Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, discussed his experiences defending death row inmates and the challenges that face individuals, “living in the margins of society” during his speech Thursday, Sept. 15 in the Alumni Gym. 

Stevenson’s New York Times bestselling memoir, "Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption," was Elon University’s 2016-2017 Common Reading selection for the incoming freshman class. In his memoir, Stevenson recounted his experiences as an activist and lawyer for death row inmates.

Throughout his speech, Stevenson recounted a number of the touching stories described in his memoir to an audience of several hundred Elon students, faculty and community members. 

Stevenson reminded students that they are the people, “capable of changing the world.” According to Stevenson, the world is desperate for change. He informed students that there are 2.3 million inmates in the U.S. prison system — the highest rate of incarceration in the world.

Stevenson tasked students with remembering their identities, academic and otherwise, and encouraged students to consider how they judge the identities of others. 

“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done … Justice requires that we [recognize] the other things [people have] done, [too],” Stevenson said. 

He told them to get close to problems, such as poverty, rather than trying to solve them from a distance, and encouraged students to face problems that make them uncomfortable. Stevenson said problems of our past — slavery, segregation and lynching — need to be acknowledged.

“I want to acknowledge what we’ve done so that we can get somewhere better, but that means we have to change our narrative,” he said. “We’ve got to change the narrative, [because] when you make decisions rooted in fear and anger … You will tolerate injustice and inequality.” 

"Just Mercy" has won several honors, including the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, the Carnegie Medal for Nonfiction and a Books for a Better Life award.

Founded by Stevenson in 1989, the Equal Justice Initiative is committed to, “ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society,” according to its website, www.eji.org.

Stevenson is currently a professor of law at New York University’s School of Law.