This comes in the wake of global protests against the homicide of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, MN. Just Mercy was adapted from the book of the same name by Bryan Stevenson, which won the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction and the NAACP Image Award for Nonfiction, among other awards. The film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall and was recently awarded the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award. It is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, and follows the true story of Bryan Stevenson, a civil rights defense lawyer (Michael B. Jordan) and his work to free Walter McMillan (Jamie Foxx) from death row. Bryan Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative in 1989. It is a non-profit dedicated to criminal justice reform, racial justice, and public education. Walter McMillan was released from death row in 1993 after the Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that he had been wrongfully convicted in 1988. He died in 2013. For more resources on racial justice: 5 Books About Black Movements and Systemic Racism in America 35 Must-Read Books About Racism 8 Historical Books to Understand Current Social Justice Movements.
