[Just Mercy, the 2019 film, which chronicles criminal justice
reform in Alabama, stars Michael B. Jordan as lawyer Bryan Stevenson
and Jamie Foxx, as the falsely accused death row inmate Walter
McMillian, reveals the systematic racism in America. ]
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PORTSIDE CULTURE

‘JUST MERCY’ IS STREAMING FOR FREE THIS MONTH TO EDUCATE VIEWERS
ON SYSTEMIC RACISM  
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Nora McGreevy
June 8, 2020
Smithsonian Magazine
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_ 'Just Mercy', the 2019 film, which chronicles criminal justice
reform in Alabama, stars Michael B. Jordan as lawyer Bryan Stevenson
and Jamie Foxx, as the falsely accused death row inmate Walter
McMillian, reveals the systematic racism in America. _

Michael B. Jordan (left) and Jamie Foxx (right) star in Just Mercy as
civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson and falsely accused death row
inmate Walter McMillian, respectively., (Photograph by Jake Giles
Netter / Warner Bros.)

 

_Just Mercy, _a 2019 film [[link removed]] about
civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson
[[link removed]],
is available to stream for free through the end of June, reports
William Earl for _Variety
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Viewers can watch the movie on multiple platforms, including YouTube
[[link removed]], Google Play
[[link removed]] and Amazon
[[link removed]].

Warner Bros. announced the free rental amid widespread protests
[[link removed]] sparked
by a Minneapolis police officer’s killing of 46-year-old George
Floyd
[[link removed]].

“We believe in the power of story,” says the entertainment
conglomerate in a statement posted on Twitter
[[link removed]]. “Our
film _Just Mercy_, based on the life work of civil rights attorney
Bryan Stevenson, is one resource we can humbly offer to those who are
interested in learning more about the systemic racism that plagues our
society. … To actively be part of the change our country is so
desperately seeking, we encourage you to learn more about our past and
the countless injustices that have led us to where we are today.”

Directed by Daniel Cretton and based on Stevenson’s book
[[link removed]] of
the same name, the movie tells the story of one of Stevenson’s
(Michael B. Jordan) first cases as a young lawyer. In 1989, he
traveled to Monroeville, Alabama, in hopes of overturning the wrongful
conviction of Walter McMillian
[[link removed]] (Jamie Foxx), an innocent
black man who spent six years on death row for the murder of an
18-year-old white woman. An almost entirely white jury convicted
McMillian on the basis of flimsy evidence raised by a white sheriff
and district attorney, wrote Andrew Lapin for NPR
[[link removed]] in
2019.

Stevenson is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative
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organization focused on criminal justice, prison reform and racial
justice. EJI has argued multiple cases in front of the Supreme Court,
including a ruling that banned mandatory life sentences without parole
for juveniles, and has successfully challenged many death row
convictions, according to its website
[[link removed]].

As Chris Hedges reported for _Smithsonian _magazine
[[link removed]] in
2012, Stevenson was 16 when four juveniles murdered his grandfather in
Philadelphia.

“Losing a loved one is traumatic, painful and disorienting,”
Stevenson said to _Smithsonian_. Still, he added, the experience, as
well as friends’ and family members’ subsequent encounters with
violence, “reinforced for me the primacy of responding to the
conditions of hopelessness and despair that create crime.”

As protesters call for an end to systemic racism
[[link removed]] and
police brutality around the country, other companies are making work
by black intellectuals and creatives more easily accessible, too.
During the month of June, the Criterion Channel
[[link removed]], a streaming service for
classic and independent films, has lifted its paywall on a select
number of titles by black filmmakers. Viewers can now stream Julie
Dash’s _Daughters of the Dust
[[link removed]]_, Maya
Angelou’s _Down in the Delta
[[link removed]]_, Shirley
Clarke’s _Portrait of Jason
[[link removed]] _and Kathleen
Collins’ _Losing Ground
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free, reports Ryan Lattanzio for _IndieWire
[[link removed]]_. On Spotify
[[link removed]], users can
also listen to the entire audiobook of Ibram X. Kendi’s _Stamped
From the Beginning
[[link removed]], _a
comprehensive history of American racism, reports Emily Martin
for _Book Riot
[[link removed]]. _

For more educational resources, check out _Smithsonian _magazine
[[link removed]]’s
list of 158 articles, podcasts, videos and websites that catalog the
history of anti-black violence and inequality in the United States.

'JUST MERCY' IS SCREENING NOW ON AMAZON, YOUTUBE, AND GOOGLE PLAY.

__________

_NORA MCGREEVY is a freelance journalist based in South Bend, Indiana.
Her work has appeared in Wired, Washingtonian, the Boston
Globe, South Bend Tribune, the New York Times and more. She can be
reached through her website, noramcgreevy.com
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