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1-Page Summary of Dear Martin

Overall Summary

Seventeen year old Justyce McAllister is walking through a wealthy neighborhood outside Atlanta, Georgia. He’s on his way to find Melo, his ex-girlfriend who he knows has been drinking. He wants to make sure she won’t drive drunk but when he finds her she tells him to go away and that makes him even more concerned for her safety so he takes her keys and puts her in the backseat of the car. Suddenly a police officer named Tommy Castillo arrives and grabs Justyce before punching him in the face telling him not to say anything because it was clear that he just wanted some action with “the pretty white girl”.

In the book, Nic Stone gives readers a glimpse of Justyce’s diary. In it, he writes a letter to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., explaining how much he admires him and his work. He introduces himself as a student at Braselton Preparatory Academy who is ranked fourth in his class, is captain of the debate team, has high test scores and believes that he has a bright future despite growing up in “a bad area.” Unfortunately though, none of this mattered when Officer Castillo arrested him last night because he was let go after being detained for hours on end even though Justyce never thought that something like this would happen to him or any other black boy/man in America.

Justyce returns to school. Recently, a grand jury failed to indict the police officer that killed Shemar. Justyce feels his friend’s pain from experiencing a similar situation and wonders if there could have been more justice for him or Officer Castillo in their cases with such an outcome. What’s worse is he finds out that Manny got some bad news: His cousin Quan shot another cop the other night and is now awaiting trial in juvenile detention, due to be tried as an adult on charges of aggravated assault against an officer because of Officer Schwartz saving his life earlier that day.

In his Societal Evolution class, Justyce’s favorite teacher, Doc, asks the class if they think racial equality is a thing of the past. Everyone in the room except for three people are white. The black students and Justyce argue that racism still exists while Jared claims it doesn’t because he has never experienced it himself. Sarah-Jane tries to explain that ignoring inequality won’t make it go away but Jared disagrees with her argument.

After class, Justyce overhears Jared talking with his friends about racial inequality. He expresses anger at the idea that it still exists and thinks that they live in a color-blind society because he doesn’t see race. His friend Manny is hesitant to agree but eventually goes along with their chant of “Equality!” Justyce resents this casual racism, especially since Jared’s friend Manny went along with it.

Jared suggests that they dress in stereotypical costumes for Halloween. Justyce is reluctant, but he eventually agrees to act like a “thug” while Manny goes as the “token black guy.” Meanwhile, Jared himself dresses up as a “Yuppie/Politician.” However, what really bothered Justyce was when Blake wore an authentic KKK costume that seemingly offended everyone at the party. Although Justyce didn’t want to appear overly “sensitive,” he decided against saying anything because it would make him look bad around his friends who were trying to have fun.

Justyce and SJ have always been friends, but lately he’s developed stronger feelings for her. He doesn’t know how to approach the issue because he has a boyfriend named Melo. Still, he feels comfortable enough to call her when something big happens in his life—such as being accepted into Yale University early decision.