Small Great Things

As Micah and Kennedy wash dishes, Kennedy laments that Ruth hates her. Micah points out that Ruth is black, and white people have all the power in society. Kennedy insists that she works with black people all day and points out that she can't bring up race in a trial. She answers her phone when it rings; it's Wallace Mercy. He says that Ruth has signed a release allowing them to speak, which makes Kennedy angry—this means that Ruth will insist on bringing up race. She tells Mercy to leave them alone.

Twenty minutes later, Kennedy is on Ruth's doorstep. Ruth lets her in, and Kennedy says that involving Wallace Mercy will cost Ruth: there will be angry mobs, her face on TV every night, and it'll drag Edison into the public eye. She'll become as famous as Trayvon Martin and never get her life back. Ruth points out that Martin didn't either. Kennedy makes one final plea to not involve Mercy, and Ruth agrees as long as Kennedy promises to let her testify.

The next day, Kennedy interviews Jack DeNardi, a paper pusher at Ruth's hospital. She discovers that Ruth has only been promoted once in 20 years and is described as "prickly" and "uppity." Marie, on the other hand, has been at the hospital ten years but has been promoted above Ruth. Kennedy asks whether Ruth was being uppity or assertive, and if it was random that Ruth was thrown under the bus.

It rains that weekend. While Kennedy and Violet are coloring, Kennedy gets a call from Ruth to invite her to go shopping with her for a gift for Mama. Kennedy agrees. The two women talk about nothing but the weather as they park at T.J.Maxx. As they walk through the store, Ruth talks about Mama, Dalton, and how she met Wesley—a military wife was delivering twins while her husband was away. Wesley, who they presumed was the father, rushed in and fainted immediately. When he came to, he started hitting on Ruth. He turned out to be the father's friend.

Kennedy grabs a box of caramel corn, opens it, and starts eating. An employee interrupts them to ask Ruth if she needs help and then trails them at a distance. As the women dig through DVDs of TV shows, they discuss The Cosby Show. The employee trails them to the check stand, where Ruth is asked to show ID. As they leave, Ruth is the only one asked to show her receipt. Kennedy realizes that Ruth wanted her to see what it's like to be her. They run through the rain to Kennedy's car and when they're safe, Kennedy says she gets it. After a minute, Kennedy says her worst grade in college was in a black history course because she was afraid to speak. Ruth says they don't speak the same language about race, and both women admit they didn't like The Cosby Show.

Over the next month, Kennedy works hard on Ruth's case. When she has a spare few hours one afternoon, she heads out of the office and meets Ava and Violet at the park. She greets them and then lies down on the bench with her head in Ava's lap. They talk about being parents and then Kennedy asks why they never called out Uncle Leon, her racist uncle. At Ava's insistence that it was a different time, Kennedy points out that things might've changed had Ava or someone else called out the racism.

After a few minutes, Ava says that when she was nine, the court ruled that five black children would come to her school. Her dad held a meeting where the adults planned to picket at the school. Beattie served lemonade and cakes and during the meeting, Ava found Beattie crying in the kitchen. Her son was one of the kids who would go to the school. Ava says that the kids were bullied mercilessly. Pointing to Violet playing with a black girl, she says that if she takes the long view, it's amazing how far they've come.

After New Year's, Kennedy checks to see what judge is assigned to Ruth's case. Her heart sinks; it's Judge Thunder, a tough judge with a vendetta against Kennedy after she, as a sick and demoralized clerk, was extremely rude to him. She's already lost two cases with him. As she leaves the courthouse, she finds a black protest singing gospel music. They carry posters with Ruth's face on them, led by Wallace Mercy and Adisa.