It’s been 19 years ago today that I founded fMh and started this wild beautiful ride. I have been thinking about wanting to do something to commemorate the 20th anniversary next year along with perhaps a memorial/funeral/goodbye of some sort to lay this project to rest. I think that it would be fun over the next year to write some posts answering some of the questions I often get about fMh, like what happened, what have you been doing since, where did everyone go, or whatever other things I feel like writing about. And perhaps inviting some of the old bloggers and moderators to contribute too ..read more

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Dear Latter-day Saints, The latest online correction to the Come Follow Me manual has me thinking deeply about how we, as Christian people, wrestle with scripture. Let’s take a closer look at 2 Nephi 5:20-21, which I will name as a text of terror—a set of verses that have theologically and spiritually terrorized many members of the church. The original, paper version of the manual names a skin of blackness as a curse. The updated and revised version retracts that statement and replaces it with this: “In Nephi’s day the curse of the Lamanites was that they were “cut off from [the Lord’s] prese ..read more

By Margaret Olsen Hemming Over the last couple of years, I’ve described The Book of Mormon For the Least of These to lots of people. “It’s basically a social justice readers guide to the Book of Mormon,” I say. “It helps readers understand messages of racism, sexism, socioeconomic inequality, and immigration within the Book of Mormon.” By far the most common reaction from non-Mormons is polite confusion. They stare at me, likely wondering where to begin for a follow-up question. Most Mormons are interested but also confused. They don’t know what to do with a project like this. I’m fine with t ..read more

It’s been awhile since I promo-ed a podcast.  Today I’m spotlighting a more serious project:  Justice in America, hosted by Josie Duffey Rice and Clint Smith  Justice in America isn’t focused on race specifically, but if you spend any time examining mass incarceration, a system highly influenced by and built around institutionalized racism, race is going to come up frequently.  Each episode, Smith and Rice dig into one facet of the criminal justice system (plea deals, voting rights, prosecutorial autonomy) and explore how that topic interacts with real people.  They lo ..read more

If you are looking for a binge-worthy TV show with fantastic characters, great acting, a dramatic plot, and more heart than you can shake a stick at, look no further than Jane the Virgin.  I know I am late to the party on this one, but I have been blitzing through this show and I only have like eight episodes to go until I finish it (no spoilers beyond the pilot in the comments!) so it is the only piece of media on my brain right now. As a girl, Jane Gloriana Villanueva promised her VERY Catholic Venezuelan grandmother that she would remain a virgin until marriage.  And she has kept ..read more

Today’s (slightly late, sorry, the school year just started and my brain is mostly dead) recommendation is the YA novel Dread Nation by Justina Ireland. From the carnage of the Battle of Gettysburg, the dead rose.  In response to the rise of the “shamblers,” the United States ended both the Civil War and slavery, but forced many black and indigenous people into combat schools to train to fight the shamblers to protect the (white) rest of the country.   Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead rose and is currently training in one of these schools.  Graduates of Miss P ..read more

I have a 2-in-1 recommendation for you today, two excellent books by Francisco X. Stork.  I liked them both so well, I couldn’t choose. First up, The Memory of Light.  When Vicky wakes up in a psychiatric ward, she knows she’s lucky to be alive, but she doesn’t feel lucky.  People who feel lucky don’t try to kill themselves. Her dad wants her to come home, get back to normal, move on as if nothing had happened, but Vicky knows where that would land her.  Instead, she stays for a few weeks in the psych ward. There she meets other teens with mental illnesses, and while their ..read more

I love a good slam poem, one full of emotion and power and truth.  One of the great modern slam poets is Elizabeth Acevedo. If you’re not familiar with her work, give these poems a listen:  “Rat Ode,” “Hair,” and “Unforgettable.”  Acevedo’s poetry often centers around asserting yourself in a world that wants to crush you into an easily digestible package.  This is the central theme of her debut novel The Poet X.   Before describing the plot, I’ll let Acevedo’s main character, Xiomara, introduce herself.   Names I’m the only one in the family without a biblic ..read more

Aster’s family keeps to themselves.  They live in the woods outside of town and have their own ways, their own traditions.  These traditions just happen to be magical. For generations, all the men in the Vanissen family have been shapeshifters; all the women have been witches.  The only trouble is, Aster can’t shift. No matter how hard he tries. He does have a knack for witching though. Knowing that his family would shame him for this ability, for a while he tries to listen in on his sisters’ and cousins’ magic lessons in secret and piece the rest together from books.  But ..read more