Two different perspectives of justice and resilience

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson was one of my top 15 books read in 2020. I wrote a mini review of this in an earlier post. To refresh your memory… This is a true story, “renowned lawyer and social justice advocate Bryan Stevenson offers a glimpse into the lives of the wrongfully imprisoned and his efforts to fight for their freedom as the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative”. This book is heavy in terms of subject matter – systemic racism, the prison system, social justice. It is very well written. If you like confronting non-fiction, this one is for you.

I am glad I waited a few years before embarking on the book I am reviewing this week, The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton. I read this one earlier in August 2023. This book is also non fiction but it is from the perspective of one of the people Bryan Stevenson worked with on death row. This is such a powerful memoir. Hinton’s journey from being wrongfully convicted and spending decades on death row to eventually finding freedom is incredibly inspiring. Of course there are many moments along the way where Hinton starts to lose hope, but his courage and resilience is awe-inspiring. The way his experiences are narrated is very powerful. I felt so many emotions reading this one. This is a must-read that not only exposes the harsh realities of the legal system, but also celebrates the strength of one man’s determination.

There is one part in this that particularly stays with me. I don’t usually give spoilers so maybe stop reading now if you want to find out for yourself.. The part that really stays with me is when Hinton decides to start a book club for his fellow death row inmates. One of the ways that Hinton found that he could escape his reality was by telling himself stories, and imagining he was travelling all over the world, and with different celebrities. He knew that the mind is such a powerful thing, and that he had amazing tools at his disposal. He thought about his neighbours, and how they may not have that same skill and thought of how he might be able to help them to escape - and that was of course through books. Hinton comes across as such a beautiful person. He managed to make death row a nicer place to be.

There are also some amazing stories told about confronting racism, but I won’t give too much more away!

I highly recommend both Just Mercy and The Sun Does Shine for those who like to read non fiction or memoirs, because life is too short to read bad books.