Just Mercy definitely pushed me to examine more closely my own beliefs about the criminal justice system, however, a personal family connection is the driving force behind my desire, no my passion to CHANGE a broken system even more. I think we need to understand that we work in a system that has been used to create a school to prison pipeline. I think we need to understand that we are the last line of defense to help some students thrive. Education truly IS a change maker in peoples lives. We need to ensure that we teach and use tools that help raise empathy and awareness in our classrooms about the NEED to fix broken systems even when they seem impossible to do so. I think when we know better we are required to do better. 

One thing that really connected to me about Bryan's journey in the system and mine with my family member is the humanity that we seem to forget. We place people in cages to correct bad behavior but we forget they are still human. They have loved ones, parents, children, grandparents, etc who are just as impacted by the system as the person who broke the law. We must never lose our humanity towards even those who are incarcerated because at some point they will be back in society and how do we CHOOSE to invest in their return which is in fact an investment in ALL our success. 

Just Mercy definitely pushed me to examine more closely my own beliefs about the criminal justice system, however, a personal family connection is the driving force behind my desire, no my passion to CHANGE a broken system even more. I think we need to understand that we work in a system that has been used to create a school to prison pipeline. I think we need to understand that we are the last line of defense to help some students thrive. Education truly IS a change maker in peoples lives. We need to ensure that we teach and use tools that help raise empathy and awareness in our classrooms about the NEED to fix broken systems even when they seem impossible to do so. I think when we know better we are required to do better. 

One thing that really connected to me about Bryan's journey in the system and mine with my family member is the humanity that we seem to forget. We place people in cages to correct bad behavior but we forget they are still human. They have loved ones, parents, children, grandparents, etc who are just as impacted by the system as the person who broke the law. We must never lose our humanity towards even those who are incarcerated because at some point they will be back in society and how do we CHOOSE to invest in their return which is in fact an investment in ALL our success. 

Melanie Bishop your words remind me of one of my favorite quotes from Just Mercy: "Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done." I think it's easy to fall into the trap of viewing incarcerated people through a lens of generalization when you're seeing the justice system from a distance, but Stevenson's stories go a long way toward humanizing individuals. 

I absolutely LOVE that quote. I use it often. 

Thank you. I've read so much this year, I admit I'm waiting on Just Mercy...but this quote is a great unifier for me. Whether it is in the classroom as a way to get students to trust me, or to give a reluctant learner the trust-push they need, simply acknowledging that life has some characteristics that can help us all relate, is a great humanizing starting point. Its Empathy 101, once we realize we all are broken or have been broken, some of the biggest barriers to learning and trust go away. Nailed it Eman Elshaikh , thank you! looking forward to reading the book, just can't after a year in which I immersed myself in this both academically and in real life.

I'm also reminded of this video: 

So true! I was moved to tears so many times throughout the book when Steven shone light on each individual's story.