NPR Interview with Bryan Stevenson

Bryan Stevenson conducted an interview with NPR back in October 2014. In this interview he shared a personal experience he had in his 20’s as well as the case at the center of his book, Just Mercy.

The interviewer began by asking Bryan about an encounter he had with police in his 20’s in Atlanta. Bryan had been listening to the radio in his car outside of his new home when a police unit pulled up and pulled a gun on him. Bryan describes the terrifying event in a calm and poised voice now, but he admits that at the site of the gun his first instinct was to run. Bryan was a Harvard law student at the time and remained calm, but it was this encounter that led him to ask young boys and men in the area if they know what to do if they are in that situation. He was surprised to discover that the majority of boys did not know what to do, and this was just one of many events that influenced his future work with the Equal Justice Initiative.

The rest of the interview focuses on the case at the center of Just Mercy. The discussion focuses not only on Bryan, but on Mr. McMillian himself. McMillian died in 2013. Bryan had the following to say about the early death of McMillian,

One of the things that pains me is we have so tragically underestimated the trauma, the hardship we create in this country when we treat people unfairly, when we incarcerate them unfairly, when we condemn them unfairly.

To hear the interview and to read the highlights click here 

Cover Photo Credit: Tracy King, iStockphoto