Beverly Scott's Blog, page 2

Book Review: “The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett

Reviewed by Bev Scott

Riveting from beginning to end, The Vanishing Half tells the story of identical twins who grow up in a small southern black community, called Mallard. Mallard is such a small town that it is not even on the map. However, it is a town founded for light-skinned African Americans. After running away together at age sixteen, the sisters’ lives diverge–their identities, their daily lives, and their marriages.

One twin, Stella, goes to California and passes as white. Her husband and her blue-eyed, blond daughter have no idea about the big lie of Stella’s life. The other twin, Desiree marries a dark-skinned man who abuses her. She escapes to return home to live with her mother. And thus, her escape takes her back to the small town she was once desperate to leave. Along with Desiree comes arrives her very dark-skinned daughter, Jude, who is then marginalized by a town that values light skin. 

The two sisters hold secrets, not just of race and color but of identity and family also. Their choices and circumstances take each sister on different journeys. Yet, the twins’ lives intertwine in unexpected ways through their daughters. 

The author, Brit Bennett, writes a story with surprising plot twists, pointed observations around race, and insightful psychological revelations. She writes vivid descriptions of the stark differences in the twins’ adult lives. The author depicts the sisters’ experience in blatant and bold descriptions as they feel the impact of racism in their lives. In summary, I found the book engrossing, well-written and insightful. Although I wanted a slightly different ending, I highly recommend The Vanishing Half. 

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How Do We Care For Our Elderly?

After writing my novel Sarah’s Secret, inspired by the lives of my paternal grandparents, I recently decided to delve into a treasure trove of old family letters. I found several packets and files of letters that my mother left me. Members on the maternal side of my family had exchanged letters during different eras. I hoped to find a kernel that would spark my interest in order to write a short story. I needed distraction during the COVID-19 pandemic which was restricting me at home. 

The Letters Between 4 Sisters

Several of these letters may yet contribute to an interesting story. But one series of letters exchanged among my mother and her three sisters in the early 1950s touched me. The four sisters lived in four different states, all but one of them long distance from my grandparents’ home. My grandparents stubbornly refused to move to be near any of them. The sisters were all employed and raising families of their own. A flurry of letters exchanged over a few years reflects the challenges of addressing and resolving care needed for “aging parents” from a distance. These letters began shortly after my grandparents agreed they could no longer manage in their own home. They reluctantly moved from their home into a “nursing home,” the only option of long-term care for the elderly at that time within miles of their residence.

American Elders Suffer Under COVID-19

Through the angst, frustration, and sadness in these letters, I connected emotionally to the plight of the elderly and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic loved ones in their final years have been locked away and isolated, unable to see, hug, or be with their families. Thus they were not only very sick, but also frightened and lonely. In the first nine months of the pandemic more residents of long-term care facilities died in the United States than were lost in the Vietnam and Korean wars combined. Residents in long-term care facilities are just 1% of the US population. Yet they made up 43% of the COVID-19 deaths through June 2020. Experts believe those numbers haven’t changed much since then (AARP). Along with news of mounting cases and deaths we have heard also about insufficient staffing and lack of quality care in residential care facilities.

Grandparents Neglected in Care Home

The concerns about staffing and quality care are at the heart of the frustrations in the sisters’ letters. The concerns began with complaints about the quality and size of the meals without vegetables and fruit and over-cooked meat. My grandfather was not getting enough to eat. 

Without programs of education or entertainment to keep her occupied, my grandmother began to complain. Staff didn’t like her complaints so they stopped coming into their room. Grandma wasn’t walked to the restroom when she needed. Later when my grandfather became bedridden, he developed painful bed sores because he wasn’t turned often enough. Grandma suffered from Parkinson’s disease, she began to refuse to eat, and with neglect and with lack of staff attention she developed increased stress. The sisters searched for available mental health care, but couldn’t find services available to diagnose or treat her. They ultimately hired a family friend to visit my grandparents at least once a week. The friend not only served as a companion but also to served as an advocate to ensure they got the care and service they needed.

Present State of Elder Care

The current pandemic crisis reveals fundamental flaws in how we care for our parents, grandparents and older loved ones today. It impacts all of us. It is especially personal for those of us currently considered seniors and elderly. Many of us live independently and are, like myself, healthy and active now. But a momentary stumble on the sidewalk, resulting in a broken hip; a major heart attack or an unexpected stroke could result in any of us needing to be hospitalized. And then we would end up in a nursing home for recovery. 

