Just Mercy

Synopsis: Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit law office in Montgomery, Alabama dedicated to defending the poor, the incarcerated and the wrongly convicted. The backbone of Stevenson’s book is the sad story of Walter McMillian, falsely accused of murder. This case was only the beginning of his committed work to provide representation to the poor, and especially to women and children accused of serious crimes.

Review: I came late to this book, published in 2014. I didn’t see the movie it inspired, but the movie did bring it to my attention, and I was curious. This was a powerful, scary book. It raises important and difficult questions about our justice system, the death penalty, and the price of being poor. “The opposite of poverty is not wealth. In too many places, the opposite of poverty is justice.”

Rating: 4/5

Recipe: Banana pudding is a southern classic, and hard to resist. I grew up on the classic recipe from the side of the vanilla wafer box, and I loved it! This recipe from Kardea Brown is a little more complex, but still easy, and the caramel sauce was a great addition. For best results, this should sit overnight so the cookies can soften.

Ingredients:

14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

5.1 oz box of instant vanilla pudding

2 cups very cold half and half

1 cup sour cream

pinch sea salt

One 12 oz tin or 16 oz box of butter cookies

1 cup prepared caramel sauce

6 large bananas, slice

1) whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, pudding mix, half and half, sour cream and the salt in a large bowl.

2) In a large bowl, or individual serving dishes, layer cookies, half the caramel sauce, half the bananas, then half the pudding. Repeat the layers with the same ingredients.

3) Top with whipped cream and cookie crumbles for garnish.

4) For best flavor, lit sit overnight