Bryan Stevenson

The Legacy Sites is a compelling and visually rich book exploring the groundbreaking work of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) through its transformative public spaces: the Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, brought together here for the first time. Through striking photography and powerful narrative, this volume invites readers to engage deeply with America’s long and ongoing struggle for racial justice. Founded by acclaimed public interest lawyer and New York Times bestselling author Bryan Stevenson, the Equal Justice Initiative has redefined how a nation can reckon with its past. This book serves not only as a guide to the three Legacy Sites in Montgomery, Alabama, but as a meditation on the power of memory, the importance of truth-telling, and the hope found in justice-oriented action. The book is organized into three immersive chapters — each dedicated to one of the Legacy Sites — and designed to reflect the distinct but interconnected missions of each location. First opened in 2018, with the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the original Legacy Museum, the three sites welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. The Legacy Museum sits on a site where enslaved people were once forced to labor in bondage. It traces the direct line from enslavement to mass incarceration through original research, powerful exhibits, and digital storytelling. This chapter delves into how the Museum reclaims historical spaces to confront visitors with the realities of racial terror and the enduring consequences of systemic injustice. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, often referred to as the nation’s first Memorial to victims of racial terror lynchings, is a solemn and stunning outdoor space of remembrance. This chapter features moving photographs of its iconic suspended steel monuments — each representing a U.S. county where lynchings occurred — and explores the role of public memorials in collective healing. Woven throughout are stories of the victims and communities represented, grounding the Memorial in personal and historical narrative. Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, EJI’s newest and most expansive site overlooking the Alabama River, honors the lives and resilience of enslaved people through outdoor sculpture, narrative, historical artifacts, and interpretive installations. Spanning multiple acres, it creates a contemplative space where art, history, and landscape converge. Artists featured include: Simone Leigh, Hank Willis Thomas, Rose B. Simpson, Kwame Akoto-Bamfo, and Alison Saar. Together, these sites form one of the most ambitious and visionary public history projects in the United States. The book captures not just their physical presence, but their emotional and intellectual impact — showing how architecture, narrative, and memorial can shift national conversations. Designed for educators, students, museumgoers, activists, and anyone interested in American history, this book is both a tribute and a call to action. Through the lens of the Equal Justice Initiative, readers are reminded that while history cannot be changed, it can be confronted — and through that confrontation, transformed.

Winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel PrizeThe MacArthur grant–winning environmental justice activist’s riveting memoir of a life fighting for a cleaner future for America’s most vulnerable A Smithsonian Magazine Top Ten Best Science Book of 2020 Catherine Coleman Flowers, a 2020 MacArthur “genius,” grew up in Lowndes County, Alabama, a place that’s been called “Bloody Lowndes” because of its violent, racist history. Once the epicenter of the voting rights struggle, today it’s Ground Zero for a new movement that is also Flowers’s life’s work—a fight to ensure human dignity through a right most Americans take for granted: basic sanitation. Too many people, especially the rural poor, lack an affordable means of disposing cleanly of the waste from their toilets and, as a consequence, live amid filth. Flowers calls this America’s dirty secret. In this “powerful and moving book” (Booklist), she tells the story of systemic class, racial, and geographic prejudice that foster Third World conditions not just in Alabama, but across America, in Appalachia, Central California, coastal Florida, Alaska, the urban Midwest, and on Native American reservations in the West. In this inspiring story of the evolution of an activist, from country girl to student civil rights organizer to environmental justice champion at Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative, Flowers shows how sanitation is becoming too big a problem to ignore as climate change brings sewage to more backyards—not only those of poor minorities.

Winner of the Studs and Ida Terkel PrizeThe MacArthur grant–winning environmental justice activist’s riveting memoir of a life fighting for a cleaner future for America’s most vulnerableA Smithsonian Magazine Top Ten Best Science Book of 2020Catherine Coleman Flowers, a 2020 MacArthur “genius,” grew up in Lowndes County, Alabama, a place that’s been called “Bloody Lowndes” because of its violent, racist history. Once the epicenter of the voting rights struggle, today it’s Ground Zero for a new movement that is also Flowers’s life’s work—a fight to ensure human dignity through a right most Americans take for granted: basic sanitation. Too many people, especially the rural poor, lack an affordable means of disposing cleanly of the waste from their toilets and, as a consequence, live amid filth. Flowers calls this America’s dirty secret. In this “powerful and moving book” (Booklist), she tells the story of systemic class, racial, and geographic prejudice that foster Third World conditions not just in Alabama, but across America, in Appalachia, Central California, coastal Florida, Alaska, the urban Midwest, and on Native American reservations in the West.In this inspiring story of the evolution of an activist, from country girl to student civil rights organizer to environmental justice champion at Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative, Flowers shows how sanitation is becoming too big a problem to ignore as climate change brings sewage to more backyards—not only those of poor minorities.

