Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

77 reviews

mj_86's review against another edition

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emotional informative medium-paced

4.0


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akvolcano's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0


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crybabybea's review against another edition

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4.5

Insightful and compassionate look into the deeply systemically corrupted legal system in America. Bryan Stevenson details his career as a civil defense lawyer who founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a group that focuses on helping the most underserved prisoners. The main threadline of the book follows the story of Walter McMillian, a man who was sentenced to death row after being wrongfully convicted for a murder, but Stevenson offers multiple perspectives from other such cases interspersed throughout.

I went into this being mildly informed on the prison industrial complex, but Stevenson helped open my eyes to how truly harrowing the experiences of the most underserved prisoners can be. He explores not only the systemic biases that cause unfair and wrongful convictions, but also the devastating after-effects of mass incarceration and lazy, biased legal proceedings. There is a deep-rooted corruption within our legal system that stems from slavery, fed by racism, ableism, classism, and sexism, and Bryan Stevenson is not afraid to call the corruption out for what it is. I also liked how he touched upon sensationalization of crimes in the media, which I think has become even more of an issue with true crime becoming one of the most popular forms of media in recent years.

The anecdotes in this book are absolutely sobering and told with a degree of compassion that is rarely given to prisoners, let alone the "worst of the worst". I believe this compassion and empathy make this book an accessible entry into abolition and understanding the prison industrial complex, even for those who may be on the other side of the political spectrum. The phrase "Just Mercy" is a plea from the author to practice empathy, compassion, and a call to action to focus on helping the people who need it the most, rather than calling for their deaths.

Highly recommend.
Also ACAB.

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bucklace27's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0


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am4man's review

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dark emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

5.0


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libristella's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0


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phantomgecko's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative medium-paced

5.0

Screaming, crying, throwing up.

This book was well written, well structured, and immensely depressing. Our justice system is garbage. It was actually really difficult for me to read this because it made me so angry.

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bgunther's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

A must read! Excellent storytelling by an author whose lived experience shines light on the horrific nature of incarceration in America. This story broke my heart but also inspired me to become a fellow “stone catcher” to intercept the stones thrown at the most innocent and vulnerable among us. 

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pichine's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.5


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danimcthomas's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Absolutely life-changing. 

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