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Dear Martin started with Justyce in handcuffs for stealing his girlfriend's car when he was trying to drive her home. Then he goes to Braselton Preparatory Academy, his high school, where they have a discussion about racial injustice. Some students argue that we live in a "colorblind" world since they aren't black and don't have to deal with racial injustices and police brutality. Justyce realizes just how much our world is affected by police brutality and how unfair our world could be. Justyce has a friend named Manny, who was friends with the students that thought of the world as "colorblind." For their experiment of dressing up as stereotypes for Halloween. Justyce, who is very against this, and Manny take part. Blake, one of the teens that took part in this, dressed as a Klansman. As they are on the subway, some people punched Blake for obvious reasons, and then Trey, who is part of the Black Jihad was wondering what Justyce and Manny were doing. Justyce was wondering what he was doing too. He found out he made it to Yale University, which leads to another conversation in his class about racial injustices.
Overall, Justyce is trying to figure himself out after he is clearly seeing how his world is. Justyce has someone who he looks up to be his motive and idol, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Justyce is still young and going through the many struggles of relationships, racial injustices, and just people in his life.

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The cover of the book is very detailed and important to the book. The cover has Justyce standing up with a side-profile image. The first quarter is a normal picture but it is in black and white. The rest of it is flashing (even though it's not in motion) red and blue lights of a police car, with an all white background. Written in the middle is "Dear Martin" in cursive that looks like someone's handwriting. This adds lots of visuals about what this book is going to be about without even reading the first couple of chapters. You can tell that the character in the middle (Justyce) has gotten in trouble with the police. On the back, it's another side profile, but only his head as a silhouette. This doesn't add too much to the story, yet somehow fits the front cover.

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The first chapter started very abruptly! After reading chapter one, it is apparent that Justyce has faced racial discrimination while trying to drive his girlfriend home. Officer Castillo, the policeman on the scene suspected a crime purely because of Justyce's race. When trying to explain himself, Castillo "hits him in the face." (7), and assumes crime because of his skin colour. The officer tells Jus, "don't you say s*** to me, you son of a b****. I knew your punk a** was up to no good when I saw you walking down the road with that 🤬 hood on." (8). Honestly, I do not believe that this was because of Justyce's hood- the arrest was racially motivated against Jus, and the officer may have tried to come up with excuses to arrest him. It is upsetting that this -as well as being an issue in the novel- is a large issue in real life.

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When Quan was arrested, and "...confessed to shooting none other than Tómas Castillo," (19), I am wondering why this officer specifically was killed. Perhaps Quan had heard of Jus's incident and decided to take action. Upon reading Castillo's full name, it is clearly not caucasian, and seems as though it could be Spanish. Since Mexico borders the U.S., maybe he is of Mexican descent, which confuses me, because I would have expected him to have also experienced some racism. Regardless of race, it is unaccpetable to target another person not only because of their race, but for their identity.

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Jared seems as though he has been living in a bubble, since he is unable to take the situations of others into consideration. For example, his statement, "Anyway, to those unfamiliar to the U.S. Constitution, thanks to the Fourteenth Amendment, every person in this country has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." (26) exemplifies my thoughts. Yes, legally, everyone has equal rights and opportunities, however, many racial groups are still targeted and discriminated against despite the laws passed. Jared simply does not understand the way this nation operates- those of colour are susceptible to hate crimes regardless of the rules and regulations passed. So many horrible, sick people disobey these rules and continue to be intolerant of others. Honestly, I am unsure why Justyce and Jared are part of the same friend group.

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After reading chapter three, I am left wondering why Jared, along with other social media users are trying to justify police brutality. Jared explains that"...the kid attacked the cop and tried to take his gun. And he had a criminal record." (27). However, it is later proven that the previous crime committed by Shemar Carson was a crime that Jared, too had committed- the illegal possession of marijuana. Jared tries to vindicate his crime while also shaming Carson for doing the same. Police brutality is awful regardless of the victim's race or identity, however it is a larger issue with minority groups and people of colour.

