My imagination was captured by Bryan Stevenson’s work and ideas once I read his book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. I was thrilled when HBO developed a documentary following his story. Fortunately, I was able to view it free of charge on their website (limited time, of course). I stayed up till the wee hours the other night, watching it once the kids were finally in bed, sobbing in silence on the couch. The stories Stevenson tells of his people, of the people wronged by this nation are so raw and real and ones, as he says, that must be told if any sort of healing and progress is to be made in our country and society.
Two quotes that hit me over the head:
In many ways, you can say that the North won the Civil War, but the South won the narrative war. If the urgent narrative that we’re trying to deal with in this country is a narrative of racial difference, the narrative that we have to overcome is a narrative of white supremacy – the South prevailed.
The Civil Rights community won the legal battle, but the narrative battle was won by people who were allowed to hold onto this view that there are differences between people who are black and people who are white.
Click here to watch the trailer:
Chopping Potatoes 