Something in the Water: A 21st Century Civil Rights Odyssey

“A wake-up call to Americans in general and the church in particular.”–Publishers Weekly

“Required reading for every American.”–Kerry Connelly, author, Good White Racist: Confronting your Role in Racial Justice

Pastor, award-winning author, and rising civil rights leader Michael W. Waters (Stakes Is High, For Beautiful Black Boys Who Believe in a Better World) ruminates on the sacred places and spaces he visited as part of a cross-country trek in 2019-2020 through America's racial history.

From reflections on the river's edge where Emmett Till's body was recovered and the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and to more recent sites of racial violence like the Charleston church massacre and El Paso mass shooting, to the halls of government for Waters' prayer before the U.S. House of Representatives and his convicting speech before the Dallas City Council to remove Confederate statues, Waters connects our racist past with the current sociological and political climate, offering challenges and hope.

From poems and prayers to sermons and eulogies, from rally cries to commentaries, Something in the Water illuminates not just our present struggles, but also the hope and belief in a better day to come. Ultimately, Waters challenges us to consider our role, collectively and individually, in the troubled waters of racism, and what we are willing to do to create something better.

Michael W. Waters is founding pastor of Abundant Life African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church in Dallas, Texas, one of the newest and fastest-growing A.M.E. churches in the state. As a pastor, professor, author, community leader, and social commentator, his words of hope and empowerment inspire national and international audiences.