civil rights – She Lit

AMERIE’S BOOK CLUB

The Book of Lost Saints by Daniel Jose Older

“At times funny and at times somber, I couldn’t stop turning the pages, waiting to learn more about Marisol and Ramón’s intertwined past and present,” singer and literary influencer Amerie wrote in an Instagram post, adding that the author will join her for the end-of-the-month live chat.

BELLETRIST BOOK CLUB

Creatures by Crissy Van Meter

“On the eve of Evangeline’s wedding, on the shore of Winter Island, a dead whale is trapped in the harbor, the groom may be lost at sea, and Evie’s mostly absent mother has shown up out of the blue,” the book club co-founded by actress Emma Roberts posted on Instagram. “We can’t wait for you to read along!”

GMA BOOK CLUB

Long Bright River by Liz Moore

“‘Long Bright River’ is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: a gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate,” Good Morning America posted in its latest book announcement.

NONAME’S BOOK CLUB

Die Nigger Die! by H. Rap Brown

Sabrina & Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

The book club serving readers of color founded by rapper Noname announced on Twitter Noname chose Sabrina & Corina and the book club’s “homie pick” of Die Nigger Die! came from journalist Najma Sharif. The books can be found in the club’s partner bookstores or libraries.

READ WITH JENNA – TODAY SHOW BOOK CLUB

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

“I choose ‘Dear Edward’ because it is a book about love and loss and finding your way after the unthinkable,” said Jenna Bush Hager on Today. “I thought to start our year off, even though hopefully nothing this dramatic happens in everyone’s life, we can all think about a new lease on life.”

REESE’S BOOK CLUB

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

“You’ll follow a young women’s journey of self-discovery after she’s wrongfully accused of kidnapping a child,” Reese Witherspoon and her book club wrote in Instagram posts. “This story is a beautiful conversation starter about race, privilege, work dynamics.”

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In fact, there is a strength, a power even, in understanding brokenness, because embracing our brokenness creates a need and desire for mercy, and perhaps a corresponding need to show mercy. When you experience mercy, you learn things that are hard to learn otherwise. You see things you can’t otherwise see; you hear things you can’t otherwise hear. You begin to recognize the humanity that resides in each of us.

“Just Mercy” is civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson’s memoir on his dedication to justice through his legal nonprofit, Equal Justice Initiative or EJI. He writes about the hardship of mostly representing low-income individuals of color in punishment-heavy states who have committed low-level crimes or were wrongly accused of high-level crimes and received death or lifelong imprisonment sentences. He dives into his story but simultaneously focuses on the stories of his clients that reflect the way a legal system will move forward on injustice because of corruption and the lack of resources.

Bryan is fresh out of Harvard Law School in 1983 when he decides to head to Alabama for an internship. There, he eventually meets Walter McMillian, who is sitting on death row for a murder of a young white female clerk. He swears he did not commit the murder and even has countless people to support his alibi. Bryan works feverishly to expose the mistakes that led to Walter’s arrest and imprisonment, and while doing this, his popularity among others suffering a similar fate as Walter is building. He establishes his nonprofit and hires more lawyers and legal staff to help him in numerous cases. Throughout the book, he tells the stories of the people behind bars he helps in several states, but Walter’s story is the one that resonates the entire time.

The book is packed with easily digestible information with weaving in true-life stories that almost seem unbelievable by the way the people had been thrown in prison and even given harsh sentences over crimes they had committed as a juvenile or had not committed at all. The EJI is against the death penalty because many of its clients had been wrongfully imprisoned or had severe mental illness issues that contributed to their crimes. It believes in the notion that many others in the same predicament have yet to see justice. The topic is controversial, but Bryan justifies his point with integrating the socioeconomic and medical backgrounds of his clients on top of the nation’s history that played a role in the oversized prison community and the state and federal players at work to pack prisons for profit. He also adds the voices of some people he’s met over the years who were connected to victims and how they seldom feel satisfied with the death penalty.

Overall, the book melds autobiography with criminal justice history well and lays out a system where failures have ruined lives.

View all my reviews