At a Glance: Dear Martin

Dear Martin by Nic Stone
(Dear Martin by Nic Stone)

Nic Stone’s Dear Martin grapples with American race relations through Justyce, an Ivy bound 17-year-old who attends a prep school in Atlanta.  After being unjustly profiled and arrested, Justyce begins keeping a journal addressed to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  Through Justyce’s perspective, readers encounter racist situations where he tries, at least initially, to reconcile these confrontations with Dr. King’s teachings.  Dear Martin is a novel written for a young adult audience and serves as a springboard for broader discussions about race relations. By employing Dr. King’s ideas with reservations, Stone makes the novel accessible for a public education system, while most importantly, leaving the door open for further debate.  I often couldn’t help thinking of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ book Between the World and Me, and his critique of US state apparatuses pushing Dr. King’s peaceful approach upon minority groups while simultaneously arming and empowering the majority.

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