“If you have hope, you have everything.”

“The Sun Does Shine” tells the story of Anthony Ray Hinton, who spent thirty years on death row in Alabama after being falsely convicted of murder. In 2015, Mr. Hinton was released with the help of civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, author of “Just Mercy,” another heart-wrenching book I highly recommend. 

Ray Hinton highlights a social justice system that inherently works against the poor and against people of color. He reveals the simultaneous love and trauma in forging a family among men whose deaths he knew he’d witness and men who would kill him in the name of their jobs. 

Ray Hinton writes of waking up in the morning and making the choice to be hopeful and positive and to bring light into the places that he can. I wasn’t surprised that this story brought tears to my eyes. I expected that. But what did surprise me, in what I have come to see as true Ray Hinton fashion, is that this story made me laugh. From what he would spend his time day-dreaming about, to his banter with those around him, to his “even Scalia” comment, Ray Hinton weaves moments of laughter, joy, and growth into a story overwhelmed with despair, grief, and unfairness.

Anthony Ray Hinton is now an activist who speaks out against the death penalty. In his words, “The death penalty is broken, and you are either part of the Death Squad or you are banging on the bars.”