A Black Pioneer in a White Denomination
Mark Morrison-Reed was caught in a tortuous shift in America. Born on the South Side of Chicago during the 1940s in a twilight zone between the races, he was raised on the cusp of what was to come. A black hippie, he tried to reconcile the “make love not war” ethos of the white counter-culture with the demands of awakening black power consciousness. Morrison-Reed, himself of mixed-race ancestry, went on to marry an Anglo-Canadian and raise two multiracial children. He served as minister to predominantly white Unitarian Universalist congregations. In Between: Memoir of an Integration Baby gives voice to the unspoken story of those Afro-Americans who were among the first to bring racial diversity to their neighborhood, school, church or workplace, to the increasing number of partners in interracial relationships and those blessed with and yet struggling to raise multiracial children in a polarized world.
“This exquisitely written and psychologically penetrating book will teach you, bother you and bring you to tears. Mark Morrison-Reed has given us the gift of his heart in order to illumine the complexities of race that haunt us all and, in the process, illuminated how fear and brokenness may be redeemed by the healing, if painful, power of authenticity.” ─ William F. Schulz, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, 1985-93
“Morrison-Reed’s account is nothing less than a spiritual clearing in the forest of race and ethnicity. Every reader will rejoice that he has entrusted it to these pages.” ─ Lee Barker, President, Meadville Lombard Theological School
“W. E. B. DuBois wrote of the impossibility of disentangling the reality of African-Americans being at once Africa's infants and America's children. This is what Mark Morrison-Reed's new book In Between is about. It is a difficult memoir, piercing in its honest suffering and barely suppressed rage, but tempered by Morrison-Reed's seemingly endless reservoir of warmth, tenderness and good humor. All of us have family stories to tell but Mark's family stories, in their complexity, history, accomplishment and influence are more fascinating than most.” ─ Denny Davidoff, Moderator of the UUA, 1993-2001
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Dear Friends,
We are thrilled to announce the publication of In Between: Memoir of an Integration Baby by Mark Morrison-Reed.
Morrison-Reed's book is as true a gift as they come. He lays bare his experience as often the only African American in the room ─ and that room is often a UU church. We stand to learn so much from the story.
He will be speaking and preaching a lot in the coming year. This weekend he's in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and on the first weekend in November, he'll be in Chicago. I'd be happy to let you know his schedule if anyone is interested in having him at their church.
Don't forget about our books on sale. They are wonderful gift material, like The Souls of Animals, by Gary Kowalski for animal lovers, and Americana, a Putomayo CD featuring Robert Earl Keen, Josh Ritter and Old Crow Medicine Show. Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Rose Hanig
Bookstore Manager
P.S. Purchase this eco-friendly canvas tote bag for $5 or receive it free with a bookstore purchase of $50 or more. It says "Nurture your Spirit/Help Heal Our World/Unitarian Universalists."
Click here to purchase; click here to receive it free with purchase
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Author: Mark Morrison-Reed
In light of 2006 General Assembly's responsive resolution on racism and classism, Been In the Storm So Long is back by popular demand. First published in 1991, this stirring volume features more than 40 selections from the spirited voices of 29 African-Americans. Contributors include David H. Eaton, Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley, Rosemary Bray McNatt, Thandeka, Egbert Etherlred Brown and more.
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Author: Mark Morrison-Reed
Portraits of racism in liberal religion tells the stories of two pioneering black ministers. Includes accounts of some of today's more integrated UU congregations and biographical notes on past and present black Unitarian, Universalist and UU ministers.
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Editor: Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley and Nancy Palmer Jones
Papers and discussion transcripts from the UUA Consultation on Theology and Racism held in Boston in January 2001. Addresses such questions as: What theological or philosophical beliefs bind us together in our shared struggle against racism? What are the costs of racism, both for the oppressors and the oppressed?
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