Bryan Stevenson är USA:s unge Nelson Mandela en lysande jurist som med modigt och med övertygelse kämpar för att garantera rättvisa för alla. Den är lika fängslande som en kriminalroman, och det är inget annat än ett nations själ som står på spel. Desmond Tutu Bryan växte upp fattig i den segregerade södern i USA. Hans starka känsla för rättvisa gjorde att han utbildade sig till advokat och grundade Equal Justice Initiative, en juristbyrå som har inriktat sig på att försvara de som är i mest desperat behov av hjälp: de fattiga, de falskt anklagade och kvinnor och barn som har fångats i de yttersta utkanterna av rättvisesystemet. Ett av Stevensons första fall var Walter McMillian, en svart man dödsdömd för mord på en vit kvinna ett brott som han insisterade på att han inte begått. Fallet drog Bryan in i ett nät av konspirationer, politiska intriger, en häpnadsväckande rasistisk ojämlikhet och en juridisk balansgång och förvandlade hans förståelse av barmhärtighet och rättvisa för alltid. USA har den högsta graden av fängslande och inlåsning i världen. En av femton förväntas hamna i fängelse. För svarta män stiger denna siffra till en av tre. Och Death Row dödsstraff är oproportionerligt svart. Berättelsen om Bryans arbete är nu dramatiserat i den inspirerande filmen Just Mercy som hade premiär på svenska biografer den 17 januari.Bryan Stevenson är grundare och direktor för Equal Justice Initiative i Montgomery, Alabama. Han haråstadkommit strafflindring för dussintals dömda fångar, pläderat fem gångerinför Högsta domstolen, och vunnit nationellt erkännande för sitt arbete blandden fattiga och färgade befolkningen. Han har även erhållit flera utmärkelser,bland annat the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant.

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE, STARRING MICHAEL B. JORDAN, JAMIE FOXX, AND BRIE LARSON. A NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, BOSTON GLOBE, ESQUIRE, AND TIME BOOK OF THE YEAR. A #1 New York Times bestseller, this is a powerful, true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix America’s broken justice system, as seen in the HBO documentary True Justice. The US has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. One in every 15 people born there today is expected to go to prison. For black men this figure rises to one in 3. And Death Row is disproportionately black, too. Bryan Stevenson grew up poor in the racially segregated South. His innate sense of justice made him a brilliant young lawyer, and one of his first defendants was Walter McMillian, a black man sentenced to die for the murder of a white woman — a crime he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, startling racial inequality, and legal brinkmanship — and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever. At once an unforgettable account of an idealistic lawyer’s coming of age and a moving portrait of the lives of those he has defended, Just Mercy is an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of justice.

Bryan Stevenson's incredible fight to end mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and racial inequality comes to life in this young adult adaptation of the acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestseller that was adapted into a major motion picture starring Michael B. Jordan, Jaime Foxx, and Brie Larson. In this very personal work--adapted from the original #1 bestseller, which the New York Times calls as compelling as To Kill a Mockingbird, and in some ways more so--renowned lawyer and social justice advocate Bryan Stevenson offers a glimpse into the lives of the wrongfully imprisoned and his efforts to fight for their freedom as the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. Stevenson's story is one of working to protect basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society--the poor, the wrongly convicted, and those whose lives have been marked by discrimination and marginalization. Through this adaptation, young people of today will find themselves called to action and compassion in the pursuit of justice. A portion of the proceeds of this book will go to charity to help in Stevenson's important work to benefit the voiceless and the vulnerable as they attempt to navigate the broken U.S. justice system. A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEARA BOOKLIST EDITORS' CHOICEFEATURED ON CBS THIS MORNINGA NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR PRAISE FOR JUST MERCY: A TRUE STORY OF THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE It's really exciting that young people are getting a version tailored for them. --Salon A deeply moving collage of true stories. . . . This is required reading. --Kirkus Reviews, starred review Compassionate and compelling, Stevenson's narrative is also unforgettable. --Booklist, starred review PRAISE FOR JUST MERCY: A STORY OF JUSTICE AND REDEMPTION Gripping. . . . What hangs in the balance is nothing less than the soul of a great nation. --DESMOND TUTU, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Important and compelling. --Pulitzer Prize-winning author TRACY KIDDER Inspiring and powerful. --#1 New York Times bestselling author JOHN GRISHAM

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING MICHAEL B. JORDAN AND JAMIE FOXX - A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice--from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time. " Bryan Stevenson's] dedication to fighting for justice and equality has inspired me and many others and made a lasting impact on our country."--John Legend NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN - A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE CENTURY A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Seattle Times, Esquire, TimeBryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn't commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship--and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever. Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer's coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice. Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction - Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Nonfiction - Winner of a Books for a Better Life Award - Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize - Finalist for the Kirkus Reviews Prize - An American Library Association Notable Book "Every bit as moving as To Kill a Mockingbird, and in some ways more so . . . a searing indictment of American criminal justice and a stirring testament to the salvation that fighting for the vulnerable sometimes yields."--David Cole, The New York Review of Books "Searing, moving . . . Bryan Stevenson may, indeed, be America's Mandela."--Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times "Inspiring . . . a work of style, substance and clarity . . . Stevenson is not only a great lawyer, he's also a gifted writer and storyteller."--The Washington Post "As deeply moving, poignant and powerful a book as has been, and maybe ever can be, written about the death penalty."--The Financial Times "Brilliant."--The Philadelphia Inquirer

