Just Mercy

I finally read this book after purchasing it this past summer for Jamie Ivey's summer book club. While I have heard before of the injustices racial minorities, the impoverished, those with intellectual disabilities, and even adolescents face in the justice system, I was not prepared for what Bryan Stevenson shared in this book. I was brought to tears numerous times and felt a heaviness for plights people face that are so foreign and unknown to me.

Stevenson and his team at EJI are inspiring, reinstating humanity for those who have been wrongfully denied for myriad reasons. The work they do seems laborious, at times thankless, and so so heavy. Yet, they continue on and persevere.

Toward the end of the book, Stevenson shares how embracing his own brokenness has been a part of his process in seeking just mercy for those denied it. How we can be strong in recognizing our weaknesses and faults - how we've wronged others, stood as idle passers-by, condemned without seeking to understand, avoided self-criticism of how bias and prejudice can take root in our own hearts.

While I am not a legal professional, I still feel encouraged to make a difference after reading this book. To own my weakness and brokenness, to continue to educate myself on the injustice that exists in this world, to pray for God to use his people (myself included) as stone catchers, and to recommend this book to everyone and anyone I can.

Thank you, Bryan Stevenson for writing this book and for the work you, teammates at EJI, and others not named in this book who seek to be conduits of just mercy.