Join an incredible panel of West Virginians to discuss Bryan Stevenson’s ‘True Justice’ Documentary and the history and modern implications of racism in West Virginia.
‘True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality,’ (2019) is the winner of the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communication’s 26th annual Vision Award and a Peabody Award and nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary. The film follows Bryan Stevenson’s career and experience with America’s criminal justice system and its role in modern systemic racism. ‘True Justice’ highlights Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama and its important work and public education efforts as well as the opening of EJI’s Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice, dedicated to the more than 4,400 African American victims of lynching.
In EJI’s 2017 ‘Lynching in America’ report, West Virginia was identified as one of the most common sites of racial terror lynchings outside of the Deep South; a reality that does not align with our narrative as a northern state, separated from the horrors of slavery, lynching, and other racism and violence. Our panelists will discuss the documentary and its overview of racism in our systems and institutions as well as the history and modern implications of racism here in West Virginia.
*PLEASE NOTE: This event will not include a screening of the film. The film can be viewed for free on youtube or found elsewhere on streaming services, and we invite participants to watch the film prior to the event in order to make the most of our time with our panelists.
Moderator:
Kitty Dooley, Attorney
Panelists include:
James Boyd, Peer Recovery Support Specialist
Owens Brown, WV NAACP President
Dr. David Trowbridge, Marshall University Director of African and African American Studies
Nora Venezky, Executive Director, Greenbrier Historical Society
*Sign language interpreting provided by Martec Washington
Thanks to the co-hosts of this event:
ACLU-WV, American Friends Service Committee, West Virginia NAACP, NAACP Morgantown-Kingwood Branch, Showing Up for Racial Justice WV, and WV NOW.
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