4 Stars
Brutally honest and stark. This isn't pretty prose. It's fierce and blunt. Alyokhina gives a firsthand account of her view of protest from Pussy Riot performances to her imprisonment.
I think about fate. About how many prisoners who protested have died and now lie in the ground. It is just an illusion that you go on hunger strike to achieve results. Yes. that's how it begins but, later, you realize that it's not for the imagined outcome, but for the very right to protest. A narrow sliver of a right, in a huge field of injustice and mistreatment. You also realize that your right will always be just a narrow sliver in the field. Not there, with the majority. But I love this sliver of freedom, however little it's noticed by those on the other side of the wall. [172]
For those who are unfamiliar with the strategies of totalitarian regimes it will seem like fiction written for movies.
Defense lawyer: 'I summon the witnesses for the defense.'
Prosecutor: 'Objection. I request that the summons be denied.'
Judge: 'Every one of them?'
Prosecutor: 'Every on of them.'
The judge bars the witnesses for the defense from entering the courtroom and orders that those who are already present be removed by the Spetsnaz team. [100]
The most important takeaway for me was the importance of protest and how a society is judged and should be judged by its handling of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment