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Bryan Stevenson is a lawyer that also owns his own firm called Equal Justice Initiative. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is a personal narrative of some of the cases he has witnessed during his time as a lawyer. The stories he tells are all of his firsthand accounts of individuals he’s encountered on death row. Stevenson travels to death row to meet with individuals who he believes did not get the representation that they deserved. He chose clients that he believed were wrongly convicted or given wrong sentences. The majority of the clients he targeted were Black individuals who did not receive a significant amount of representation during their trial. The story of Walter McMillian is told throughout the entire story, but is interrupted with other stories that are relevant to his message. Walter McMillian was a Black male that was wrongly convicted for a murder and sentenced to death. The fight for his freedom was long, but ended up ending in success.

We see these unfortunate cases in our justice system too often. Although every individual is provided with a lawyer during trial, the best lawyers come at a price. One of Bryan Stevenson’s most famous quotes says “… the opposite of poverty is not wealth but justice.”. I constantly think about this quote when I think about the systemic injustices we see today. Many Black individuals are not given fair treatment. We see cases of police brutality too often. Black people fear their lives when being pulled over by police. For White people, it is a completely different story. Bryan Stevenson turned his career as a lawyer into so much more.

Walter McMillian was nowhere near the scene where the crime he was accused of occured. He was convicted solely for the color of his skin. He was completely innocent, but did not have the money to pay for a lawyer that cared enough to fight for his innocence. He was seen as an “Other”. The police did not mind convicting someone who they knew was innocent upon the arrest because they needed to convict someone to put the town at rest. Bryan Stevenson has devoted his entire life to helping those who were oppressed by our government system. If you have not read this book, I really recommend spending some time learning about the inequalities that our justice system holds. The photo below is Walter McMillian and Bryan Stevenson celebrating their victory of getting Walter McMillian his life back!

Rating: 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Recommended for 13+ who want to learn about history while enjoying an entertaining plot

To begin, The Help is about three women in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi: Aibileen, a nanny and maid for the Leefolt family; Minny, an outspoken maid; and Skeeter, a college graduate who wants to pursue writing. Skeeter breaks the barriers of her discriminatory, southern society by writing a book that shares the voices of the black maids. Skeeter interviews the maids about what it is like to work as a black maid for a white family. Hilly Holbrook, Skeeter’s friend at the time, wants to pass a bill that would require every white household to have a separate bathroom for their black maids. Hilly’s initiative was the breaking point that encouraged the maids to tell their stories. The book is a surprise hit, which encourages discussion between black and white women. At the end, Skeeter moves to New York to work in publishing, Aibileen starts a writing career, and Minny finally leaves her abusive husband.

Identity, power, and injustice can all be seen in The Help. The white households hold power over the black housemaids. Additionally, Minny’s husband holds power over her in their physically abusive relationship. Injustice can be seen when Minny loses her job as a maid for Hilly’s mother. Hilly spread rumors about Minny being a thief so no neighbors will hire her simply because Hilly thinks she’s superior. This is very unfair to Minny. Lastly, Aibileen and Minny solely identify as black housemaids in society; this identity makes them feel belittled.

This semester, we discussed ideas including “Othering”, the subaltern, intersectionality, and the single story concept. The black maids are seen as the Other while the white families are seen as the One. Black maids are seen as the subaltern because they have no voice or power; if they speak up for themselves, they will face punishments (ex. being fired). The black maids also suffer from intersectionality as their gender and race overlap to make them very underprivileged in society. Lastly, Hilly places a single story on all black individuals as she believes that black people carry diseases that can harm white people.

Lastly, I think the main idea the author wanted the readers to take away was how racism persisted in every aspect of society in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi. This meant from Jim Crow laws that maintained segregation to casual chats amongst middle-class white women. One question the author might want you to ask yourself is if this social hierarchy still exists today in southern society. The Help inspires a conversation around identity, power, and injustice because it depicts that it’s okay to be unique and that you have to fight against the barriers to reach your big dreams.                                                                                      

The 2000 historical drama Gladiator features interactions between people of different identities and social classes. The movie illustrates many topics we have discussed in class related to power dynamics explained by Hegel and Spivak. Gladiator’s plot demonstrates how easily injustice can be brought about by figures who inherit power but do not possess a strong, respectable character as seen in Hegel’s idea of the “Master”, where the master’s fundamental nature thwarts their capability to realize and transcend their own reality.

Within Gladiator, the current emperor, Marcus Aurelius, tries to restore Rome’s prior glory and republic by selecting General Maximus Meridius to succeed him in place of his biological son, Commodus. When Commodus discovers his father’s plan, he kills Marcus, orders the arrest of Maximus, and orders the killing of Maximus’ wife and son. Commodus is not a legatus, he carries a very weak disposition, and does not display much care for Rome. The control Commodus demands to have over situations highlights his unbridled fears and insecurities, where Maximus is one of Commodus’ central fears and eventually becomes his primary fear. Maximus escapes captivity, traverses a desert, is captured again, and is trained to be a gladiator as a slave. Maximus also reflects Hegel’s characterization of the “Slave” by gaining popularity, glory, and wisdom through his work over time.

