The documentary highlights the horrors of the justice system and how we can make a change.
True Justice At Bolles Students and teachers share open discussion in the classroom Teachers encouraged their classes to prepare for discussions that might pull up strong emotions.
Aisha Hasan Contributing Writer
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ach of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done,” stated Bryan Stevenson in the True Justice documentary Bolles presented on February 16th. The documentary shows an overview of systemic racism in the justice system as well as Bryan Stevenson’s career of fighting for equality. The initiative was originally proposed about a month earlier by DEI Director Mrs. Twyla Ashman. Prior to the viewing, English teachers were asked to have a pre-viewing conversation with their students. Laura Lane, a freshman English teacher, immediately started preparing, reading and researching. She explained, “The first thing I did was go ‘well, I have to get educated, right?’ I didn’t think it was right of me as a teacher to not do my research.”
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“Mr. Stam taught us that stuff is going to get real, like he already gave us a warning,” Anastasia McHayle (‘23) revealed when talking about her pre-discussion. Regarding her experiences with the pre-discussion, Avani Bansal (‘21) (full disclosure: Bansal is a Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Bolles Bugle) shared, “It’s difficult feeling comfortable with certain people in certain environments.” One challenge most classrooms faced involved our current hybrid model. Bansal said, “Also having half the kids virtual didn’t help either.”
Bryan Stevenson’s book on the challenges he faced in his career. Credit: Google
Bansal did feel that the previewing disucssion made her more aware of her classmate’s experiences. “It was eye opening to hear a lot of people’s experiences. Because there was this question