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Although the halloween outfits were just costumes, dressing up as these things can be seen as insensitive and offensive while also reinforcing stereotypes, which can be extremely harmful to many minority groups and how others perceive them. Some costumes were less offensive than others, howevever the KKK costume definitely crossed the line. Not only is it extremely insensitive, but reanacts real, horrible events against African Americans as well as putting the wearer at risk; many onlookers may truly believe that they are a part of the group. Both Jus and Manny were clearly disturbed and uncomfortable with this costume.

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In Justyce's neighbourhood, there seems to be a lot of stigma between groups and races. Trey, a Black Jihad member seems to think that all white people are bad, and tries to convince Jus and Manny to stop hanging out with their friends of other races. To be quite frank, this is slightly racist- once again, assuming people's intentions and personalities based on race is not a great ideaology to have.

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There many differences between Justyce and students that go to his school. Though Manny and Justyce are both black students that go to Braselton Preparatory Academy, their lives are drastically different. Justyce is raised by his mom and is part of a lower income area. Manny has parents that are a vice president of major financial corporation and a psychologist.

Differences between Justyce and Jared are quite obvious. Jared is a racist and closed mind person, trying to prove that Justyce shouldn't have made it to Yale. Jared thinks the world is colorblind when the events in the book are obviously racist. Jared's parents are also working and rich. Justyce is just as smart as Jared but is open minded. Works very hard for where he is.

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The first time Justyce writes to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was after being handcuffed. He introduced himself, told Martin what he calls him, and told him what happened from his point of view. He also mentioned another case of police brutality and racial injustice. The next time Justyce writes to Martin, he wrote about what happened when he went to talk to his mom and talked about the racism in his town and in the country like the blackface that happened at his school when he was younger. In the end, he mentioned that he wanted to know what Martin would do in his shoes to "put the best foot forward". (38) Next entry is about a conversation with SJ (Sarah-Jane) and the stereotype project, a bad idea. Again looking for advice. The last entry for this section talked about the difference between Trey and the Black Jihad gang and Jared and the stereotype group. How they have the similarity of having him pick which he wants to be part of. The point shown is that Justyce thinks of Martin as more than an inspiration but an idol. He doesn't swear as much around Martin and asks him what to do and tries to think like Martin to make decisions. He also mentions how bad racial injustices and police brutality are.

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In chapter seven, Jus announces to his class that he was accepted into Yale. Jared, when met with this information becomes defensive. He remarks, "I know for a fact it's because I'm white and he's black." (59). This statement blatantly contradicts his other statement "America's a pretty color-blind place now." (24). His envy and jealousy may have taken control, causing him to blurt excuses as to why he wasn't accepted when Justyce was. Additionally, later in the novel when the class discusses access to classroom resources, once again, Jared is very unaware of backgrounds and lifestyles different to his own.

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Trey is very set in his ways, and refuses to interact with white people other than his friend in his gang. He constantly tries to discourage Justyce from going to Yale and becoming sucessful because of his race as well as the fear of white people. Jus acknowledges too- in his letter to Martin, he writes, "...he's just as bad as Jared! It's like I'm trying to climb a mountain, but I've got one fool trying to shove me down so I won't be on his level, and another fool tugging at my leg, trying to pull me to the ground he refuses to leave." (66) This evidence highlights Trey's unwillingness to change or try new things. At this point, it isn't to protect Jus, its to ensure he doesn't go any further than he (Trey) does. Inistead of trying to discourage and drag Justyce down, Trey should be supportive of a member of his own race climbng to success.

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In the Dear Martian letter right after chapter 7, Jus talks about how he feels like he is climbing a mountain with people like Jared pushing him down, and people like Trey, puling to keep him at there level. I never really thought about what it would be like to be told that you can't do something by almost everyone around you. It must be pretty discouraging. I am very supported by most everyone that I know, and this made me realize just how privileged I am.

