| Featured Guest Charles Bonner and Richard White, Co-Host Jack Girardi | | Print | |
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Guest: Charles Bonner Prominent Trial Attorney, Jack Girardi interviews Attorney and Author, Charles Bonner. Growing up on a cotton farm outside Selma, Ala, Charles Bonner lived the extreme injustice of segregation. In his teens, he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), sitting in and peacefully marching for equal rights. Now he’s a trial lawyer and author fighting against discrimination and violence. Forever changed by the civil rights movement, Bonner committed himself to working for equal rights locally and globally, including working for the rights of farmworkers. In 1972 he earned a degree in Anthropology at Sonoma State University, finishing his last 12 units studying in a Tanzanian village where he learned to speak Swahili. Bonner returned to the U.S to further his education, first studying philosophy at Stanford and then obtaining his law degree from the New College School of Law in San Francisco. “I don't think I would have been a lawyer today if it hadn't been for the Civil Rights Movement, in fact I'm sure I wouldn't have been,” says Bonner. Bonner has been practicing law for 27 years and has been the lead attorney in over sixty-five jury trials involving civil rights cases, police misconduct cases, and personal injury cases. He started his practice first in Oakland in 1979, and then moved to Sausalito in 1989. In 2006, his son, recently graduated from Stanford law, joined him in his practice. In 2010, Bonner added author to his list of accomplishments. His first novel, The Bracelet, is a crime thriller loosely based on the harrowing story of one of his clients who escaped the basement of a sexual predator in upstate New York. The story follows “Macie” as she brings her captor to justice and sets out to rescues the victims of sexual trafficking around the world. Bonner dedicated his book to victims of civil and human rights violations and directs a portion of the proceeds to The Bracelet Charitable Freedom Fund, which seeks to empower victims of all forms of slavery.
“The Bracelet” The fictitious character, “Macie,” is the focal point of the story. Although Bonner has indicated as a disclaimer in his book that all characters are completely fictional, in my interview with him it became clear that there actually is a factual foundation for his story and that some true events inspired elements of the story. In reading his book, it is hard for me to separate facts from fiction. “Macie is Everywoman, Everywoman who has been interrupted while trying to pursue a life of her own, Everywoman who has been stolen out of that promising life – and thrown into the clutches of horrific circumstances, and survived with a vengeance.,” Bonner writes. “Remember where you are right now, because Macie is going to take you on a journey of self-empowerment you will always remember in the universal fight of good against evil, and when you return from living Macie’s story with her, you will want to re-enter your own life, and never forget what you have learned.” With the recent revelations of the kidnaps, rapes and murders of Chelsea King and Amber DuBois in Southern California at the hands of John David Gardner, The Bracelet is even more timely. There are parallels in The Bracelet to these young women who had their lives ended in such horrific ways. In The Bracelet, you will discover why men are obsessed with power, property and world domination of women, and who actually profits from the $10 Billion-a-year business of sex slavery. You will follow “Macie” from the Bay area of California, after she is freed in Syracuse from the clutches of a man intent on including her in a sex slavery ring, to a village in Vietnam where sex slavery is prolific. You will also be made aware of multi-national United Nations forces simultaneously storming city after city, frequently having to use brutal force to free girls and children held as sex slaves in Thailand, India, Africa, England, Italy, the Netherlands--all over the world. There is an interesting parallel in Mr. Bonner’s book to that of Nick Bryant’s The Franklin Scandal, and that of Sander Hicks’, The Devil In The Vatican, in that there are powerful forces attempting to keep the lid on a dirty little secret. Also, just like in The Franklin Scandal and The Devil In The Vatican, it is the most vulnerable, women and children, who are the victims. There are also cover-ups on the part of politicians. The Bracelet starts off in a rather seedy side of Syracuse, New York, where Macie and Tanda live with their parents in a dilapidated grey Victorian house, where Macie and Tanda call Syracuse’s most violent neighborhood their home. Macie is the heroine in this story, recovering from a horrific ordeal to become a champion of the fight to end child sex slavery in the world. Where fantasy ends with Macie, facts begin with a John Jamelske. It is well chronicled that in October of 2002, a John Jamelske gave a 16-year old runaway girl from Syracuse a ride in his car. He would then take this runaway down into a dungeon-like area in his home, where he often raped her. A movie was actually based on this scenario, “Kiss the Girls,” starring Morgan Freeman. The Jamelske home was described as a “Chamber of Horrors,” having a windowless, underground room with a foam bed, a grate with a metal chain, and a bucket for a toilet. Beatings, rape and humiliation occurred in this chamber of horrors, as told by five women dragged off the streets of Syracuse into this dungeon. These are the facts, which author Charles A. Bonner has loosely borrowed from in his book, The Bracelet.
Guest: Richard White Prominent Trial Attorney, Jack Girardi interviews Richard White (born May 28, 1947) an American historian, a past President of the Organization of American Historians, and the author of influential books on the American West, Native American history, and environmental history. He is the Margaret Byrne Professor of American History at Stanford University, having previously taught at the University of Washington, University of Utah, and Michigan State University. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington. “Railroaded” Many of the histories of railroads in America fall into two categories: Detailed accounts for railroad nerds who love to map and plot the old roads and visit the old sites, or stories of glory and bravery that create heroic myths about a foggy, inaccessible past. This book is the long-awaited, much-needed comprehensive history of long distance railroads. It both recreates the immediacy and contingency of the construction of these roads--unlikely events! extraordinary consequences!--and slices through the hazy fog of myth with a thrilling interpretation. For White, the long distance railroads were economic and environmental disasters that could never have been created without massive federal subsidies and an extraordinary amount of financial chicanery. The men who built the transcontinentals are strongly reminiscent of the men who brought us Enron and the recent financial collapse. That is not to say, as some reviewers have claimed here, that White is an "anti-capitalist" who hates private enterprise. To the contrary! White shows that railroads weren't free market enterprises at all: They were publicly-supported, intentional subsidies. Their ultimate success, and their incredible power to remake American life, is not due to brilliant and energetic entrepreneurs but rather to a national decision to tolerate inefficient management and thieving railroad barons in order to further the public interest. This is useful history. This is powerful interpretation. And it is exhaustive, document-based research. I hope those reviewers who complained about the book will consider David M. Kennedy's advice: We must refuse to believe something merely because we wish it to be true. History is very hard on belief, but it can be a powerful tool for the living. Jack Girardi, Partner at Girardi Keese, is one of America's Finest Trial Lawyers and our Co-Host, as always, brings out the most important key elements to the success of today's guests. He and his firm have been dedicated to working hard and getting the best possible recovery for its clients. Girardi & Keese's mission is to provide aggressive representation of individuals and businesses who have been injured in sous way, whether by physical harm, property damage, damage to business, or damage to economic interests. Girardi & Keese has two offices in California: Downtown Los Angeles and San Bernardino. www.girardikeese.com
Hosted by Steve Murphy. Brought to you by "The Law Business Insider" Contact:
Guest: Charles Bonner
Guest: Richard White
Girardi & Keese
Steve Murphy |
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| Last Updated on Tuesday, 10 November 2015 23:44 |
