Last night, Karen and I went to see Till, the movie of the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till. It is a powerful retelling of a difficult and important story in our nation’s history. I’ve been twice to the site where Emmett Till’s body was found , and I wrote about it in Portraits of Peace, Searching for Hope in a Divided America. The passage below … Continue reading Till
Afton Thomas is the Associate Director for Programs at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. Afton talks about Oxford as the progressive south, and the importance of continuing to share stories of the past so we can live better today and in the future. At the time of this interview, Afton’s involvement and voice in the community … Continue reading Afton Thomas
Dr. Simran Jeet Singh is the Executive Director of the Religion and Society Program at the Aspen Institute and the author of The Light We Give, How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life. We talked about his love for basketball, his advocacy for religious pluralism and a surprise lesson he learned one day recently when he forgot his earbuds while going for a run. “Life … Continue reading Simran Jeet Singh
Andrew Cheung is the senior pastor of Washington Community Fellowship, a Protestant community located less than a dozen blocks from our nation’s capital that strives to practice love as a lifestyle. We talked about his interest in crossing boundaries, his personal walk through life with a sense of wonder, and in our ability to create healing for one another. “I think we can either approach the … Continue reading Andrew Cheung
Adam Russell Taylor is the president of Sojourners, a faith-based organization exploring the Christian call for social justice. I interviewed Adam at the Sojourner’s office in Washington D.C. on the eve of the Poor People’s Campaign’s Moral March on Washington, where I joined Adam and tens of thousands of others in a call for moral revival in America. “One of the things that has been … Continue reading Adam Russell Taylor
Derek Thompson is an activist in Portland, Oregon and the founder and Executive Director of Voices4Justice, an organization dedicated to bringing together concerned community members…clergy, law enforcement and elected officials…to engage in meaningful conversation that can change the relationship dynamic between opposing parties and factions. “Even if we don’t get along, if I saw you fall in the street, should I laugh at you? Or … Continue reading Derek Thompson
Nathan Sheppard is a Lieutenant in the Portland police bureau. He is a father. Both he and his wife of 21 years are Army veterans who were psychological operation specialists. Nathan was happy to share his story, but he made a clear distinction that although he worked as a police officer in Portland, he was not talking to me as a representative of the police … Continue reading Nathan Sheppard
A Peace of My Mind set up our studio for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Program at the University of Minnesota and asked, “How is Dr. King’s legacy crucial and relevant today?” Continue reading MLK Center
The gallery below is meant to supplement the story you will find in Portraits of Peace: Searching for Hope in a Divided America. The book is available now, anywhere you love to buy books. Enjoy. Continue reading Book illustrations
Last weekend a friend texted me a photo of three statues on the back of a flatbed truck in Columbus, Mississippi. It was the start of relocating a 32-foot tall Confederate statue from in front of the Lowndes County Courthouse to a new site across town in Friendship Cemetery, where more than 2,000 Confederate soldiers are buried beside 100 or so Union soldiers. It’s interesting … Continue reading Mississippi update
