The Honoree

Bryan Stevenson is the founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a human rights organization in Montgomery, Alabama. EJI has won legal challenges eliminating excessive and unfair sentencing, exonerating innocent death row prisoners, confronting abuse of the incarcerated and the mentally ill, and aiding children prosecuted as adults.

He led the creation of two sites which opened in 2018, The Legacy Museum and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery. The institutions chronicle the legacy of slavery, lynching, and racial segregation and their connection to mass incarceration and contemporary racial bias issues.

After the American Civil War (1861-1865), lynching became a tool to reinstate White supremacy. The sites also honor more than 4,000 African Americans lynched from 1877 to 1950.

Coming Soon from EJI:
Freedom Monument Sculpture Park

At this 17-acre site along the very river where tens of thousands of enslaved people were trafficked, breathtaking art and original artifacts invite an immersive, interactive journey and provide a unique view into the lives of enslaved people.

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About "From These Shores"

From These Shores celebrates the accomplishments of 18 known and lesser-known Africans in the diaspora across time and geography. The 12 panels hang at the Juffureh Slavery Museum, The Gambia and online. Timbooktoo Bookstore in New Bakau, The Gambia and Mansa Musa Restaurant in Takoma Park, MD USA each display one of the panels.