Dr. King was still such a young man on the day he was murdered that were he alive today, his birthday, he would be ninety-one. He has been dead, of course, for more than a half century already. He certainly made the most out of a life that was cut short less than ninety days past his thirty-ninth birthday.
The lesson regarding the importance of taking a position that is decidedly unsafe and most assuredly unpopular is one brought to the fore in Bryan Stevenson's extraordinary work, "Just Mercy". I have practiced law for more than a quarter-century and I stand by the opinion I formed when I finished reading it several years ago, which is that it should be required reading for every lawyer. It should be required reading whether you ply your craft - as Mr. Stevenson does - taking up the causes of death row inmates or you ply your craft - as I do - defending tort actions. Its lessons are timeless and are readily translatable and transferable from one specialized area of the law to another. In fact, its lessons are translatable and transferable from the law to any other profession of which I can think.
I am admittedly a "the book is better than the movie" fella. That being said, I cannot recommend the movie adaptation of Mr. Stevenson's book strongly enough. Margaret and I saw it on Saturday night. It is a beautiful, stirring, and jarring film populated by strong performances by Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson, Tim Blake Nelson, Rafe Spall, and Rob Morgan, whose portrayal of the piece's most tragic character, Walter Middleton, might just break your heart at least a little.
Doing what is right, regardless of whether it is fashionable to do so, popular to do so, or safe to do so, is not always an easy thing to do. Its reward, however, is immeasurable.
-AK
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