Sisterly Love
Most speakers are lucky to get one standing ovation, and that’s only after they speak.
On Thursday Pulitzer prize winning author, Sister Helen Prejean was awarded an honorary degree from Marquette for her superior service to the poor and underprivileged and her active pursuit of seeking justice in the arena of capital punishment.
Before uttering her first word, Marquette’s Varsity Theater welcomed Sister Helen with a twenty second standing ovation, a testament to the respect that she garners.
The ceremony was open to anyone in the Milwaukee area, and a majority of those in attendance were at the speech as part of a weekend-long yearly conference for The Peace and Justice Studies Association.
Over her lifetime, Sister Helen has followed the paths of six different men to their deaths, as they were sentenced with the ultimate punishment for their crimes. In 1993, she documented one of these journeys in her Pulitzer Prize winning novel Dead Man Walking. Receiving national acclaim, the book was produced as a major motion picture starring Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon. The story was Sister Helen’s eyewitness account of a journey down death row as she followed Patrick Sonnier from his sentencing all the way to his death by electrocution.
As she looked out into the Milwaukee crowd that was captivated from her introduction, Sister Helen delivered a speech that could have overturned any jury in America (even in Texas.) Her biases were not the result of stories she had heard or injustices she had seen, and her politics were a non-factor. Her biases were rooted in the connections she had built with criminals, but more importantly humans.
Sister Helen made it clear that her arguments against the death penalty were not in that she believed these criminals innocence.
“They have committed horrific acts,” said Sister Helen, “But we are all worth more than the worst act of our lives.”
It is hard to understand Sister Helen’s impact without knowing someone who has been on death row, or without seeing the path that some criminals take, but after the ceremony, the whole theater understood; and it wasn’t just because of what Sister Helen said.
After her speech, Sister Helen opened the theater to a question and answer session, that is when a thick Hispanic accent and a teary eyed face rapt the room. Taking the microphone was a woman whose husband has been on Death row in a Texas state prison for the last 15 years. The woman explained that her husband is up for his last resentencing at the end of the year and if he is not resentenced to a life in prison or an even lesser term, then he will likely face his own death. The woman’s confession was not a story but rather a thank you. She looked Sister Helen in the eyes and told her “Thank you for making me strong in this hard time.” As tears began to fill her eyes and as her lips began to quiver she spoke of how every day a letter from the victim’s family is in her mailbox; every day a letter filled with hate.
“So every day, I write back,” said the woman, “but my letters are filled with love, love and remorse.”
As the woman stared up to the stage waiting for a reaction, Sister Helen’s response was simple. “That is all you can do, and someday you will see, love will find its way. Love and Justice will prevail.”
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