The realities that Justyce must face in Dear Martin are societal problems that plague the United States today. The Black Lives Matter movement inspired Nic Stone to write the novel. In this following section, you will find a brief description and history of the Black Lives Matter movement, a description of how Dear Martin relates to the movement's concerns, as well as a list of other novels that have similar subject matter.
What is Black Lives Matter?
Black Lives Matter is a social movement that was founded in 2013 in response to police brutality in the United States. Police brutality is the excessive use of force by law enforcement against a civilian. According to MappingPoliceViolence.org, Black people are three times more likely to be killed by a police officer than white people. Further, 98.3% of killings by police from 2013-2020 have not resulted in officers being charged with a crime (mappingpoliceviolence.org). Over the past decade, police brutality has become a national concern as more and more unarmed Black teenagers are shot and killed by the police.
The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter first appeared on Twitter in 2013 following the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who murdered 12-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012. Black Lives Matter became a household name following nationwide protests after a white police officer murdered Michael Brown in Missouri in 2014. The movement was started by three activists—Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. Today, the movement is a member-led global network of more than 40 chapters. Many people use the term "Black Lives Matter" to also refer to the decentralized social movement advocating for non-violent civil disobedience in response to police brutality and racially-motivated murders across the United States and the world at large. The movement has thousands of active members and has garnered the support and participation of hundreds of thousands of individuals across America.
Black Lives Matter advocates against police violence and for police reform. According to the Black Lives Matter official website, "Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks' humanity, our contributions to society, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression." Most recently, there were worldwide Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020 following Officer Dereck Chauvin's murder of George Floyd in Minnesota.
Dear Martin
In Dear Martin, Justyce's experiences with racial profiling and police brutality in Chapter 1 open his eyes to the systemic racism that surrounds him. Examples of police brutality in Dear Martin can be seen in Chapter 1 as well as the deaths of Shemar Carson, Tavarrius Jenkins, and Manny Rivers. All three of these individuals were unarmed Black teenage boys who were shot by a police officer. As Justyce tries to understand and grapple with the police violence that surrounds him, he writes letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In the letters, Justyce tries to apply Dr. King's teachings to his own life and talks about his own realities. In the second part of the novel, after Manny is killed by an off-duty police officer, Justyce must grapple with the grief that the loss of his best friend brings him.
The Black Lives Matter movement encouraged Nic Stone, an Atlanta native, to write Dear Martin. In a profile on Nic Stone in the News & Observer, the author reveals that the birth of her son and the murder of Jordan Davis, a 15-year-old Black teen, inspired her to write the novel. A white man shot Jordan Davis in 2012 in Florida following a dispute over the argument of his music. After Jordan Davis was killed, it occurred to Stone that her son might one day also have to face a similar, life-threatening situation. As she recounts, she realized "that one day, people might see her son as a threat—instead of a child" (News & Observer). Stone also noticed the following year that many people were using the words of Dr. Martin Luther King to criticize the Black Lives Matter protests. Like Justyce in her novel, she wondered what Dr. King might say about the epidemic of police brutality across the United States today. Dear Martin gave her a sense of purpose throughout the political tumult of those years. "Writing makes me feel like I'm doing something, because there's this feeling of helplessness that I know I feel very often," she reveals in the interview, "because the world is not a kind or nice place."
Nic Stone's Dear Martin is part of a growing list of literature about police brutality in modern-day America. Many of the novelists that write about this issue today are inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Their novels touch on these issues while also bringing light to the consequences of these issues in a character's life.
Want to read more literature about police brutality in America?
Many Young Adult authors have written about these contemporary issues in order to add their voices to the political conversation.
Perhaps the most widely-known Young Adult novel about police brutality is Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give. In The Hate U Give, sixteen-year-old Starr Carter witnesses a police officer fatally shoot her childhood best friend, Khalil, who was unarmed. The story soon makes national headlines and Khalil and Starr are placed under intense scrutiny. Starr's life is suddenly at risk as she and her family are intimidated by local law enforcement as well as the local drug lord. She fights to find her voice as she has no choice but to stand up for justice.
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kelly follows the story of Rashad, who goes to a bodega for a bag of chips. A police officer mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter and beats him up despite the fact that Rashad is innocent. The incident is witnessed by Rashad's classmate, Quinn Collins, who is also the police officer's son, and is also caught on camera. When the beating becomes national headlines, Rashad's community is divided. Ultimately, both Rashad and Quinn must come to terms with what happened that fateful night.
In Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles, Martin must endure the disappearance of his twin brother, Tyler. Tyler attends a party in which there was a police raid and subsequently goes missing. His name is soon a viral hashtag, and Martin learns about the true meaning of justice in the United States.
There are several other novels that explore the theme of police brutality, including Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro, I Am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina, Light it Up by Kekla Magoon, Black Enough: Stories of Being Young and Black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi, Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay, and Internment by Samira Ahmed.
