you don’t see it, consider who you are talking to about the issue. Last week I was artist-in-residence at the Everyday Democracy convening in Baltimore. I set up […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: American Stories, art, black and white, democracy, dialogue, healing, listening, peace, photography, portraits, race, social justice, stories

Rutgers University – Camden

December 7, 2016 by johnnoltner

Last week we set up a temporary studio and asked students at Rutgers University – Camden to respond to the following prompt: “Tell me a time when someone reached across a divide to build or heal a relationship with you.” Some of the responses are below. You can find the full collection on our Facebook page.

Categories: Blog • Tags: American Stories, Camden, college, healing, New Jersey, reconcilliation, Rutgers, stories

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Reconnect

December 7, 2016 by johnnoltner

One of the great joys of this project is encountering amazing people across the country and spending time together. We share an intense few hours talking about the big stuff, and then we make a portrait. One of the great challenges is that often I don’t ever see them again. Maybe I feel a bigger connection, because I spend so much time editing their story, but I’m never quite sure if the impact leaves such a big an impression on […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: a peace of my mind, American Stories, forgiveness, gang, Hashim Garrett, New Jersey, orange, peace, stories

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Listening

November 6, 2016 by johnnoltner

More than anything, I find that A Peace of My Mind is a project about listening. It’s a skill that’s in short supply these days. We listen with the goal of responding, correcting, debating, convincing or coercing, but what if we simply listened for the sake of understanding? And another thing… 😉 We are quick to point out things that are wrong…ways we have been disrespected, disappointed, offended, or made mad. Just look at your social media stream today and […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: American Stories, Augustana, black and white, community, Illinois, listen, photography, reconciliation, share, story, students

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Then there was none…

September 19, 2016 by johnnoltner

Asheville is out of gas. It’s gone. Sold out. Nada. Nothing. I rolled into town today and installed my exhibit at UNC. I hadn’t been paying attention to the news. I hadn’t heard that the Colonial Pipeline had ruptured in Helena, Alabama, effecting delivery from Houston to New York. I arrived with 1/8 tank of gas. My truck computer told me I could reach my destination and then some. I figured I would fill up once I installed the exhibit. […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: a peace of my mind, American Stories, APoMM, Asheville, gas, North Carolina, peace, road trip, shortage, stories

Talat Hamdani

September 12, 2016 by johnnoltner

Like all of us, I have a clear memory of that day 15 years ago. I remember the replayed television footage, the quiet skies. I was scheduled to leave for Africa on September 17. So little made sense and even less felt certain. Since that day I have been to Ground Zero three times. The first time, it was still a construction zone. Most recently, we toured the moving museum at the site. We found the name of Thomas Burnett, who […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: 9-11, a peace of my mind, American Stories, APoMM, Ground Zero, healing, listen, Muslim, New York, NYC, peace, stories

	Heidi on Hard times
	Ted Hall on Hard times
	It’s been a ye… on Alphonso Brown
	Helen Hartman on New Voices
	johnnoltner on I remember

A Peace of My Mind

Building community and bridging divides through portraits and personal stories.

Tag: American Stories

Mother Emanuel

Alphonso Brown

Dr. Elijah Heyward III

A Guided Tour

Rutgers University – Camden

Reconnect

Then there was none…

Talat Hamdani