Literature isn't just my academic pursuit, it's my where I sometimes find a sense of self, where my sensibilities are challenged and perspectives broadened. Literature is fear and power, love and hate, it;s where mistakes made are jymping blocks to growth and where consensus ad idem emerges from conflict. 

As I study Literature at A Level, I'm not simply analyzing texts; I'm exploring the very essence of human experience, the power of narrative to shape society, and the art of persuasion that will serve me well in the courtroom.

Every story ever told carries within it the seeds of justice, the echoes of voices that demand to be heard, and the power to change minds and hearts. Literature teaches us empathy, critical thinking, and the nuanced understanding of human nature that's essential for effective advocacy. Through close reading and textual analysis, I'm developing the analytical skills that will make me a formidable lawyer, someone who can dissect arguments, understand subtext, and craft compelling narratives for justice.

Literature is the lifeblood of cultures worldwide. From the ancient Griots of West Africa who wove news, history, and wisdom into their oral narratives, to the contemporary authors who illuminate our modern struggles, storytellers have always been the keepers of cultural memory and the catalysts for social change. The Griots understood what we know today, that stories don't just entertain; they preserve identity, transmit values, and inspire action. This tradition lives on in every book that challenges injustice, every poem that gives voice to the voiceless.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi resonates deeply with me, a powerful fantasy that tackles real-world issues of oppression and resistance while celebrating African mythology and culture. It's a testament to how literature can be both escapism and activism.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini demonstrates literature's capacity to build bridges between cultures, helping readers understand complex political and social realities through deeply personal stories of friendship, guilt, and redemption.

These works, alongside Claude McKay's powerful poetry that confronts racism and inequality, remind me why representation in literature matters and why diverse voices must be amplified in both literature and law.

ByClaude McKay

If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursèd lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

 

Authors unknown ©1700s

The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
But leaves the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from off the goose

The law demands that we atone
When we take things we do not own
But leaves the lords and ladies fine
Who take things that are yours and mine

The poor and wretched don't escape
If they conspire the law to break
This must be so but they endure
Those who conspire to make the law

The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
And geese will still a common lack
Till they go and steal it back

[Seventeenth century protest against English enclosures] 

A modern reimagining of "The Goose and the Common" 

The law locks up the one who takes
A loaf of bread for hunger's sake
But leaves the CEO quite free
Who steals from you, from them, from me

The state demands the poor repay
Pennies claimed for PIP today
While Amazon's billions slip on by
At three percent, we ask them why?

In Gaza's streets the children cry
As bombs rain down from Britain's sky
Yet those who speak against this crime
Are silenced, charged and given time

The Congo bleeds its precious ore
To fill the West's electronic store
While children dig with bloodied hands
To power our first-world demands

They call it aid, they call it trade
While keeping whole continents afraid
The wealth extracted, shipped away
Leaves nothing for another day

Trump's towers rise on borrowed gold
While working families lose their hold
The system rigged from top to ground
Where justice rarely can be found

The law locks up the desperate soul
Who steals to feed, to pay, to hold
But lets the pillagers run free
Who steal our shared humanity

The people still lack commons true
Till we reclaim what's me and you
For until the tables turn around
True justice never will be found

"The more things change, the more they stay the same
Power protects power, while the people bear the blame."

 “The heights by great men reached and kept

 were not attained by sudden flight, 

but they while their companions slept, 

were toiling upward in the night.”

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ~

Longfellow's famous lines about achievement have long inspired, but they reflect the limited perspective of their time. Here's my feminist, Black reimagining:

The heights by great women reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while others soundly slept,
Were rising upward through the night.

With books as weapons, minds as shields,
They carved new paths where none had been,
And though the world to progress yields,
Their battle scars remain unseen.

For every barrier  that they broke,
For every ceiling torn apart,
They knew that freedom's not just spoke,
It's earned by courage, mind, and heart.

~Lorena Thompson-Kerr~

My love for literature directly informs my legal aspirations. The skills I'm developing; critical analysis, persuasive writing, cultural awareness, and deep empathy are the same tools I'll use to advocate for justice in the courtroom. Literature has taught me that every case has a story, every client has a voice worth hearing,and every injustice demands a narrative that compels action.

As I continue my studies, I carry with me the wisdom of the Griots, the power of diverse voices, and the unshakeable belief that stories, whether told in courtrooms or captured in books, have the power to change the world.

"In literature, as in law, the truth is not always what appears on the surface. Both require us to dig deeper, to question, and to fight for what is right."