High Death Rate for Nursing Home Residents and Mistakes Made

What I read in my family letters about the concerns my mother and her sisters expressed about the nursing home for their parents, at the same time as the pandemic terrible news of COVID-19 cases and deaths in nursing homes, prompted me to search for more information about the nursing home industry. It would be easy to lay the blame for the high percentage of deaths among residents of long-term care facilities during the pandemic on the nursing home industry. But research conducted by AARP suggests it is more complex. AARP spoke to dozens of experts from scientists, researchers, historians, doctors, nursing home staff and many others. The research revealed mistakes, large and small at all levels from the federal government, states, local health departments and individual nursing homes. All have contributed to this high percentage of COVID-19 deaths. 

Systemic, Structural Problems in Long-Term Care

It begins in the 1950s when outdated laws led to hospital-like settings for most nursing homes. This is exactly like the nursing home my mother and her siblings found for their elderly parents. As Eric Carlson, from Justice in Aging testified before Congress, “If you are living in a world with potential for pandemic, which we are, it seems like a bad practice to put 150 people in their 80’s together in tight quarters, two to a room, sleeping 4 feet away from each other. That is about the worst thing you can do.” 

Laws in the 1960s ultimately made nursing homes reliant on government funding. Elder care is expensive and with few alternatives to fund such care, nursing homes end up depending on Medicaid funding sources. The problems is that there is not enough Medicaid funding to pay for long term care and Medicare does not cover it. Medicaid rules are inflexible and do not pay for assistance to allow seniors to stay in their own homes. This forces many elderly to turn to Medicaid to cover the high cost because they have no other options. 

Unsustainable Business Model in the Industry

Even before the pandemic, the current business model for nursing homes was failing. For every $100 taken in, nursing homes spent $103. Many raise questions about the for-profit model for nursing homes which siphons off income to cover profit and real estate debt incurred in purchasing the nursing home. This results often to lower staffing levels and lower quality of care than seniors need.   

Despite this flawed system of caring for our elderly, many lives could have been saved. The state and federal officials needed to act quickly and prioritize nursing homes in the early days of the pandemic. But, the single greatest error, as AARP reports “was the failure to provide early and vast access” to testing for both residents and the staff of nursing homes.

Looking Ahead to the Long-Term Care Gap

It’s now almost 70 years later. I wish there was significant improvement in the quality of care in nursing homes than there was in the 1950s for my grandparents. As AARP points out, there is no quick fix to improve the care of our elderly in long-term care facilities. But the baby boomer bulge is aging (now in their 60’s and 70’s). Hence the need for beds in long-term care facilities increases. Are we going to demand a system that offers more options? One that assists seniors to stay in their homes, covers middle and low-income seniors and provides high quality care? Or, will programs to support residential care be under-funded? Will we continue to neglect our senior citizens and warehouse them in environments without quality care? 

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Book Review: “Girl, Woman, Other” by Bernardine Evaristo

Reviewed by Bev Scott

Bernardine Evaristo writes about the African diaspora in her unique voice. Thus, she wrote this unusual novel about twelve British black women whose lives interconnect. Each chapter intensely portrays one of the women’s life stories. Plus, each chapter also introduces other women who become central characters in future chapters. The characters have unique identities but are often treated as “other.” Despite their struggles, they persist in searching to find themselves and their place in the world. These black women work as a playwright, a farmer, a school teacher, and a bank vice-president, among other work identities.

Evaristo writes in an off-beat, descriptive, fast-paced, and experimental style. She reveals to the reader a deep look at the lives of resilient young women. They struggle with school, endure rejection by men who impregnate them, and withstand painful, depressing failures. We learn about the interconnected lives of the adult women, too. While they continue to search for stable relationships, they cope with their “otherness.” Ultimately, they find and settle into their identity and overcome personal challenges.

In summary, Girl, Woman, Other provides an opportunity to learn about a segment of British society seldom exposed. And, the book engages the reader with stories that are are vibrant, engaging, witty and intense. Bernardine Evaristo is an “Anglo-Nigerian writer and the winner of the 2019 Booker Prize, the first black woman to receive this highest literary honor in the English language.” I enthusiastically recommend it to you. 