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"I've been tellin' you since you were small that you gotta make a place for yourself in this world" (36) This is an important quote because it shows that Jus is not going to give up because things get hard. He knows things are going to be even harder then they are now, and his mom raised his to "make a place for himself."

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"I know you'd prefer to ignore this stuff because you benefit from it, but walking around pretending inequality doesn't exist won't make it disappear Jared." (28) This is a really cool quote because it takes the idea I was talking about in my last annotation, and makes it sound more clear. The biggest thing you can do to get rid of your basis, is to realize you have them.

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"SJ:Whatever, Jared. Bottom line, nobody sees us and automatically assumes we're up to no good.
Everyone: [ . . . ]
SJ:We'll never be seen as criminals before we're seen as people" (29) This quote is important because it shows how unfair life is for black people. The quote means that unlike white people, black people are sometimes seen as criminals despite them being normal people doing normal things. It shows just how ignorant and blinded Jared is to the rest of the world. This is even decently true in the real world. There have been many cases of police brutality for things that wouldn't have resulted in as strong of a punishment if the supposed crime were to be committed by a white person. Some cops in real life tend to be more suspicious of black people, and are way more harsh as well. This racism is very important and way more common than it should be. It shouldn't be happening at all, but the reality is that it is decently common.

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On page 59, chapter 7, Jared says something that completely contradicts what he has said in the past. He states that "I'm ranked number two in our class, I'm captain of the baseball team, I do community service on the weekends, and I got higher test scores than Justyce... yet he got into Yale early action, and I didn't. I know for a fact it's because I'm white and he's black." Whatever ridiculous reason Jared has for saying this, it contradicts his previous statement of the US. being "colorblind." While SJ has tons of evidence to counter this claim, and Jus did not just get in because he's black, Jared is shocked that Justyce did in fact score about the same or higher on his test as Jared. Jared is so wrapped up in his own idea about how the world works, he doesn't even consider that Jus might be just as qualified to get into Yale as he is. He says that "All I know is that no matter what collage I end up at, when I see a minority, I;m gonna wonder if they're qualified to be there." (64)

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After reading chapter 7, I predict that Justyce and Jared are eventually going to physically lash out at each other. They both hate each other a lot. Jared hates Justyce because Justyce thinks that racism is still a thing and because he didn't get into Yale as fast as Justyce did. Justyce hates Jared because Jared is oblivious to the fact that racism is still a very prominent thing and he is racist himself. This is shown during the class debates and occasionally elsewhere. One time where this is shown is at the end of a debate when Jared claims, "Whatever. All I know is that no matter what college I end up at, when I see a minority, I'm gonna wonder if they're even qualified to be there" (64). Justyce then replies, "D*mn, it's like that, Jared?" (64) These quotes show their hate for each other because Jared is racist, and hates Justyce because he got into a good college before he did. Justyce hates Jared because of how racist he was being. This makes me think that there could likely be a large scale conflict between the two of them.

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In chapter 7, Doc's class ends up turning into a debate between Justyce and Jared after Justyce gets accepted into Yale, a very good college. After reading this, I was wondering why Jared couldn't accept that a black person was able to do better than him and get into a good college. Jared is always saying that he is not racist and supports racial equality. However, it is clear this is not the case when he tells Doc, "I'd like to discuss how affirmative action discriminates against members of the majority" (59). He is saying that white people are disadvantaged when it comes to getting accepted into a college. Later in the debate, Jared finds out that Justyce got a better score on the ACT test, but claims that Justyce is lying. Implying that a black person can't be as smart as you is very racist, and most people in the class see it that way as well. It seems weird how Jared doesn't just believe that racism still exists, but that he is racist as well, even though he claims not to be. He seems to be very oblivious to such obvious truths.

