Ernest J. Gaines’ award-winning novel, A Lesson Before Dying, examines issues that echo in today’s headlines: What does it mean to live and die with dignity? What is the relationship between ethnicity and justice? What role does the community have in promoting healing and addressing causal issues during turbulent times?
These questions are examined in a small Cajun community in the 1940s when an unwilling party in a fatal liquor store robbery is arrested and accused of shooting three men. Everyone in the courtroom knows what the verdict will be before the trial begins. Will the verdict crush the soul and the spirit of the young African-American defendant, Jefferson, and the community that raised him? Can redemption be found and inner strength be revealed in the period prior to Jefferson’s death?
The Pro-Reconciliation/Anti-Racism Team invites you to attend a viewing of the movie and a discussion of the book at the Regional Assembly. We will watch A Lesson Before Dying at 2:00 PM on Friday, October 10, at Five Points in Washington, Illinois. Refreshments will be provided. Join us as we encounter this work, learn from each other, and live into our calling to be “a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.”
Blessings,
Dawn