Bryan Stevenson är USA:s unge Nelson Mandela en lysande jurist som med modigt och med övertygelse kämpar för att garantera rättvisa för alla. Den är lika fängslande som en kriminalroman, och det är inget annat än ett nations själ som står på spel. Desmond Tutu Bryan växte upp fattig i den segregerade södern i USA. Hans starka känsla för rättvisa gjorde att han utbildade sig till advokat och grundade Equal Justice Initiative, en juristbyrå som har inriktat sig på att försvara de som är i mest desperat behov av hjälp: de fattiga, de falskt anklagade och kvinnor och barn som har fångats i de yttersta utkanterna av rättvisesystemet. Ett av Stevensons första fall var Walter McMillian, en svart man dödsdömd för mord på en vit kvinna ett brott som han insisterade på att han inte begått. Fallet drog Bryan in i ett nät av konspirationer, politiska intriger, en häpnadsväckande rasistisk ojämlikhet och en juridisk balansgång och förvandlade hans förståelse av barmhärtighet och rättvisa för alltid. USA har den högsta graden av fängslande och inlåsning i världen. En av femton förväntas hamna i fängelse. För svarta män stiger denna siffra till en av tre. Och Death Row dödsstraff är oproportionerligt svart. Bryan Stevenson är grundare och direktor för Equal Justice Initiative i Montgomery, Alabama. Han har åstadkommit strafflindring för dussintals dömda fångar, pläderat fem gånger inför Högsta domstolen, och vunnit nationellt erkännande för sitt arbete bland den fattiga och färgade befolkningen. Han har även erhållit flera utmärkelser, bland annat the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant.

A frank and enlightening discussion on race and the law in America today, from some of our leading legal minds—including the bestselling author of Just Mercy This blisteringly candid discussion of the American racial dilemma in the age of Black Lives Matter brings together the head of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the former attorney general of the United States, a bestselling author and death penalty lawyer, and a star professor for an honest conversation the country desperately needs to hear. Drawing on their collective decades of work on civil rights issues as well as personal histories of rising from poverty and oppression, these titans of the legal profession discuss the importance of working for justice in an unjust time. Covering topics as varied as “the commonality of pain,” “when ‘public’ became a dirty word,” and the concept of an “equality dividend” that is due to people of color for helping America brand itself internationally as a country of diversity and acceptance, Sherrilyn Ifill, Loretta Lynch, Bryan Stevenson, and Anthony C. Thompson engage in a deeply thought-provoking discussion on the law’s role in both creating and solving our most pressing racial quandaries. A Perilous Path will speak loudly and clearly to everyone concerned about America’s perpetual fault line.

America's problem with race has deep roots, with the country's foundation tied to the near extermination of one race of people and the enslavement of another. Racism is truly our nation's original sin."It's time we right this unacceptable wrong," says bestselling author and leading Christian activist Jim Wallis. Fifty years ago, Wallis was driven away from his faith by a white church that considered dealing with racism to be taboo. His participation in the civil rights movement brought him back when he discovered a faith that commands racial justice. Yet as recent tragedies confirm, we continue to suffer from the legacy of racism. The old patterns of white privilege are colliding with the changing demographics of a diverse nation. The church has been slow to respond, and Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour of the week.In America's Original Sin, Wallis offers a prophetic and deeply personal call to action in overcoming the racism so ingrained in American society. He speaks candidly to Christians--particularly white Christians--urging them to cross a new bridge toward racial justice and healing.Whenever divided cultures and gridlocked power structures fail to end systemic sin, faith communities can help lead the way to grassroots change. Probing yet positive, biblically rooted yet highly practical, this book shows people of faith how they can work together to overcome the embedded racism in America, galvanizing a movement to cross the bridge to a multiracial church and a new America.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING MICHAEL B. JORDAN AND JAMIE FOXX - A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice--from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time. " Bryan Stevenson's] dedication to fighting for justice and equality has inspired me and many others and made a lasting impact on our country."--John Legend NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN - A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE CENTURY A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Seattle Times, Esquire, TimeBryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn't commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship--and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever. Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer's coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice. Winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction - Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Nonfiction - Winner of a Books for a Better Life Award - Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize - Finalist for the Kirkus Reviews Prize - An American Library Association Notable Book "Every bit as moving as To Kill a Mockingbird, and in some ways more so . . . a searing indictment of American criminal justice and a stirring testament to the salvation that fighting for the vulnerable sometimes yields."--David Cole, The New York Review of Books "Searing, moving . . . Bryan Stevenson may, indeed, be America's Mandela."--Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times "Inspiring . . . a work of style, substance and clarity . . . Stevenson is not only a great lawyer, he's also a gifted writer and storyteller."--The Washington Post "As deeply moving, poignant and powerful a book as has been, and maybe ever can be, written about the death penalty."--The Financial Times "Brilliant."--The Philadelphia Inquirer