My sister gave me this book and, though it was after Advent, I read a chapter a night. (I frequently had to keep myself from reading the next chapter). The facts on how animals regulate what we call life in order to survive winter (halting breathing, lowering body temperature, etc) were fascinating. And told in a way that made me fall in love with each and every one.
User Profile
Writer, reader, advocate for all to be included in the conversation.
ELLEN MORRIS PREWITT practiced law for two decades in Jackson, Mississippi, before becoming an award-winning author. She has twice been nominated for Pushcart Prize, and her stories have been downloaded over 50,000 times worldwide. She spent eight years facilitating a weekly writing group of men and women experiencing homelessness. For this work, she was named an Upstander by Facing History and Ourselves and awarded Champion, Shelby County Homelessness Consortium. A former runway model, Ellen is currently Writer-in-Residence at 100 Men Hall, a historic site on the Mississippi Blues Chitlin’ Circuit. and a long-distance swimmer. She splits her time between Memphis, the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and New Orleans, where she can frequently be found in costume.
This link opens in a pop-up window
VEMPHaHa's books
Currently Reading (View all 5)
Read (View all 276)
User Activity
RSS feed Back
VEMPHaHa finished reading Beowulf by Maria Dahvana Headley
Beowulf by Maria Dahvana Headley
Nearly twenty years after Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf—and fifty years after the translation that continues to torment high-school students …
VEMPHaHa finished reading Down the river unto the sea by Walter Mosley
Down the river unto the sea by Walter Mosley
After serving time in Rikers Island solitary for assault, Joe King Oliver, who is an ex-NYPD investigator working as a …
VEMPHaHa finished reading Lucky Ones by Linda Williams Jackson
VEMPHaHa finished reading The long-legged fly by James Sallis
VEMPHaHa started reading Moonrise over New Jessup by Jamila Minnicks
Moonrise over New Jessup by Jamila Minnicks
Winner of the 2021 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, a thought-provoking and enchanting debut about a Black woman doing …
VEMPHaHa reviewed All Creation Waits This Advent by Gayle Boss
A chapter a night
5 stars
VEMPHaHa reviewed Blood Grove by Walter Mosley
I would read anything from Mosley...
3 stars
but this one was not my favorite. I kept losing the plot because I didn't find it engaging. Yet, reading Mosley is still better than reading 98% of everyone else.
VEMPHaHa finished reading All Creation Waits This Advent by Gayle Boss
Oh, how I adored this book! I read a chapter a night before going to bed (though I often had to force myself not to keep reading.) The facts about how animals regulate themselves to sustain what we call life so they can survive winter (halting breathing, lowering body temperature, etc) is amazing. And told in a way that made me fall in love with each one of them.
VEMPHaHa reviewed Beowulf by Maria Dahvana Headley
Nearly twenty years after Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf—and fifty years after the translation that …
Oh, so good
5 stars
I read an excerpt from this translation and immediately bought the book. It's not like I'm a Beowulf fanatic. I am, however, a fan of whatever makes something actually relatable. This translation does that. It's real and to the point and has some of the greatest newly-coined words. Headley is having fun with it, based on a deep foundation of understanding the story that needs to be told. I do recommend it.
VEMPHaHa finished reading Blood Grove by Walter Mosley
I love Mosley, but this wasn't my favorite—each time I picked it back up, I had to ask myself, now, what was the central storyline here? Obviously, it won't put me off Mosley (nothing could), but I did find my engagement never locked in.
VEMPHaHa finished reading People's History of the United States, A by Howard Zinn
People's History of the United States, A by Howard Zinn
A People's History of the United States is a 1980 nonfiction book by American historian and political scientist Howard Zinn. …
VEMPHaHa started reading All Creation Waits This Advent by Gayle Boss
VEMPHaHa started reading Good Enough by Kate Bowler
VEMPHaHa reviewed The Devil You Know by Charles M Blow
Review of 'The Devil You Know' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
"The proposition is simple: as many Black descendants of the Great Migration as possible should return to the South from which their ancestors fled. They should do so with moral and political intentionality.”
The Devil You Know, Charles Blow, page 31
It's hard to describe what I was feeling. Excitement? That’s doesn’t do it justice. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in his blurb for the book calls the manifesto “thrilling.” In this 2021 book, Blow lays down the foundation for his vision. He explains the Great Migration. Why it happened. Why it failed to bring the hoped-for relief. The costs of remaining in the Great Migration’s destination cities. He then prescribes a remedy: return South, concentrate political power, and do what needs to be done.
As I read Blows swift and sure prose, I thought, this might be real. It could be real. This could really happen. The beauty and strength …
"The proposition is simple: as many Black descendants of the Great Migration as possible should return to the South from which their ancestors fled. They should do so with moral and political intentionality.”
The Devil You Know, Charles Blow, page 31
It's hard to describe what I was feeling. Excitement? That’s doesn’t do it justice. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in his blurb for the book calls the manifesto “thrilling.” In this 2021 book, Blow lays down the foundation for his vision. He explains the Great Migration. Why it happened. Why it failed to bring the hoped-for relief. The costs of remaining in the Great Migration’s destination cities. He then prescribes a remedy: return South, concentrate political power, and do what needs to be done.
As I read Blows swift and sure prose, I thought, this might be real. It could be real. This could really happen. The beauty and strength of his argument carried me, a sixth generation white Mississippian, along. Blow makes it clear his vision for Black Power doesn’t mean Black only (Black Lives Matter, anyone?) Nor is Black Power the equivalent of white power, which desires racial superiority and subjugation. Blow envisions a nurturing, safe space free of over-policing and denigration. Like Dr. King, he’s tired of waiting for the architects of white supremacy to dismantle white supremacy to enable such a space. He states emphatically that Black equity and equality cannot wait for white folks to grow out of racism. “In this world, America has had four hundred years to get right by Black people, and it has failed.” (p. 60).
So, following the inspiration of Harry Belafonte, Blow becomes a “radical thinker.” He calls for a reverse migration from the white violence that forced Black folks to leave their homes. Choose “The Devil You Know,” he urges, and return South. The full title: “The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto.” If that sounds too radical, know that Blow has the support of Bryan Stevenson, Rev. Dr. William Barber, and so many others. Including little ol' me.