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Our Divided Country

We are a country divided. Not just between red and blue but within those gross divisions we are divided by demographic labels and caricature stereotypes: rural mid-westerners, suburban women, LatinX men, Black women, young people and seniors, college degree liberals and high school graduate Trumpers, whites and people of color, coastal progressives and fly-over conservatives and many more. And yes, we are a large multi-ethnic, multi-cultural nation which is an experiment in diversity and democracy.  We do not know if this grand experiment will survive. 

The Effects of “Trumpism”

Many of us have been so angry at Trump because among other reasons he exploited the differences in this diversity and pitted groups against each other rather than bridging differences and finding common ground. He has used populist language which represents white supremacy, bigotry, racism and division when he lauded the effort of “Making America Great Again.” Further, he had told lies, made fun of the disabled and the vulnerable, snatched children away from their parents hoping to find new opportunities, and challenged the professionalism and accuracy of reporters in the media.

By these actions, he undermined the values of truth and trust which are so important in a large diverse nation. One of the results is that we can no longer trust the objectivity and truth in the reports from our many of our news organizations. We do not have the capacity as this multi-ethnic, multi-cultural nation to distinguish truth from fiction.

In Whom Can We Trust?

Yes, Trump has cost us trust. Trust not only in our news and information media, but also trust in our leaders, trust in science, trust in our government, and trust in each other as loyal American citizens who may look, speak or act differently from each other. He has dissolved our sense of connection, our belief in our American ideals, our confidence in our institutions like the U.S. Post Office, our faith in the future, our hope embedded in “Yes, we can,” our commitment to the promise and possibility of a better tomorrow.

This decline of agreement and consensus on the central facts of the scientific research produced by our institutions of higher education and the facts of objective reporting, leads to the blurring of lines between facts and opinions. The flaunting of long-accepted norms of courtesy, respect for others and the “Golden Rule,” undermines the principle of granting others the right to hold a different opinion or perspective. This condition is not just stimulated by Trump and his MAGA (Make America Great Again) followers; it is also influenced by the radical changes in the media, the loss of small-town newspapers and locally-owned TV stations, the rise of social media and the decline in the belief and commitment to objective journalism. 

Depending on your perspective as you read this, you may also identify other major influences. These actions mean we no longer share a basis for interpreting what we hear and see. We have no common basis to determine truth. Large numbers of us lack respect for and no longer tolerate others who are different from us. 

Overwhelmed

With this description of our current condition, I find myself in overwhelm. The COVID-19 pandemic with a totally ineffective leader, who either lies or ignores the high national number of cases and deaths, only adds to this overwhelm. How do we bridge the huge chasms between us in our divided country? How do we act to help our nation survive? Or will we let one of the greatest experiments in democracy in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural nation collapse and die a slow death? In this state of overwhelm, I turn to an old adage:  “Act local but think global.”

Can we find ways to help address these issues? Can we act locally? The virus and the protests of the summer have revealed the huge gaps in opportunity, resources, health, housing, education and justice locally as well as nationally. These issues are large and there are not easy solutions. 

Calling All People Who Care

Let’s find ways to come together to support each other and take care of our neighbors. Let’s join and contribute to our local organizations who are taking action, and advocate for change. We can find our courage and commitment to advocate for change in our local communities without waiting for national politicians. I believe we have compassion, believe in justice and equity, and the value of human life. We care about the climate crises and see how it affects us. In our local communities we are not us versus them. Rather, we are “us” who care about our neighbors and believe in the possibilities of the future. The cure for a divided country is caring for one another.

Although it is easy to become overwhelmed and immobilized, I am finding some ways to take action. Thus, I’m tripling my contribution to the food bank; serving as a tutor to a first-grader from a low-wage family struggling to learn on a screen; joining a community discussion about changing police responsibilities and funding; speaking up about reparations; participating in group conversations with others about our white privilege and racism. And exploring media and learning more about those who have very different views from mine.

So, what can you do? What are you doing? What will you do? Volunteer at the food bank? Join a housing coalition? Advocate for racial justice? Join an environmental action group? Let me know what actions you are taking. We can support each other. Our divided country needs us.

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Book Review: “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi

Reviewed by Bev Scott

I began learning to become an antiracist in the early 1970s. Living in Detroit then, I worked with a black and white team of facilitators. They were conducting antiracism workshops and education in organizations and neighborhoods. The City of Detroit still reeled from the 1967 “Rebellions.” I and other white facilitators immersed ourselves in intense workshops. Our goal was to learn about our own racism and to receive feedback. How did unconsciously we expressed or acted on that racism? We defined racism more narrowly than does author Kendi. We learned that racism was based in the beliefs and actions that could be enforced by power. Moreover, the power of white supremacy is imbedded in and enforced by the institutions of our society. Since blacks did not have power in our institutions, they by definition were not racist. They might be biased or maybe even bigoted, but not racist. 

