In our unit examining African -American literature ,we will be studying Earnest Gaines' novel, " A Lesson Before Dying" about a teenage boy wrongfully convicted of murdering a white man, I first provided biographical information about the author ,and we then discussed social justice issues currently facing the African- American community. Bobby was very informed on this issue and discussed the current controversy surrounding police brutality and the deaths of George Floyd and Breanna Taylor. I then discussed the political goals of protest groups seeking to modify police behavior and to ensure police are prosecuted in the event they commit crimes. I also discussed Martin Luther King's success implementing change through the political process. By contrast, the author ,Ernest Gaines ,focuses on the apolitical personal struggles of the Black community to live a life with dignity and to acquire self-worth notwithstanding the political and social injustices, As the novel is loosely based on the wrongful conviction of a Black teenager, Willie Francis, who was executed twice( as the first electrocution was botched,) we began reading an article about the Willie Francis case which we will complete tomorrow,