Accidental Activist: Justice for the Groveland Four

JOSH VENKATARAMAN AND BARBARA VENKATARAMAN

Stats for my copy: PDF, 2019.

How acquired: Gifted to me by Barbara Venkataraman

(For the Goodreads synopsis, scroll to the bottom of this post.)

My thoughts:  I had never heard of the Groveland Four until this book. Of course, I don't live in Florida or even very near Florida, so maybe that isn't too surprising. Actually, there are a lot of things I've never heard of, especially since I cut the cable cord and no longer have CNN. But that's not really relevant here.

The Groveland Four were four young black men falsely accused of rape by a white girl in 1949. Two were convicted and imprisoned, two were murdered before they could be convicted – one by a lynch mob, one by a crooked sheriff. After reading “Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America”, by Gilbert King, for a class, Josh Venkataraman was inspired to step up and try to help seek justice for the Groveland Four and their families. After reading his book, I admire Josh very much!

The book is only about 80 pages long (at least the PDF version I read anyway), but covers a lot of ground. Josh takes us step by step through the ever changing process of setting up a petition, getting signatures, gaining support, all in hopes of clearing the names of the four boys and providing their families with some peace of mind. Along the way he inspired others to join the fight. This was an interesting read, and while justice eventually prevails, it still saddens me that this incident in Florida's history happened in the first place. And unfortunately I'm sure there were similar incidents happening all around the country, where justice did not and never will prevail.

The writing flows easily, and I loved the friendship that developed between Josh and Carol, the daughter of one of the four. She was just a baby when her sixteen-year-old father was incarcerated, though she didn't find out what actually happened until much later in life. But how horrible to have to grow up with your father taken away, and then learning he never should have been taken away in the first place.

An inspiring and ultimately heartwarming account of what can be accomplished with a lot of hard work and perseverance.

Goodreads synopsis: This book will take you through my incredible four year quest for justice for The Groveland Four and teach you how to pursue your own causes, whatever they may be. It is a primer for positive action, a journey through Florida's past as well as its future. Some of the things you will learn: everything takes more time than you think, nothing ever goes according to plan, help can come from unexpected places, time is on your side, everyone is connected to everyone else, you can reach your tipping point for success and not even realize it, your goals can change along the way, and flexibility is key. Let's get started, shall we?

***Proceeds from the sale of this book will be used to establish "The Charles Greenlee Memorial Scholarship" to benefit a child with an incarcerated parent.