dear-martin

[dear-martin]

three major themes in dear martin were privilege, implicit biases, and acceptance and belonging. justyce faced these throughout the novel.

[dear-martin]

about me

my name is justyce mcallister and i'm an eighteen-year-old african american freshman at yale. i previously went to braselton preparatory academy in atlanta, georgia with a full scholarship, where i was the captain of the school's debate team and was at the top of my grade's scores. i plan on majoring in law and working in public policy. my girlfriend is sarah-jane (sj) friedman and my bestfriend is manny rivers. i consider myself a pretty good person and i stay out of trouble when possible. i enjoy hanging out with my friends and doing debate with the team. i'm against racial discrimination in society and i strongly fear police brutality. one quote that i live by is "you can't change how other people think and act, but you're in full control of you" (stone 115). i believe that regardless of how people are going to treat me, i'm going to be the best person i can be since i have full control over myself.

image retrieved from https://wsspaper.com/42667/ae/dear-martin-review/

[dear-martin]

encounter with the cops

today i had a police encounter and got handcuffed while trying to help my drunk girlfriend, melo. i received a call from one of her friends informing me that she was drunk, so i went over and found her to take her home. by the time we got into the car, the police sirens were blaring and they pulled up, assuming that i was going to take advantage of her. i clearly remember the cops saying to me, “'[i]  know your kind: punks like you wander the streets of nice neighborhoods searching for prey'” (stone 12), but he’s wrong. all i was trying to do was take care of melo, but it was misinterpreted, and despite what i said, it wasn’t believable enough. it disappoints me to see how society is like this. with stereotypes and skin color, actions get misjudged and blown way out of proportion. i wish i could stay out of trouble, but these days it’s pretty complicated to do, since everywhere i go, the cops seem to interpret my actions to be troublesome in one way or another.

pages 0-13

stage 1 - i don't want to get in trouble

(the police car represents the police officers that are always scoping out reasons for african americans like me to be causing trouble. it also represents the police brutality and the large role it plays in the book.)

image retrieved from https://carbuzz.com/news/wed-love-to-get-pulled-over-by-this-c8-corvette-cop-car

[dear-martin]

following the rules

do you ever wish you could do something so bad but you know you can’t because you know it’ll hurt a relationship with someone else? if so, then you’re like me right now. i’m in a kind of tough situation at the moment because i like a girl named sj. she’s a super nice person and she means a lot to me, but unfortunately she’s white, and i can’t date a girl who is white because of my mama. my mama strongly believes in me dating only girls who are african american, meaning that i must remain solely as friends with sj "'since pissing my mama off ain’t real high on my to-do list'" (stone 55) and i don’t want to anger her and lose trust. when i was at manny's house, i remember clearly telling manny that "'my mama would blow every gasket in a fifty-mile radius'" (stone 55) if she found out that i was dating her. i’m trying to be considerate of her since she always tries her best for me, and it’s the least i can do for her.

pages 53-58

stage 5 - i am considerate of other people

(this image of a split road or a fork in the road represents justyce's life and the choices that he has to make. in this case, he has the choice to either follow his mother's word and rules that are set for him, or take his own path. he chose the option to listen to his mother, so that he doesn't anger her, which is the responsible decision.)

image retrieved from https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/when-you-come-to-a-fork-in-the-road-take-it-8c5e08eddfb8

[dear-martin]

my priorities

today was the day when mama had to find out about my girlfriend. i couldn’t have hid sj from her forever anyways, so it was bound to happen at some point. personally, her reaction was uncalled for and she could have reacted in a better way. i know mama doesn’t want to accept the idea of dating any person except for an african american like me, but it’s not right for her to stop me from being with the girl that i love. in the past, i tried to hold back, and kept strictly to being friends with her since i wanted to keep good relations with my mother, and i knew i should follow along with her beliefs. however now, i’ve come to realize that sometimes it’s okay to do it your own way, and you can’t get anywhere if you always follow the guidelines that someone sets for you. i remember telling her that "'all my life, [she's] pushed me to be and do my absolute best [and] that's what sj brings out of me'" (stone 138). i hope that soon enough she’ll understand that too and will accept sj.

june 26, pages 137-139

stage 6 - i have a personal code of behavior and i follow it

[dear-martin]

a new approach

today when i was visiting manny’s grave, i saw jared there too. despite our rocky relationship and disputes in the past, it was nice to see him again and be able to talk for a little. jared had mentioned that he decided he was going to minor in civil rights laws, which was definitely something that surprised me, and it’s great how one can change over the course of four years. i know i’ve grown from high school, and i assume he has too, but regardless of how he wants to approach racial differences, i’ve learned that it’s best not to make a big deal unless it’s really necessary. overall, i understand that no one is ever going to be fully accepted by society, and there will always be some people out there who have their opinions and biases on you that you have no control over. there’s no use in dwelling over something unchangeable. it’s not that racism or other related topics aren’t important, but i’m better off spending my time focusing on the positives when it’s possible since i only live for so long. events can occur when i least expect it like when manny and i were shot at, and he didn’t make it.

when writing to martin, i said to him, "'no matter what i do, for the rest of my life i’m gonna find myself in situations like this'" (stone 154). i came to realize that from those situations i always asked myself "what would martin do?" (stone 155) and "my experiment failed because I was asking the wrong damn question" (stone 155). so i decided to think back about what doc had said. he said, "'who would martin be?'" (stone 155), not 'what would martin do?' it helped me realize that it's best to just be myself, and be like martin luther king, which was to be "nonviolent, not easily discouraged, and firm in [my] beliefs" (stone 155).

december 25, pages 157-159

stage 6 - i have a personal code of behavior and i follow it

(this image represents justyce's growth throughout the book. he began as a small seed, and slowly matured and grew more by the end of the book. the seed got watered, which led to it sprouting and growing larger. justyce was watered just like the plant. in other words, the water represents the experiences that justyce had that helped him grow as a person morally just like how a plant grows.)

image retrieved from https://trinjal.com/fastest-growing-trees/