In the background, the deterioration of the fictional Roman Empire portrayed under Commodus’ rule is an important part of understanding how Maximus ends up gaining power over Commodus through the relationship he establishes with the people. Maximus remains earnestly remembered in contrast to how people react to Commodus once they realize his true personality and motivations. Spivak’s hierarchy and illustration of how the “Subject group” silences the lower ranking groups directly relates to the lack of communication, secrets, and lack of mobility Maximus has throughout most of the movie. The movie would have been no longer than a few minutes if Maximus had the resources to prove he was falsely accused.

I think the writers—David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson—intended to demonstrate how character is ultimately more powerful than agency. How Maximus treated the army he managed, the friends he made as a slave, and how he catered to his fans as a gladiator outweighs the jealousy and acts of violence committed by Commodus. How one treats people is more noticeable than what they own or what can be controlled in their favor. I would recommend Gladiator to anyone in class who wants to view an example of societal injustices connected to the ideas expressed by Hegel, Spivak, Ahmad, and additional figures we have studied throughout the semester who examine the relationship between power and identity.

In the fiction novel, Girl, Woman, Other  by Bernadine Evaristo, the audience learns about racial injustice through the stories of multiple women and their experiences fighting for racial equality. This novel discusses many different characters throughout the chapters, and tells a different story in each. This idea in Girl, Woman, Other, supports Chimamanda Adichie’s point that a single story is dangerous to history and justice. Evaristo instead decides to use multiple stories to emphasize the magnitude of racial injustice and enable the audience to truly understand how long the fight for racial injustice has been going on. The ages of the characters span between 19-83, demonstrating the lack of improvement for black people through modern history.  

93-year old Hattie is one of the characters who demonstrates the long fight for justice. She uses her voice to fight for equality and protests with a “walking stick with a Black Power fist on the knob” (Evaristo 364). This demonstrates that the fight for racial equality is prevalent in everyday life and at all times, even with things as simple as walking down the street. Her old age allows the reader to understand how far back this issue of racial injustice stretches.

Another character, LaTisha, is a middle aged woman who hopes to preach “the word of common sense” to “children” and a “generation of teenagers” (Evaristo 192). LaTisha feels the protest for racial equality should be common knowledge, but only the open mindedness and younger generations of all races will understand. She feels that those who are older have been taught differently, and have been taught to uphold racial stereotypes. The idea that LaTisha has to promote racial equality to younger children and generations proves even further that the fight for racial injustice will continue for many years to come. 

This long timeline between Hattie, LaTisha, and the teenagers, parallels the long timeline that black people have been fighting for racial equality.

For this assignment I chose to review the book, “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri. The novel is about an Indian couple, a man named Ashoke and a woman named Ashima. The novel follows them throughout their life in America having moved from Calcutta, as well as that of their children Gogol and Sonia. Lahiri has readers observe the family through their lives and the difficulties they each faced with life in America. Gogol’s fight with his name and identity, Ashima with her homesickness, and other battles characters fought. Every person’s journey in this story is different, but they are all intertwined with one another to create a deep and meaningful experience to readers.

In this book there are numerous concepts to be seen, and one is the One/Other dynamic from de Beauvoir. For example, Gogol and Sonia would constantly receive looks and stares at the mostly white school they attended. Gogol would often get teased for his name and other things, all because of the fact that he was “different”. We see how whites in this case have established themselves as the “One”, giving them the power to treat Gogol however they want to. Whether this means teasing, bullying, or anything else, they feel as if Gogol is an “Other”, below and inferior to themselves. This relationship between Gogol and his peers also highlights the act of “Othering”, where one group of people subjects another to be below them through their actions. Overall, de Beauvoir’s theory is prevalent in Lahiri’s novel and can be better used to understand why Gogol and other characters acted as they did.

This novel is similar to “March” in a way, as both books show the difficulties of being a minority in America in addition to giving examples of the One/Other relationship. Although John Lewis’ writing is about his life and the fight against segregation, it showed examples of him being seen as an “Other”. This came in forms of second hand books, harassment from white men, and other things that was done to Lewis to make him feel inferior to whites. Similarly, Gogol and members of his family were treated as Other through teasing and bullying in school and racial bias outside of the home. Both works of writing depict the effects of seeing a class of people as lower than yourself. It creates an unhealthy dynamic that can affect not only how the groups see one another, but how they see themselves.

All in all, Lahiri’s book really questions what identity is. Where does it come from and can it be changed? Gogol thought his name was what dictated who he was so he decided to change it, but did his identity really change along with it? How do each of us see ourselves? Does our name play the biggest part in defining who we are? Through her characters, Lahiri gets us as readers to explore what identity truly means and how we go about changing it.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/09/movies/09name.html