Ibram X. Kendi, a National Book Award-Winning Author of Stamped from the Beginning describes racism through the lens of his own experience which includes identifying his own racism. He begins by defining a racist as one who is supporting a racist policy though their actions or inaction or expressing an racist idea. Conversely, an antiracist as one who is supporting an antiracist policy though their actions or expressing an antiracist idea. 

Striving for Liberation

While in college, his parents defined being Christian as “one who is striving for liberation.” Their strivings to be Christian by this creed grounded their lives and the lives of their children. Kendi points out that by defining terms, they took a key act which anchored them in the principles that defined the kind of people they wanted to be. He became an antiracist at the point he arrived at basic definitions that he would use to define himself. Thus, he describes experiences in his life in which he took steps that brought him more clarity. He clarified the terms of racism, equity, assimilationist, segregationist, biological racist and biological antiracist, ethnic racism and antiracism and many more

Becoming an Antiracist

Kendi’s book intrigued me with how he identifies his own internalized racism through culture, biology, gender, color, behavior and many other lenses. He uses examples to illustrate his definitions. This grounds the reader in understanding what can be an abstract and obscure discussion. This grounding is especially helpful for the white reader. His approach led me to look internally at the ways in which I have benefited from white supremacy. In fact, I like others have absorbed racist beliefs and messages without conscious intention. I affirmed, again, my commitment to strive toward being an antiracist. I recommend Kendi’s book to all of the members of my white community. Read How to Be an Antiracist if you seriously wish to combat white supremacy and support the antiracist policies and actions required to do so.  

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Book Review: “Never Caught, the Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge” by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Reviewed by Bev Scott

Erica Armstrong Dunbar utilizes the details of history to create an engaging story of the life of a runaway slave owned by Martha Washington. Betty, Ona Judge’s mother, came to Mt. Vernon as a slave, when Martha accepted the hand of George Washington to marry him as her second husband in 1759. Betty was lucky to be able to keep her son Austin with her with the move to Mt. Vernon. Many slave mothers were less fortunate as the birth of their children added value property for their owners who could sell the child or the mother separately. Martha favored her slave Betty, a seamstress and expert spinner.

Ona Judge – Early Life

Around 1773, Ona Judge was born to Betty and an English-born white man, Andrew Judge. Andrew, an indentured servant, served as a trusted tailor, ultimately making clothing for the entire Washington family. However, by the 1780’s he had left Mt. Vernon and lived in his own home in Fairfax County. Ona did not spend her childhood with both parents. Her white father was able to leave a life of unpaid labor; her slave mother spent the entirety of her life in bondage. The author emphasizes that Ona learned valuable lessons from both of her parents…the power of perseverance from her mother and recognition that a decision to “free oneself trumped everything, no matter who was left behind.”

Dunbar describes the historical context of the time and imagines the potential experiences which influenced Ona. In 1789, Washington accepted the Presidency of the new nation and moved to New York bringing slaves with them. Among them was sixteen-year old Ona Judge as a housemaid and personal attendant for the first lady. As Martha Washington’s top servant, Ona would be expected to know her desires, select gowns, keep them in repair and be available whenever needed. New York was still grappling with black emancipation. New York leaders did not plan to end slavery at that time. Yet, there were discussions prompting New Yorkers to rethink their commitment to slavery. Ona would have had little opportunity to make contact with the free black community in New York. Yet, there probably were occasions when Ona may have heard stories of the escapes of fugitive slaves or overheard discrete discussions of freedom and slavery.

States’ Laws Differ Regarding Slavery

When the capital of the United States changed to Philadelphia, Ona lived in the President’s House with between twenty-five and thirty residents, slave and free. She and the Washingtons quickly learned that Pennsylvania’s attitude toward slavery was much different than New York’s. In fact, “slavery was on it’s deathbed” as Dunbar describes it. Pennsylvania became the first state to gradually dismantle slavery. It required emancipating slaves who were brought to the state for more than six months. President Washington rationalized his position by saying that he was not a citizen of that state. He lived in Pennsylvania only as a necessity of his employment. Nevertheless, the President and Martha developed a plan of rotating the slaves to and from Mt. Vernon every six months. They intended to keep their slaves in the dark regarding the legal potential of freedom. Their plan worked for more than five years.

