My Approach to Restorative Justice
The concept of restorative justice has emerged strongly in the past few years to sit as an equal beside more familiar forms of retribution, distribution, and exchange. At its heart is the rightful claim of the injured to be restored and our proper obligation to foster that restoration. In a world in which those who [...]
What Is “Roundtable Ministries”?
What is Roundtable Ministries? Roundtable Ministries seek to express God’s work of reconciliation and restoration in worship and community action. In worship we place a round table at the center of our communion and conversation. In our communities we try to help people assemble in circle conversations to deal with the difficult issues that divide [...]
Dramatic Readings with Barbara Bates Smith
Over the past few months I have been developing a performance of dramatic readings based on Red Clay, Blood River with a well-known regional actress, Barbara Bates Smith. Noted for her Off-Broadway performance of “Ivy Rowe” from Lee Smith’s Fair and Tender Ladies, Barbara currently tours with her adaptations of a number of Lee Smith’s [...]
A People Passing Over
Having lived my entire life in the toils of our heritage of slavery and racism, I could only respond to the election of November 4, 2008, with these words: A People Passing Over Wing of mercy touched, brushed, came over us, a blinding of our eyes. Rain in rustled air [...]
« go back — keep looking »William J. Everett
In my teaching career I authored eight books and numerous articles in social ethics and religion. After over thirty years of academic work — in Germany, India, and South Africa as well as in the United States — I wanted to turn my hand to a poetically written novel to probe the issues of ecological and human reconciliation.
When I am not writing, I create furniture for worship settings. For more about my work, go to www.WisdomsTable.net, where you will also find galleries of artwork by my wife Sylvia, whose ancestors were the original inspiration for Red Clay, Blood River. Click to read my complete bio...
Red Clay Blood River
Red Clay, Blood River is a story told by Earth about two brothers from Germany and an enslaved South African woman whose lives bind together America’s “Trail of Tears” and South Africa’s simultaneous “Great Trek” of 1838. Memories of their journeys through oppression, estrangement and reconciliation reverberate in the lives of three contemporary students brought together by their interests in ecology. Through their often difficult friendship and a surprising discovery they begin to unravel the mystery of their estrangements, struggles, and deep connections to each other and to the earth.
Based on extensive research in the United States, South Africa, and England, this book takes readers through a sweeping saga of love and conflict in the context of emigration, invasion, slavery, and exploitation. Through its stories we are invited to see our fractured human history from within the sensibilities of an earth that seeks the flourishing of all creatures and transcends their deaths within its life.
I welcome you to read Excerpts from Red Clay Blood River.
You can also view some Reader's Responses to the book.
If you are already reading Red Clay, Blood River, check out the Reader's Guide and Glossary of Names.
If you are in a Book Club, go to the Guide for Discussion Groups.
If you want to know more about people who helped me in writing this book check out the People Present at the Creation.