This is one of my all-time favorite reads! It was part of my grade 11 English class, and Mr. Creighton, our teacher, chose some fantastic classic books for us to dive into and discuss together. Experiencing this story as a teenager created such a different vibe than how I might view it later in life. I remember feeling so outraged by the treatment of certain characters and the awful racial discrimination depicted in the book—it sparked some really meaningful conversations with my classmates.
I checked out Wikipedia to jog my memory about the story, and it brought back so many powerful feelings. While we've made progress in understanding and fighting discrimination and racism over the past 75 years, it's clear that there are still many who have yet to embrace the values of tolerance and understanding.
Being born and raised in Alabama, only about 80 miles from where Harper Lee grew up in Monroeville, the story is deeply meaningful for me as well. The south I grew up in (I was born in 1966) was still a deeply divided world along the lines of race. That’s just how it was, same as smoking being allowed indoors at that time.
One thing that you might not know Kim, is that Harper Lee was a childhood friend of Truman Capote, and she moved to NYC at his urging. Capato was born in New Orleans, but his parents were rarely around and he spent a lot of time with relatives. Some of those relatives lived in Monroeville.
This is one of my all-time favorite reads! It was part of my grade 11 English class, and Mr. Creighton, our teacher, chose some fantastic classic books for us to dive into and discuss together. Experiencing this story as a teenager created such a different vibe than how I might view it later in life. I remember feeling so outraged by the treatment of certain characters and the awful racial discrimination depicted in the book—it sparked some really meaningful conversations with my classmates.
I checked out Wikipedia to jog my memory about the story, and it brought back so many powerful feelings. While we've made progress in understanding and fighting discrimination and racism over the past 75 years, it's clear that there are still many who have yet to embrace the values of tolerance and understanding.
Being born and raised in Alabama, only about 80 miles from where Harper Lee grew up in Monroeville, the story is deeply meaningful for me as well. The south I grew up in (I was born in 1966) was still a deeply divided world along the lines of race. That’s just how it was, same as smoking being allowed indoors at that time.
One thing that you might not know Kim, is that Harper Lee was a childhood friend of Truman Capote, and she moved to NYC at his urging. Capato was born in New Orleans, but his parents were rarely around and he spent a lot of time with relatives. Some of those relatives lived in Monroeville.
Small world….