Despite the intense demands of serving Martha Washington, Ona, as Dunbar suggests, made contacts with the free black community in Philadelphia. When Washington’s second term was coming to a close and the household would be returning to Mt. Vernon, it was a much less attractive place for Ona after the death of her mother and her brother. In addition, she learned that her new owner would soon be Martha Washington’s newlywed mercurial granddaughter. This meant losing her preferential position as attendant to Mrs. Washington. She became convinced that if she returned to Virginia, she would not have an opportunity to escape. The author suggests that Ona probably reached out to a group of free black allies in Philadelphia for help. She never revealed who assisted her. 

The Escape

Ona carefully planned the timing and the method of her escape with the help of associates. She slipped out of the Executive Mansion on May 21, 1796 while the Washingtons were having supper. And thus Ona disappeared into the free black community of Philadelphia. Two days later the Washingtons placed an ad in the Philadelphia Gazette describing her and the possessions she had taken with her. By then Ona had escaped by boat from Philadelphia and traveled to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Washington did not let her go easily and took steps to recapture her. The authorities found Ona, but never captured or returned her.

The author of Never Caught uses historical detail as well as creative description of the potential experiences that shaped the slave’s life. The interweaving of this historical detail and the potential wit, skill and circumstances that enabled Ona Judge to plan and succeed in her quest for freedom, makes a compelling story. I recommend this book to anyone interested in American History.

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I Haven’t Left Yet…Facebook, That Is

I wrote several weeks ago about my dilemma with leaving Facebook. I shared with you that I had concerns that were both political and values-based. Several of you responded that you were having similar thoughts and considering leaving as well. Many of you have stayed with Facebook because it provides a way to connect to non-local family and friends that you don’t see often…especially during the pandemic. I certainly agree with that argument. Some of you told me that you were going to wait until after the election.

After the Election

That is what I have decided to do…wait until after the election. Several considerations went into that postponement. I wanted to be able to participate in my own political activism related to registering to vote, mail-in ballots and voting. I wanted to see how postings on Facebook might influence the election. And, I wanted to participate on the Facebook pages of a couple of the organizations that I belong to. About the time I wrote my blog, Facebook announced that it was cracking down on the activities related to QAnon and other ultra-right groups that use its platform. (QAnon is a loose group whose members promote a vast conspiracy theory claiming that a satanic cabal rules the world as well as additional lies and misinformation.) I wanted to see if Facebook kept their word. So, I stayed. I have even checked my feed more often. 

Extremist Groups Proliferate

I am very disappointed in Facebook’s lack of effectiveness in addressing QAnon and other extremist movements. The New York Times reports that a militia movement calling for armed conflict on the streets of US cities has gained thousands of new followers. One QAnon group has gained hundreds of followers while questioning common-sense pandemic medical practices such as wearing masks and staying home if you are sick. One post with a QAnon tag pulled in 20,000 likes by claiming that no one has died from the coronavirus. Although promising to restrict extremist groups, the Associated Press found Facebook was still encouraging users to join groups promoting QAnon. New York Times research also confirmed this.

Facebook, using its own algorithm that surfaces content recommendations, continues to steer users toward the groups discussing QAnon conspiracies despite assurances that this would not happen. Sophie Bjork-James an anthropologist at Vanderbilt University, studies QAnon. She states that the Facebook “algorithm worked to radicalize people and really gave this conspiracy theory a megaphone with which to expand.” It is their “responsibility for shutting down that megaphone. And time and time again they are proving unwilling.”

Facebook’s Inadequate Response

These examples raise questions of Facebook’s credibility and whether it is even able to implement the policing and monitoring of extremist groups it has promised on its platform. QAnon is very agile in avoiding Facebooks’s restrictions. It changes names, avoids key terms or edits content to disguise their intent and to make it more acceptable to naïve users. Despite the claims by Facebook that it was removing almost 800 QAnon groups from the site and using new rules to limit other groups that promote violence, at least 100 QAnon groups tracked by the Times continued to grow by more than 13,000 per week (down from 15,000-25000 before the new restrictions).

