Friday, March 25, 2016

Good Friday

The annual commemoration of one of history's most famous executions seems right for posting this. Bryan Stevenson has made a life of struggling in Alabama against the death penalty and other miscarriages of justice. This video is a TED talk, but don't let that discourage you. Stevenson is not hip and groovy; he is serious and realistic. Something like half a million people have played this video; if you are not one, this is your chance.

... we have a system of justice in this country that treats you much better if you are rich and guilty than if you are poor and innocent. Wealth, not culpability, shapes outcomes.

... the opposite of poverty is justice ... you can judge the character of a society by how they treat the poor ...

To all my elder friends: Stevenson frames his talk through what he has learned from elders, because that inheritance is where he finds strength for the journey. In this setting, that's transgressive.

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