Clarence Darrow: Sweet trial, excerpts read by Chicago actor Sheri Flanders 2021

For those unable to make our annual March 13 Clarence Darrow Commemorative Committee outdoor event, Chicago actor Sheri Flanders has provided a reading of a portion of Darrow’s closing argument the Sweet case.
This year's topic is the trials of Ossian Sweet (1895-1960) and his allies. Sweet was an African-American physician in Detroit. He was charged with murder in 1925 after he and his friends used armed self-defense against a hostile white crowd protesting after the Sweets moved into the neighborhood. One white man was killed, another wounded. Sweet, his wife, two brothers and seven others were charged with murder.
The first trial ended in a mistrial. The court accepted the defense motion to sever the defendants, and the prosecutor decided to first try Henry Sweet, Ossian's youngest brother. After the all-white jury acquitted Henry, the prosecutor declined to prosecute the rest of the defendants. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hired Darrow to assist in the defense. Here’s one part of his closing argument - from 95 years ago: “I insist that there is nothing but prejudice in this case; that if it was reversed and eleven white men had shot and killed a black while protecting their home and their lives against a bob of blacks, nobody would have dreamed of having them indicted. I know what I am talking about, and so do you.”
At the March 13 outdoor event, Nina Barrett, author of The Leopold and Loeb Files, read excerpts of Darrow’s arguments.
Because of the pandemic, these longer excerpts from Darrow's final argument were recorded separately by actor Sheri Flanders. Flanders is a Chicago-based multi-hyphenate artist, and is an actor, comedian, writer, and visual artist. As a freelance journalist, her work has been featured in several publications including the Chicago Sun-Times, The Chicago Reader, Rescripted The Chicago Defender and McSweeney's. In both 2020 and 2021, she was invited to cover the Sundance Film Festival as part of their Press Inclusion Initiative. Additionally she is a writer of sketch comedy, musicals, and screenplays. Sheri is an instructor at the Second City Training Center, and her performance background ranges from improv, stand up, musical theater, commercials, Shakespeare, corporate training and voice over work. Sheri has been featured on many podcasts speaking about comedy and social justice. She was a featured performer at the Engaging Women Conference at St. Mary’s College, and was a guest on Vocalo Radio's Morning AMp Council of Feminist Thought show. Sheri is represented by NV Talent, holds a bachelors in Fashion Design.