Marc-André Argentino, doctoral candidate at Concordia University, also studies QAnon. He has identified 51 groups that branded themselves as anti-child-trafficking organizations, but which are actually predominantly sharing QAnon conspiracies. He reports many of them formed in 2020 and actually grew after Facebook began to enforce bans on these groups. Before the bans, they added dozens to hundreds of new members each week; but after the bans they attracted tens of thousands of new members weekly. Although Facebook has said they are studying the groups, they have taken no action.

Threatening Individuals and Society

My own State Senator, Scott Weiner, recently was attacked by QAnon, called vile names and physically threatened with his life because of legislation he has sponsored in California’s State Senate. The Anti-Defamation League has pressed Facebook to take action on militia and other extremist organizations. The League states that they have warned Facebook for years about the problem of dangerous and potentially violent extremist groups using the platform to organize and recruit followers. The Anti-Defamation League has presented their concerns to Facebook in addition to other social media platforms who seem be more receptive. David Sifry, vice president of its Center for Technology and Society, said “The response we get back is markedly different with Facebook. There are people of good conscience at every single one of these platforms. The core difference is leadership.”

I agree that Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, does not seem to provide effective leadership. He seems incapable of implementing Facebook’s own restrictions on extremism. The evidence does not signal commitment to control these extremist groups on the Facebook platform. I still plan to leave Facebook after the November election. Facebook won’t even record my departure. And, I will need to find another way to stay connected to my friends and family. But my values and actions will be more congruent…and I will have time to do something else I enjoy. 

Please sign up to continue to read my blogs and book reviews. Here is a link. Also, the sign-up form is located on the right margin of my webpage, at https://bevscott.com. On the website, you can sign up any time.

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Book Review: “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi

Reviewed by Bev Scott

Homegoing is an amazing book! It is an incredible example of how much we can learn from well-written fiction about culture, family dynamics, human emotions, history and so much more. Author YaaGyasi tells stories drawn from the lives of two ancestral family lines beginning in Ghana in the eighteenth century. The path of these two family lines begin with two half-sisters who are unaware of each other. One marries an Englishman and lives in comfort; the other is captured and sold into slavery. After eight generations the paths converge as descendants meet in the U.S. 

The stories are rich, intense, inspiring and tragic. From the tales set in Ghana, we learn the cultural richness of the native tribes. Gyasi tells beautiful but often intense stories describing traditions, norms, cultural practices, and family challenges. She unflinchingly exposes the brutal and painful exploitation by white European slave traders. Readers like me who are white will gain valuable insights about the impact of racism. Then, in the following centuries, the racism of that exploitation become embedded in the DNA of every institution in our country. 

Yaa Gyasi tells each story with an event set in a point in time, introducing members of the family which are connected to both the prior generation and the generation which follows. It is an intriguing technique enabling the reader to learn the family lore and traditions or the loss of lore and traditions, for eight generations. We learn about the human and the cultural losses and the emotional damage past from one generation to another. We learn how the legacy of slavery restricts and brutalizes. And we learn that despite the pain and the damage, hope for the future survives.

Homegoing is a brilliant book which I highly recommend.

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Book Review: “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson

Reviewed by Bev Scott

Just Mercy indicts our “impartial” judicial system. It provokes us to reconsider exactly what is “just punishment” for crime. The author tells how the system often condemns the innocent, passes inhumane sentences for petty crimes and convicts suspects despite contrary evidence. For example, children as young as thirteen are condemned to prison without parole for non-violent crimes. Women are imprisoned for life for birthing babies who died in their wombs. And, people who lack proper legal representation are wrongly condemned to death or to life sentences without parole. The system often fails people who are poor, black or brown, or mentally ill.

The Equal Justice Initiative

For these reasons, as a young lawyer Bryan Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). The EJI defends the poor, disparate and forgotten locked in our criminal justice system. The book points out that the racist system results from four painful eras of our history. They were slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow and mass incarceration. Currently, the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM) teaches us about racism’s impact on black lives today. But Stevenson’s work began long before the BLM movement. He has long sought justice for those the system has condemned and forgotten. In his career, Stevenson has appealed unfair judgements to state and federal courts. And, the EJI works to uncover ignored evidence and to argue for the rights of those wrongly accused. 

Conclusion

In my opinion, Stevenson challenges the system with compassion, commitment and resilience. He brings the voice of someone who has been “in the trenches.” Particularly touching to me, he shares his own insight at a time when he was so discouraged and down. In doing so, Stevenson recognizes that all of us are broken in different ways and deserve mercy.  In conclusion, Just Mercy makes a timely addition to anyone’s reading list. We are rightfully giving heightened attention to the failures of our justice system. I highly recommend this book.

