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Picking Cotton-Injustice, Memory, Forgiveness & Reconciliation - A Book Review

Ronald Cotton, The Innocence Project Ronald Cotton - Innocence Project Picking Cotton (The book)   PICKING COTTON      Our Memoir of  Injustice and  Redemption By   Jennifer Thompson-Cannino   & Ronald Cotton      With   Erin Torneo Reviewed By   Geoffrey W. Sutton   I was interested in   Picking Cotton   for several reasons. As a psychologist and researcher I have helped people deal with interpersonal offenses for over 45 years. My focus has been on forgiveness and reconciliation. But there are more lessons in this book. In view of recent events the book serves to illustrate social injustice and racism. In addition, we see the serious problem of faulty eyewitness testimony evident in the experiments of Elizabeth Loftus. So for these reasons, I recommend this book to a broad spectrum of readers. And would especially recommend it to my colleagues in counselling and mental health. The book opens with the horrible account of Jennifer’s rape. She’s a young white c

Left to Tell--A Story of Resilience, Forgiveness & Reconciliation- A Book Review

Left to Tell Discovering God Amidst     the Rwandan Holocaust By Immaculée Ilibagiza Reviewed By   Geoffrey W. Sutton “If they catch me, they will kill me,” (130) thought Immaculée as she struggled physically, psychologically, and spiritually to survive the 1994 Rwandan genocide.  Following a powerful introduction by Wayne W. Dyer, Immaculée Ilibagiza relates a heart-rending drama with the able assistance of award winning journalist, Steve Erwin. Readers will find their emotions pushed to the limits by the high definition images of love, violence, betrayal, death, destruction, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Part one sets the stage by revealing Immaculée’s emerging awareness of the powerful prejudices between the ruling Hutus and minority Tutsis. At school, she became aware of the racial differences during ethnic roll call, in which students identified themselves by name and status as Hutu or Tutsi. As a Tutsi, and a woman, her opportunities for advancement were limited, yet her inte