We all face adversity, but some people step it up a notch and take a stand against wrongdoing. No matter if the misdeeds are found in a local community or the national government, the people in these stories have found their voices in the name of justice.

THE FAIRBANKS FOUR: Murder, Injustice, and the Birth of a Movement by Brian Patrick O’Donoghue (364.1523 OD) documents the 1997 beating and murder of 15 year-old John Gilbert Hartman of Fairbanks, Alaska. Amidst the chaos of a mini crime spree at the same time, four Native and Indian American males were arrested, convicted, and sent to jail within weeks. Then they were forgotten, until the author was teaching a class on investigative reporting almost 20 years later, and wanted to know more about this case. As the questions stacked up regarding police procedure and the trials, it became apparent that the four men were incarcerated because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and lacked the financial resources to defend themselves. Justice is served, eventually, in this well documented story.

FREEDOM SHIP: The Uncharted History of Escaping Slavery by Sea by Marcus Rediker (973.7115 RE) is an eye-opening expose of the slave trade and the resulting formation of a maritime branch of the Underground Railroad. The author begins with the 1849 story of Thomas H. Jones, a slave who escaped to freedom by stowing away on a ship headed for New York (where slavery was illegal). That’s just a tease before launching into additional testimonies from escaped slaves, originally recorded by abolitionist William Still of Philadelphia, and an analysis of how the escape routes worked. This easy-to-read book took over five years to research and is documented with 70 pages of notes.

MEDICINE RIVER: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools by Mary Annette Pember (977.0049 PE) lays the foundation for Indian boarding schools by sifting through the history of Native American culture and the encroachment of European settlers on the lands of North America. In order to justify stealing Native land, settlers and institutions created new laws to allow the displacement of Native Americans. The conquerors were soon backed by a growing government that outnumbered the Native population, making it easy to strip them of natural resources and force them into “American” subservience. Pember weaves her own family story into the chronology of this violent history, while working out the problems her ancestors experienced and the secrets they kept.

THE PURPOSEFUL WARRIOR: Standing Up for What’s Right When the Stakes Are High by Jocelyn Benson (921 Benson) recalls the author’s experience with the 2020 election in Michigan, where she is the Secretary of State. The outgoing president used social media to accuse her of miscounting votes for the 2020 election and illegally sending absentee ballots to the public. This was only the beginning of months of bullying and harassment from MAGA supporters, causing Benson to take safety precautions for her family and election workers. Because the continuous harassment took a toll on her well-being, she stayed strong by studying former warriors from the 1960’s Civil Rights Movements. She refused to be bullied; and continues, to this day, to speak out against injustice at all levels of government.

THE SIX: The Untold Story of the Titanic’s Chinese Survivors by Steven Schwankert (910.9163 SC) digs deep into personal histories of six Chinese nationals who were professional mariners. Circumstances placed them on the Titanic, while going from one seafaring job to the next, travelling in third class, below decks, because they were foreigners. The Chinese men made their way into a lifeboat and were rescued by the Carpathia which was also on its way to New York. Besides losing their luggage and being half frozen on arrival, the men were herded off to immigration officials and put to work on a different ship. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prevented them from working in the United States, so they made a life at sea, or chose to live in other countries that had better immigration policies. It’s eye-opening to read about laws from various countries that discriminated against the Chinese and other minorities. Lots of research went into this book, and the author walks us through the kind of documents that revealed the life stories of these six seafarers.

By Lynette Suckow

Reference Librarian