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After reading chapter 4, some of Jared's character traits have become very exposed. He is a very inconsiderate character. During the debate, he was a bit inconsiderate of the struggles black people go through. He seemed a bit inconsiderate, but wasn't terribly bad. Throughout the entire debate, he never was intentionally rude, just a bit oblivious, as mentioned in one of my previous posts. However, in chapter 4, he becomes way more inconsiderate. The author informs the reader of Jared's habit by writing, "True to form, Jared disregards Doc's “everything stays in this room” directive . . .” (30). This shows how inconsiderate he is because the discussion was meant to be kept private and only exist in the class. The discussion touched upon some sensitive topics which some people weren't too keen on talking about. For Jared to ignore what Doc said is a very rude thing to do. It definitely makes him seem like an unlikable character.

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After the incident of police brutality that Justyce went through, he began to recognize other accounts of police brutality or attacks. One example is Manny's cousin, Quan Banks who shot Tomas Castillo, the officer that put Justyce in handcuffs. Justyce knew Quan and was like Justyce through elementary school as they were in the accelerated program, but Quan got into some rough crowds. Another case is about Shemar Carson. He was a black, unarmed teenager who a white policeman killed for no reason. One of the writing pieces that is most used in this book is Justyce's journal entries to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an influence in a time period when slavery was still happening. He had the famous "I had a Dream" speech. He was assassinated.

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"It"s just - your completely oblivious to the struggles of anyone outside your little social group." This is a really powerful quote because it makes me think do I see the problems outside of MY social group? Have I been ignoring important issues just because it is the most convenient for me to not acknowledge them? How do you try to show people important issues that they are not already aware of?

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I read chapter two, and it is easy to tell that Justyce is a bit sensitive to violence after getting unfairly arrested. At the beginning of the chapter, he is playing video games with his best friend Manny. Manny was playing a war game at the time, and the gun sounds were bothering him. To show his lack or comfort with this, Nic Stone described Justyce's actions by writing, "He gulps," and "He shudders" (14, 15). This quote proves my claim because gulping and shuddering are common signs of nervousness and stress. Violence reminds him of the encounter because the officer was very rough and rude. He ends up playing a Football game called Madden instead, which is much less violent and does not cause Justyce to worry.

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Over time, Justyce has been questioned about crushing Sarah-Jane, or SJ for short. SJ has been his debate partner since freshman year and they have won many, many times. After their final debate together and they won, Justyce goes in for a kiss since they were holding hands. But SJ turns away and then avoids him after. Why does SJ not kiss him back and why is she being so awkward around him? It's obvious that they both like each other, but maybe SJ didn't

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"Yeah, there are no more "colored" water fountains, and I supposed to be illegal to discriminate, but if I can be forced to sit on the concrete in to-tight cuffs when I've done nothing wrong, it;s clear there's an issue. " (11-12) This is powerful because people will often say that things are equal, but things like this suggest differently. I would be interested to know the statistics for how many black people are incarcerated vs. white people.

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After reading the first few pages, I can already see one prominent character trait Justyce displays. He is a very caring character so far. After Justyce checks to see whether Melo is okay, the author states, "He cares a lot. Obviously. If he didn't, he wouldn't've walked a mile from Manny's house at three in the morning . . ." (4) This quote shows that Justyce is a very caring character because it mentions what he did just to see if Melo, his girlfriend, was okay. He found out that Melo was very drunk, however when he tries to help, a cop misjudges the scenario and tries to arrest him. He was willing to go to great lengths because of how much he cares about the important people in his life.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html

This week's outside source to relate to Dear Martin is an article about George Floyd. George Floyd was a 46-year-old black male who died from police brutality. This relates to Justyce because Justyce was falsely accused of stealing his ex-girlfriend's car and was put into cuffs without any proper evidence. George Floyd was accused of using fake money, which still wasn't proved by the cops after they put him in position where his neck was being smothered by an officer's knee and even after pleads of saying "I can't breathe." They didn't stop and had killed him.

-Kaia

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How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody (Published 2020)

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The Times has reconstructed the death of George Floyd on May 25. Security footage, witness videos and official documents show how a series of actions by officers turned fatal.

