On October 5, 2021, the Faith & Action Project will host its annual Fall Event, “American Injustice: Mercy, Humanity and Making a Difference,” featuring Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of the memoir Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, in a moderated discussion with Dean Leah Gunning Francis about overcoming poverty by attacking the injustices that fuel it. More information about the event, including ticket availability, can be found here.
Stevenson is a world-renowned speaker, attorney, and activist, who has dedicated his life to social justice. The winner of a MacArthur Genius Grant, the Benjamin Franklin Award, and the Right Livelihood Award (among many others), Stevenson runs the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) in Montgomery, Alabama. In 2019, a film adaptation of his book Just Mercy was released to wide acclaim, which tells the story of Stevenson’s work to overturn the wrongful capital conviction of Walter McMillan.
After graduating from Harvard Law School, Stevenson began his legal career by joining the Southern Center for Human Rights. After Congress eliminated funding for death-penalty defense, which had been the focus of his work, Stevenson started the EJI to provide legal assistance for anyone in Alabama facing the death penalty.
EJI continues to provide legal assistance, but its scope has grown considerably. Over the last twenty years, Stevenson and the EJI are now counted among of the nation’s most vital moral voices. Along with their advocacy against the death penalty, research into the inequalities that undermine our criminal justice system, and multi-faceted work to address the legacies of racism and racial injustice in the United States, EJI opened the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in 2018.
In anticipation of Stevenson’s participation in the fall event, and to continue promoting community conversations about inequality, criminal justice reform, and racial injustice, the Faith & Action Project is encouraging faith and community groups to host public screenings of the recent HBO documentary, True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality. To facilitate these gatherings, the Faith & Action Project is offering a free discussion guide of the film authored by Michael R. Twyman, PhD (Managing Principal, InExcelsis LLC) and a stipend of $200 to faith groups that want to host a screening.
Learn more about the Faith & Action Project’s Fall Event and the True Justice documentary resources here.
