Lawyer Bryan Stevenson isn’t mincing words

He says there’s an America that’s more free, with more equality and justice, and less bigotry – and it’s waiting for us. But to get there, we’ve got to face the country’s racist past head-on. No sugarcoating, no beating around the bush.

Stevenson’s crusade

Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, has spent his career fighting for justice and writing about it – his book Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption is a scathing look at the US justice system. Now, he’s taking his message to the Legacy Museum, where visitors can see jars of dirt collected from sites where Black people were lynched. It’s a stark reminder of the atrocities that have been perpetrated in this country.

It’s not about punishing America for its past, Stevenson says – it’s about acknowledging it, and using that acknowledgment as a path forward. And that’s a message that’s long overdue.