What a delightful evening at Judy’s! The evening began by loading our plates with yummy veggie lasagna and lots of other snacks before we moved into the living room alongside the cozy fire. With so many members off sunning themselves in warmer climes, there were only 5 in attendance: Annie, Christe, Judy, Kathy, and Nanc.
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| Winter view from the Lee's deck (photo credit: Scott Lee) |
As often happens, we find out new things about one another in the pre-book discussion. While Annie is quite active, she told us that she doesn’t like gyms. Who knew? Even though two former Physical Education teachers were present, we were not offended by her revelation. In fact, I’m sure Judy and I (and Julie) taught many a student who shared Annie’s feelings about gyms! And, we also learned that Christe played team sports in high school. In softball, she was a 3rd baseman and loved firing the ball across the infield to throw batters out at 1st with her strong arm. And she was bit miffed when Aric’s baseball coach told her that Aric had his dad to thank for his great arm!
When our conversation turned to Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson, Annie grabbed her computer and pulled up a TED talk that Stevenson had done several years ago. In addition to doggedly working for social justice through his Equal Justice Initiative, Stevenson is a gifted orator, as well. It is well worth the 20-25 minutes to watch it.
Quite by accident, we chose this very appropriate book for February which is Black History Month. Just Mercy is a powerful story of those who have been wrongly convicted, of children on death row and serving life sentences, and of malfeasance and racism by public officials. It would be impossible to read this book and not be affected by it.
We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation. Fear and anger can make us vindictive and abusive, unjust and unfair, until we all suffer from the absence of mercy and we condemn ourselves as much as we victimize others. The closer we get to mass incarceration and extreme levels of punishment, the more I believe it's necessary to recognize that we all need mercy, we all need justice, and — perhaps — we all need some measure of unmerited grace.
Although the narrative of Walter McMillan dominates the storyline, many other anecdotes of our flawed justice system are threaded through the book. In 1993, Walter’s conviction was overturned after serving six years on death row. Bryan and Walter were often invited to speaking events. On one such trip, Walter is talking with Bryan as they traveled.
“Bryan,” he said at some point during our short flight, “capital punishment means ‘them without the capital get the punishment.
Both in the book and in the TED talk, Stevenson relates his meeting civil rights activist, Rosa Parks, on a number of occasions, and how he was invited there “just to listen.” And then one day, Parks asked him about his work:
"Well, I have a law project called the Equal Justice Initiative, and we're trying to help people on death row. We're trying to stop the death penalty, actually. We're trying to do something about prison conditions and excessive punishment. We want to free people who've been wrongly convicted. We want to end unfair sentences in criminal cases and stop racial bias in criminal justice. We're trying to help the poor and do something about indigent defense and the fact that people don't get the legal help they need. We're trying to help people who are mentally ill. We're trying to stop them from putting children in adult jails and prisons. We're trying to do something about poverty and the hopelessness that dominates poor communities. We want to see more diversity in decision-making roles in the justice system. We're trying to educate people about racial history and the need for racial justice. We're trying to confront abuse of power by police and prosecutors —" I realized that I had gone on way too long, and stopped abruptly.
Ms. Parks leaned back, smiling. "Ooooh, honey, all that's going to make you tired, tired, tired.”
Judy mentioned that she disagreed with Stevenson’s opposition to drug testing welfare recipients, feeling that there are many who are abusing drugs and the system. The only reference I could find relating to drugs and welfare was the following, but I’m not sure this is what Judy was referring to in her comments.
In 1996, Congress passed welfare reform legislation that gratuitously included a provision that authorized states to ban people with drug convictions from public benefits and welfare. The population most affected by this misguided law is formerly incarcerated women with children, most of whom were imprisoned for drug crimes. These women and their children can no longer live in public housing, receive food stamps, or access basic services. In the last twenty years, we’ve created a new class of ‘untouchables’ in American society, made up of our most vulnerable mothers and their children.
Bryan Stevenson will be speaking at Luther College in Deborah, IA on Tuesday, March 1st at 7:00. Annie feels like Marah can probably assist in purchasing tickets if anyone would like to attend.
March meeting:
Book: Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
Location: Ellen’s
Date: Thursday, March 10, 2016
Time: 6:30pm
Upcoming meetings:
April 2016: Book TBA at Julie's
May 2016: Book TBA at Nanc's
June 2016: Book TBA at Linda's
Books we've read so far:
January 2014 - Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
February 2014 - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
March 2014 - Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
April 2014 - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
May 2014 - The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
June 2014 - Breaking Free by Marilyn Sewell
July 2014 - The Orphan Train by Kristina Baker Kline
August 2014 - The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
September 2014 - Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
October 2014 - The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
November 2014 - The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
December 2014 - No book. Holiday gathering.
January 2015 - No book. Watched The Book Thief
February 2015 - The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
March 2015 - Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne
April 2015 - The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin
May 2015 - The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
June 2015 - The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
July 2015 - Still Alice by Lisa Genova
August 2015 - The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
September 2015 - Ruby by Cynthia Bond
October 2015 - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
November 2015 - No book. Watched To Kill a Mockingbird
December 2015 - No book. Holiday gathering.
January 2016 - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
February 2016 - Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
