Allegedly

Allegedly

YA/adult novel
"'There would never be this type of outcry if the baby was
black. Period,' says Tamika Brown, public relations rep of the
National Action Network. 'Doesn't matter what you say about racial
equality, you've never seen white families storming the steps of city
hall, demanding justice for a little black baby. They're pushing for
the death penalty and don't even realize executing this little girl is
no different from murdering that baby."
The police arrived at a home to find a White infant being
babysat by the Black single parent in residence dead. The woman's
nine-year-old daughter, Mary, was accused and indicted. Although
names of juveniles accused of crimes are not supposed to be available
to the public, hers was all over the Internet, resulting in death
threats and demands for Mary to be tried as an adult and to receive
the death penalty.
As Tiffany Jackson's Allegedly begins Mary, after serving six
years at an adult prison, mostly in solitary because of her age, is in
a poorly run group home. Bullies torment and endanger her. The
asleep-at-the-wheel adults who run the place do nothing to protect
her. She is exceptionally intelligent and desperately desires a
college education. She's secretly studying for the SATs. But those
in power have capped her education at a GED and cosmotology training.
As a child on trial, a truly terrifying situation complicated by
grief caused by the baby's death, Mary was basically mute. She
remembers every detail of what happened though. She also knows that
exonerating herself would mean incriminating someone she's extremely
close to. Then she becomes pregnant with a being she calls Bean.
With the powers that be determined to put the baby up for adoption
after birth, Mary realizes that coming forward with the truth may be
the only way she can retain custody of her beloved child and secure a
future for both of them.
Allegedly is a gripping narrative and so much more. Although
the characters and plot are fictional, it has its roots in a "justice"
system where Black kindergarteners are put in handcuffs for normal
classroom misbehavior, Black youth are funneled into a school-to-jail
pipeline, and unarmed Black teens are shot by police who are almost
never indicted. It's a must read for all who believe that Black lives
have to come to matter to those, from school administrators and police
through lawyers and judges, who literally hold their lives and futures
in their hands.
On a purrrsonal note, I hope you had a nice weekend. Tobago and I
did. The weather was balmy, getting up into the 40s. I went out to
the forest both days. My supper cooking was simplified by all the
leftover turkey. I attended zoom church and saw a bunch of friends.
Tobago joined in on the hymn singing. I had good library books to
read. And I got my grade for assignment 7 in statistics. 100! My
average in the class is now 97.428!!! (Jules)
It was a good weekend. I does have a lovely voice. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to our church family.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway


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