Small Great Things

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”

I began reading 'Small Great Things' by Jodi Picoult in December of 2019. Life got busy, as it so often does that time of year, and my reading rut began. Every once in a while I would try to pick this book back up, it captured my interest from chapter one, but for some reason I just didn't give "reading time" a priority for the first few months of this year. I do not believe that it is an accident that I read THIS book at THIS time. 

This book feels like one of the  most important books that I have ever read. It awoken my sleeping, ignorant, blind, naive little mind to the suffering of my black brothers and sisters in no way anything else ever could. I had no idea. I had NO idea. 

This should be a mandatory read for everyone. If you haven't read it, please do. 

Ruth Jefferson has worked as a labor and delivery nurse at the same hospital for over 20 years. She graduated with her nursing degree from Yale University. She is a widow of a marine who was killed in the line of duty. Her son is an honor role student who is applying to some of the most elite colleges in the country. 

Ruth is also black.

Turk is married to the love of his life, Brit. They just welcomed their first child into the world and named him Davis. They are elated with their new budding family and feel like they are on top of the world. What could possibly go wrong? 

Turk is a white supremacist leader in the KKK.

When Ruth becomes the nurse to Davis, Turk is infuriated and demands to see her supervisor. A sticky note is placed into Davis's folder that states that no person of color is permitted to touch this patient. On a busy Saturday morning two of the nurses working with Ruth have to rush into an emergency C-section, leaving Ruth alone with Davis in the nursery, who just had a circumcision and needs to be closely watched for the next 90 minutes. When complications occur, Ruth is handed a dilemma. Does she save this baby even though she is strictly forbidden from doing so, putting her own career on the line? Or does she do nothing, follow the rules, and potentially cause the infant harm? 

It's an impossible, lose-lose, choice. 

This book will keep you on your toes. It will open a world to you you may have never seen before. It will slam you with the hard questions of racism and prejudice. It will ask you to choose a side. It will change you for the better.