When We Embrace Mercy
“We can embrace our humanness, which means embracing our broken natures and the compassion that remains our best hope for healing. Or we can deny our brokenness, forswear compassion, and, as a result, deny our own humanity.”
-Bryan Stevenson
This past weekend I settled in a seat in the AMC theaters to watch the movie Just Mercy. I had heard many reviews on Just Mercy, all of them telling me that it was a film that I must watch. What they failed to mention was all of the tears I would weep while in the movie theatre.
Just Mercy is a story about a young Harvard Law graduate, Bryan Stevenson, who creates the Equal Justice Initiative to represent men on death row. His first case is Walter McMillian, who was wrongfully and intentionally convicted for a murder he did not commit. Throughout this movie, you are able to see what it means to fight for the basic right to life.
To be sympathetic, to be empathetic, and to be compassionate are all ranges of how we understand others. As I watched Just Mercy, I could feel my heart drop and sink into the pits of my belly. I looked to my little brother sitting to the right of me, praying that America would stand by the values outlined in the constitution before society started to see him as a threat, a problem, as a black man in America.
The story of Walter McMillan is a story that is sadly shared by so many other black men. I could not possibly feel the emotions that Walter McMillan and other black men felt while being on death row, especially for crimes that they did not commit.
I can only embrace my humanness and be aware of their feelings. I can only be aware of how I feel listening to and watching their story.
I can only express the feeling of hoping my younger brother never experiences the pain that Walter McMillan felt. I can only choose to be a solution to a larger issue.
What makes us human? What makes us decide to act instead of merely wanting to act?
It is impossible to ever feel the same as someone else, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.
Movies like Just Mercy, When They See Us, Detroit, Harriett, and many others are stories that make us act. Sharing the experience of the trauma and pain caused by slavery, racial injustice, and mass incarceration allow the truth that has been suppressed for so long to finally break through the surface.
Representation in media is so important because encourages and compels us to act. It makes us consciously and unconsciously think about the world around us.
Sharing stories and allowing ourselves to feel for others is exactly how we can begin to heal.