Just Mercy // Week Two Questions

• As you are reading Just Mercy, is there a quote that "sticks with you?" Why? 
• Is there a specific call to action that can be taken from a reading of Just Mercy? If so, what is it? 

Just Mercy // Week Two Questions

• As you are reading Just Mercy, is there a quote that "sticks with you?" Why? 
• Is there a specific call to action that can be taken from a reading of Just Mercy? If so, what is 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.” 

This quote sticks with me because I believe we can only create change when people seeing others being mistreated step in to make it stop.  Fear and Anger have been used to create an environment where people tolerate injustice.  I acknowledge that I have lived a privileged life in many ways but I have known people who haven't and I have seen what happens when the people I care about are mistreated.  I know at times I could have done more but part of the reason why I became a teacher was so I could do more to help the people around me.  

Just Mercy gives us concrete examples of injustice and leaves me thinking what more could I do?  It leaves me feeling like I want to do more to help those who need it and haven't seen mercy or justice. I think that is where the call to action comes in. 

That's a powerful quote, Brian Moore . It takes courage to step in and stand up for others, but that is the path to create change. I think that is why I also became a teacher and why I think a lot of us became teachers. Thanks for sharing your insight!

I was so moved by the story Bryan Stevenson shared about him and the boy with the speech impediment. In that chapter, this quote stands out to me: "But simply punishing the broken - walking away from or hiding them from sight - only ensures that they remain broken and we do, too. There is no wholeness outside of our reciprocal humanity."

I think it's a reminder that the way we treat people is also a reflection of us. If we are not able to show mercy or recognize the humanity in others, then we are also broken. It is a reminder to me to not be quick to judge and to pause and listen.

That resonated with me too. We have all had that “ just get him out of my class” kid, I will be keeping this in mind the next time I am tested and feel as if I am running out of patience, this quote can guide me to be better!

“Whenever things got really bad, and they were questioning the value of their lives, I would remind them that each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done. I told them that if someone tells a lie, that person is not just a liar. If you take something that doesn’t belong to you, you are not just a thief. Even if you kill someone, you’re not just a killer. I told myself that evening what I had been telling my clients for years. I am more than broken. 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.”

We tend to categorize, try to distill things to their simplest component for convenience and to make sense of the vast amount of information we are bombarded with on the daily. Life and people are way more complicated and our struggles to make sense of it robs others of their multi-faceted, diverse identities as we try to reduce things to their simplest terms. I have been working to implement restorative justice strategies in my classroom the last several years. There is no way for us to see a kid's entire background or experiences, but we can help them to be whole and to realize that they have their own agency.

That is such a powerful quote! I took it directly to the classroom where we are often fast to label people, without having all the piece to the puzzle. It was a very good reminder that people are like icebergs, you're only seeing a small part of who they really are, and we should try to look below the surface 

That quote really stuck with me. It's one I think should be taped to my desk to see as a daily reminder. 

Agree, I have a little spot on a file cabinet that faces only me, there’s going to be a copy of some of these excerpts printed out and attached by magnet.

I recently watched Emily Latham 's Track Talk for the OC for Social Studies titled, "The Power of One Conversation." She shared an experience in which she had a student like Curtis Greeley described (and we have all been there!). He had challenging behaviors in class. As it turned out, one parent abandoned while the other was incarcerated and he didn't feel connected to others. Emily's story is very powerful and reminded me of this thread!

To maintain my anonymity as to where I work, I will say that I have worked directly with youth who have made decisions based on life experiences dysfunctional or nonexistent home lives. The students I work with have had little opportunity to develop healthy relationship skills, and the current living situations can exacerbate the problem. This being said, the solutions are hard to find. With the disproportionate wealth in our country, coupled with the questionable national priorities that exist, the funds need to be allocated and we need to go all in to reverse the pattern of incarceration. 

Anne Koschmider , thanks for the connections to the amazing Track Talks! I need to go through all of them and watch them soon!