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Leaving Facebook

I am considering leaving Facebook. I have wrestled with the decision for a few months now. Some of my issues are values-based and some are political. Overall, I am unhappy that Facebook allows extremist groups to post hate speech and lies to promote racism and divisiveness. Worse, Facebook allowed its platform to be used to manipulate our last presidential election. We’ve heard frequent news reports that Russia has a strategy to manipulate our upcoming election as they reportedly did in 2016. Is Facebook allowing this to happen again? Interference in the most significant right in our democratic process, to vote, is a real threat to our democracy.

Divisiveness

I fear that the hatred and divisiveness promoted on a platform followed by millions of followers, leads to the political stalemate. We see Congress and our elected leaders are unable to reach across the aisle, find common ground to compromise, and to govern. Plus, the New York Times reports the rise of right-wing extremist QAnon, a conspiracy group which has attracted hundreds of thousands, some say millions, of followers on Facebook. This group “believes in, among other things, a ring of Satan-worshiping, child-trafficking criminals led by prominent Democrats.”

QAnon followers hack into organizations’ legitimate campaigns on Facebook, such as “Save the Children.” Thus, they blur the lines between real concerns about human trafficking and conspiracy mongering. Followers then “shift the conversation to baseless theories about who they believe is doing the trafficking: a cabal of nefarious elites that includes Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey and Pope Francis.” Shockingly, many people accept such baseless theories. So much so, that a QAnon supporter will likely win election to Congress from Georgia this year. Why is Facebook allowing such lies and misinformation? 

Note: Some QAnon presence has finally been removed from Facebook https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53692545.

Benefits and Drawbacks

Yet, there are benefits to being on Facebook. For example, I have many friends with whom I communicate solely on Facebook. I often post photos of my vacations, family events or other life milestones. With my author’s Facebook Page, I promote my book, send out blogs and book reviews, and promote writing. If I leave Facebook, I lose all these benefits. Leaving Facebook is a big decision.

But, I wonder, do I need those benefits? If I leave Facebook, I will miss the news shared by friends and the opportunity to share news with them. If I ever travel again, I will miss the opportunity to share my photos. I ask myself, how important are these benefits? In fact, given the pandemic, I am doing fewer celebrations with friends and family or marking the milestones in my life. I have retired and do not expect to write another book, nor blog as often. So, I am not putting energy into book promotion. I still have my website to post blogs and reviews. Do I really need a Facebook Author Page?   

Boycott

Several times in my life, I’ve boycotted a product or a company because of its unethical, immoral or illegal action. The actions of Facebook seem to fall in that category as Zuckerberg has refused to prevent messages of outright lies. Lies abound on the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests, the Presidential election or the baseless allegations of QAnon. He claims that Facebook is not an “arbiter of truth.” Further, it is in the interest of the public to see what political leaders are saying. That might explain why Facebook allows President Trump to post lies and misinformation.

But many others who are not political leaders use Facebook to spread lies, groundless accusations, and distorted data. It seems Facebook disingenuously hides behind its facade of neutrality. Our advanced economy still uses the tools of research and science. An educated population, for decades, has depended on the results of science and research for substantiated facts and data. Facebook can also use those results to prevent messages of disinformation, outright lies, hate and bias. Why does it not do so?

Democracy Threatened?

This kind of distortion characterizes authoritarian societies that use lies and misinformation to install dictators. I want to live a democracy.  Don’t you?

Others also believe Facebook has not done enough to restrict extremists and conspiracists who spread lies, bias and hate. In addition, Facebook has not done enough to prevent harassment on line. A Pew Research Center survey in 2017 reported in the New York Times, that 40% of Americans experienced on-line harassment. Three-fourths of it occurred on Facebook. Facebook has been criticized by advertisers, civil rights leaders and even its own employees. And, the New York Times reports that State Attorneys General from 20 states have demanded Facebook do a better job.

Will Facebook continue to allow these uses of its platform? Will it allow other countries, such as Russia, to manipulate the upcoming election in November?

Note: Bowing to pressure, FB has released a set of Community Standards. I am skeptical. Will it make any difference?https://www.facebook.com/communitystandards/introduction

Bottom line about leaving Facebook: do I want to continue to be involved and participate with it? Are the benefits I receive worth it? Does it make any difference? What is your position?

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