We’re moving, changing gears, chugging along . . . .On to my
second book since starting this blog.
A caveat to start: this isn’t the kind of book I would
normally choose to read. For one,
I don’t like boxing. And for two,
my gut instinct about such a book tells me the story would be highly
dramatized. But we were
hanging out with some friends and started talking about movies. Someone suggested we watch Hurricane and in my typical
agreeableness, I appeared intrigued.
It soon followed that this movie was actually based on a book, to which
my face dropped and I responded, “I can’t watch the movie before I read the
book!” And then the book was
presented to me. What’s a girl to
do except read the book?
My thoughts: I
was right. Hirsch’s account of
Rubin “Hurricane” Carter’s fight with the judicial system is drawn out and
includes many forced attempts at emotion.
Needless to say, these emotional grabs at Carter’s “tortuous” journey
from “ferocious boxer” to “alleged assassin” to a man brought to “redemption”
did not work on me. Don’t get me
wrong, I am angered by the injustice of Rubin’s wrongful conviction. And I, too, am astounded at the
enormity of the years it took before this injustice could be corrected. But perhaps a more honest account of
Hurricane’s story would have elicited a deeper connection between myself and
the characters of this real-life story.
Having never heard of the Hurricane or Rubin Carter’s
20-year imprisonment, after reading this book, I am disheartened by society’s
blatant racism and selfish desires.
The small city district attorneys and police officers acted in their own
best interests, telling lies and perpetuating the town’s already inherent
biracial tendencies. The town
became so hostile for Carter that he could never return and never again
regained a connection with his family.
So sad! It makes my heart hurt.
A glimmer of hope for mankind remains. My heart smiles for the honesty and
pure-heart of one person: John Artis, the young man charged and convicted
alongside Rubin. Artis never
backed out of his innocent plea as much as the district attorneys wanted his
confession to prove Rubin’s guilt.
Instead, Artis spent 10+ years in prison and was released on parole with
his integrity intact. In my eyes,
he is a man worth calling a hero.
And so, the storm is over . . . both for Rubin, the
Hurricane, Carter and for me.
Rubin Carter is free and his story has reached thousands. And I am finished this book and
can move on to something a little more intellectually challenging.
