Me and my Fiance Miranda at Lake Erie.
As i read our novel, Holding On, by David Isay, I really took to the profile on Moreese Bickham. I couldn't imagine being locked up in prison for as long as he had been for what I saw as self defense. Racism hit me right from the start in this interview in hearing Moreese's story. I found a passage very stressful and full of hate for me on page 36, where Moreese describes how he was to have his sentence reduced and was denied later. Moreese states, "In 1984, the pardon recommended my time be cut to forty years. It stayed on the governor's desk-- that was Governor Edwards-- his whole term and he didn't sign it."(36). The whole paragraph just left me in awe. I saw nothing but racism and hate crime for Moreese and his story. As in today, we have these uprising's of hate crimes all around us, and not many will stand up to revolt against what is right and wrong. It leaves me to question if we are heading back down the same road we were on in the early sixties. The writing at its best for me is the ending. Waiting until the end to acknowledge the release of Moreese is very powerful. It shows that it only takes one or two strong people to make a change for many. No one had to put their career on the line for a man they didn't know well, but they rose up to defend Moreese and his rights. That is true American society and what we came to this nation to do: stick up for one another and live a life in peace.
I also plan to later get a degree in psychology, also congrats on getting engaged. I loved the Moreese profile too, I agree that waiting until the end of the story to talk about his release was genius.
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