Parent Letter

Dear Parents,

We know we are tardy in getting information to you about our Summer Reading Program “On the Same Page,” which asks all students, faculty, staff, and administration to read the same book. We appreciate your patience as we worked to identify this summer’s book and are so pleased to share the selection with you. This year, after much consideration, discussion and prayer, our Foundations students will be reading Stamped: Racism, Anti-racism and You by Jason Reynolds and Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. Our high school students will read the Young Adult (YA) version of Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.

By January, the Summer Reading Committee committed to identifying a book that would advance the school’s conversation about and engagement with the topics of race and racism.The journey to the choice of these books has been a long and winding road, as identifying a single book that captured all that we hoped it would about the topics of race and racism proved hard to find. We went through a number of fiction and non-fiction titles. None of them quite hit the mark. Then, in March of this year, Stamped was released. Over two dozen of us read the book and offered our opinions. We particularly liked its use of anti-racist, assimilationist, and segregationist as a way to identify and label behavior and mindsets. Similarly, we discussed the merits of Just Mercy which includes challenging themes related to the criminal justice system and are part of the real life stories Stevenson tells. We decided that the Young Adult version was more appropriate for our high school students. The fact is that both books contain content that will make most of us, even adults, uncomfortable. But discussions around race and injustice should make us wince and ask why the Beloved Community that Martin Luther King spoke about and Jesus proclaimed as the Kingdom of God is so difficult to attain. There is an old quote about the Gospel: Jesus came to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Perhaps that is why we were so conflicted in our choice this year.

However, the selection of the book became more clear during this last week--since the end of school. George Floyd was killed and our nation now faces an historically critical moment, and our school is most certainly at that same crossroads. As a school, we have a clarity and conviction about the community we will be, and these choices of summer reading books represent that. Through these books, we at Marist have an opportunity to do what we do best: educate and form our students, and ourselves, in the person of Jesus Christ. Our work as a committee took on a new sense of urgency to not only select one or more books, but to make an intentional choice to help transform the minds and hearts of individuals and our community. A portion of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech comes to mind:

“We have come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism...Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make racial justice a reality for all of God’s children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.”

This “fierce urgency of now”, “the urgency of the moment,” became a guiding force in making our final decision about which books would be most suitable for our students at Marist School at this point in our history. We cannot ignore the mission of Marist “to form the whole person in the image of Christ” or set aside the values of the Society of Mary. Our mission is also guided by the teachings of the Catholic Church. In their recent pastoral letter against racism, Open Wide our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote, “Each of us should adopt the words of Pope Francis as our own: let no one ‘think this invitation is not meant for him or her.’ All of us are in need of personal, ongoing, conversion...if racism is confronted by addressing its causes and the injustice it produces, then healing can occur.” The bishops invite us all to conversion, opening our minds and hearts to Christ’s love for all people and to the experiences of those who have been harmed by the evil of racism. Archbishop José H. Gomez, president of the USCCB wrote, “We should be doing a lot of listening right now. This time, we should not fail to hear what people are saying through their pain. We need to finally root out the racial injustice that still infects too many areas of American society.”

One way we as a community can listen is by reading and amplifying voices that may be unlike our own. Through the chosen books, we will engage in reflection and dialogue from the youngest members of our community to and with members of the adult community. We hope that you read one or both of these books along with your children, and let the reading lead to those difficult, sometimes uncomfortable conversations--so that we can build a better future for all our children.

Yours in Christ,

Janet Claussen Kevin Mullally

Academic Dean Principal

Below, you will find descriptions of each book and information about the authors as well as information about obtaining copies. It will be acceptable for students listen to the audio version, read it on a Kindle or other device, or read the print books.

We will also provide a Pathfinder resource guide if you and/or your children want to delve more deeply into media related to either book. This document can be found either on the school’s Textbook Information web page at https://www.marist.com/textbooks and then by clicking on“On the Same Page” Summer Reading Program or https://sites.google.com/marist.com/summer-reading-2020/home or marist.com/login and the Parent Resource Page and then clicking the tile for “Summer Reading.”

Also posted on these sites is a list of reflection and discussion questions for each book. Teachers will be using these as a launchpad for discussion and assignments when we return in the fall.

Foundations Students

About Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism and You

ISBN: 978-0316453691

This book is a young adult adaptation of Ibram X. Kendi’s longer, more intellectually challenging Stamped From the Beginning, the 2016 recipient of the National Book award. Ibram X. Kendi is the founding director of The Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, the youngest ever recipient of the National Book Award, and, beginning in July of 2020, the Professor of History and the Director of Boston University Center for Antiracist research. Jason Reynolds is a two-time National Book Award finalist, the recipient of a Newberry honor, and the current Ambassador of Young People’s Literature as awarded by the Library of Congress.

High School Students

About Just Mercy: A True Story of the Fight for Justice

ISBN: 978-0525580034

Students who will be in 9-12th grade will read the Young Adult version of Just Mercy: A True Story of the Fight for Justice by Bryan Stevenson. Stevenson was a gifted young attorney when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to the defense of the poor, the wrongly condemned and those trapped in our criminal justice system. As he tells the story of one individual on death row, his narrative takes us into the lives of multiple populations of people who are adversely affected by laws, policies, and practices, most often in the context of poverty and race. Bryan Stevenson delves deep into the broken US justice system, detailing his many challenges and efforts as a lawyer and social advocate, especially on behalf of America’s most rejected and marginalized people. In this very personal work, Stevenson recounts varied stories of his work as a lawyer on behalf of those in society who have experienced discrimination and/or have been wrongly accused of a crime and who deserve a powerful advocate and due justice under the law. Through the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), an organization Stevenson founded as a young lawyer and for which he currently serves as executive director, this important work continues. EJI strives to end mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, working to protect basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.

Although there is a Just Mercy movie, it should not replace reading the book which has other themes and content important to the themes we will address in the fall. However, it certainly serves as either an introduction to the characters, voices and events in the book, or as a comparison to the book.

The movie based on the book is currently streaming for free through June. For more information: https://www.justmercyfilm.com/?emci=78bc9c4b-eea5-ea11-9b05-00155d039e74&emdi=fd6ebb2f-05a6-ea11-9b05-00155d039e74&ceid=6018857

There will be a virtual discussion based on the Just Mercy movie on June 18: 3:00-4:30: https://catholicsmobilizing.org/event/just-mercy-virtual-reflection-and-discussion