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After reading the beginning of chapter 5, I think that the only reason Justyce hangs out around Jared, Blake, Tyler, and Kyle is because of Manny, who he is good friends with. At first, it seemed weird that Justyce was choosing to hang out around Jared and his friend group because they were oblivious to racial inequality. Justyce was very annoyed at Jared during his class' debate, so them going trick-or-treating together was not something I expected to happen. It becomes very obvious, however, that he regrets his choice. The author proves this when they wrote, "The minute Jared, Kyle, Tyler, and Blake step into Manny's basement, it's clear Jared's Equality Brigade thing was a terrible idea" (39). It is revealed that Kyle dressed up as a confederate supporter. Even worse was what Blake dressed up as. For some reason, he thought it would be a good idea to dress up as a Klansman from the KKK. This was very offensive and inappropriate. Even Manny, who was friends with Jared and the rest of his group, was not very okay with Blake's choice of costume. It is also mentioned that it was Manny who had talked him into going with Jared, Blake, Tyler, and Kyle. Without Manny, Justyce definitely wouldn't have spent any time with that group. While trick-or-treating, Justyce only grew more upset with Jared and his group. I predict that if Justyce keeps spending time around Jared, Blake, Tyler, and Kyle, he is going to eventually lash out at them and something bad could happen.

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I was reading the first chapter and when I read this, I realized something.
"I knew your punk a** was up to no good when I saw you walking down the road with that 🤬 hood on"  (8) If that was a white kid walking down the road, the cop would not have questioned him for a second. Jus was doing nothing wrong. He wasn't even being suspicious!  The bias the this police possess is harming Jus, even if the police doesn't realize how bias he is being. I a letter that Jus writes to Martin Luther King Jr, he says "I apparently looked so menacing in my prep school hoodie, the cop who cuffed me called for backup." (10) This quote is powerful because it showed that someone can have such extreme biases, possibly without realizing it. Why did the cop decide that Jus was "up to no good"? What long term affects will and event like this have on Jus's self esteem?

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Some possibly foreshadowing on page 44. Thought being that Jared, Blake, and Tyler will stop hanging out with Manny and Justyce. Some context clues that made me suggest this is the way Trey, who is part of the Black Jihad gang, stated, "Don't get it twisted, my dawgs, These white boys might be standing here next to y'all, but y'all still aint nothin but n**** to them, ya heard me?"

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One question I have from the third chapter of the book is why Justyce was so reluctant to talk about his experience with the cop during the class debate about racial equality. The debate got very heated, with insults constantly being thrown around, mainly by Jared and SJ. It was clear that Justyce was getting very angry with how oblivious Jared was to racial inequality across the country. During the debate, author Nic Stone wrote, "Justyce: [Clenches Jaw,]" and, "Justyce: [Grits teeth.]" (22, 27) This shows that he was getting angry because clenching your jaw and gritting your teeth are common signs of anger. If he wanted his side of the debate to win, it seems like giving an example of personal evidence would have greatly improved the odds. In debates, first hand experience is always very difficult to disprove. Furthermore, no one would have judged him because his classmates all know that he wouldn't do anything wrong that would get him in jail. If he wouldn't have been judged, it seems like it would have been a great piece of evidence for his and SJ's argument.

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Dear Martin started with a bang. Justyce, our main character gets put in handcuffs for trying to drive his ex-girlfriend home. Justyce shows many character traits along with this. His naivety, after going back and forth with his ex-girlfriend who had been cheating on him. Responsibility when the police were rudely putting on handcuffs and making racist remarks. He didn't say anything and remembered what his mama had said. Another trait he frequently shows is his quiet, almost bashful nature. Shows this when taking part in the stereotype project with some friends of Manny. Even though he is very against the idea, he participates and goes along. Manny's friends included Jared, Kyle, Tyler, and Blake. Jared makes some points about the world being "colorblinded" in a school discussion a few days after Justyce was put in handcuffs. What was Justyce's motive in participating with Jared, who was openly racist to him?