The Holistic Book Club: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

For Holistic’s September book club, the team read Equal Justice Initiative’s founder, Bryan Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy. The team participated in an active conversation about Just Mercy’s lasting impact. Reading Just Mercy seven years after its publication proved the relevancy and timeliness of the book and its core messages. Holistic also used this discussion to find ways to use what we learned from this book to propel DEI in our work and lives. Read some of our teammates’ thoughts and reflections on the impact of Just Mercy below.

Tom Alexander, CEO & Founder - “I was struck by the relentlessness of it all. Everyone in the book seemed like they were just getting battered by one tidal wave after another, over and over; one thing fixed led to 100 new problems. It really underscored to me just how massive and encompassing these challenges are, as it relates to the criminal justice system and, indeed, fairness to fellow people.”

Guthrie Blechman, Consultant - “Just Mercy's strength is the humanity and emotion it brings to massive injustice. Taking the time to discuss the anecdotes and the people behind them gave our book club a chance to share their own personal experiences and touchstones relating to racial justice. The discussion gave me a better understanding of my team's personal motivations for DEI work than I'd had beforehand.”

Lisa Alvarado, Director of Facilitation - “Though the majority of my education was spent studying about institutional racism and sexism and movements for social justice in American History–what really struck me about Just Mercy was the role of intersectionality in the book. Many of the individuals, often children, who ended up on death row had experienced a lifetime of poverty, homelessness, abuse, mental illness, and racism without any access to resources, support, or guidance. These pressures compounded to create helpless situations which escalated quickly with no opportunity for reform.”

Gillian Pena, Associate Consultant - “Just Mercy truly allows the reader to recognize and identify the injustices that we see and that are echoed throughout our justice system. It was a book that unknowingly had a lot of influence on my life as a teen and even shaped my career path to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Knowing that reading this book when I was younger led me to DEI, then I got to share it with my entire company years later, was just an indescribable feeling. For some friends at Holistic, it was their first book they read entirely in English–that is still so surreal. Being able to share the sentiments and discuss as a team, was something that we all will walk away from for the better. It is undoubtedly a tough and sobering read, but typically those are the best books to evoke a change.”

Katie Merkle, Consultant - “Just Mercy reminds us how all violence is connected to an institution. I loved participating in the book club. I learned a lot, and, as a new teammate, it was a great way to get to know my colleagues.”

Christie Oxler, Graphic Designer - “Reading Just Mercy with my team was powerful. Though I thought I knew how unfair the justice system could be, it was so much worse than I thought. It made my stomach turn. But it was necessary to not only my career in DEI, but my understanding of the inequality going on in the world.

But what came from this book club? I got to see how my teammates perceived what they were reading. It brought up raw moments that bonded us and reignited our passion for DEI. Our goal was to educate and shape our team to understand the weight of our work. And so our team thought of how we can take the lessons we learned and apply them to our work. It's one thing to read a book and take to heart what message the author is sending, but another to act. I can't wait for the next book.”

If you’re interested in checking out Just Mercy:

Purchase the book at Semicolon, Chicago’s only Black woman-owned bookstore which reopened on October 2nd.
Read along with guided reading questions.
Check out the young adult version of the book, Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults): A True Story of the Fight for Justice.
Stream the movie adaptation, Just Mercy (2019).

Next month, we will be reading Killing the Black Body by Dorothy E. Roberts. If you’re interested in joining our November book club, reach out to us at comms@holisticindex.com.