A quarter of the U.S. population sits in a plain cell behind metal bars. This was something Bryan Stevenson brought to SAU's attention during his speech on Oct. 20 in the Galvin Fine Arts Center.
"The country is in a different place than it used to be," the lawyer, justice seeker and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative said.
Stevenson took his audience on a journey through the lives of himself and his clients, showing his listeners how these people are affected by the current social justice system.
"The opposite of poverty is not money," Stevenson said. "It's justice."
In order to provide this justice Stevenson made four points of what the audience could do. First is proximity, the second is changing the narrative, the third is protecting hope and the fourth is to do uncomfortable things. He provided a story to show each and every point, something Director of Women and Gender studies, Katy Strzepek said she found inspiring.
"He not only talks about justice, but he enacts justice," Strzepek said.
Junior Jesse Hamerlinck went to his speech and also found it inspirational.
"I thought it was incredible," Hamerlinck said. "I was honestly moved to tears from his last story. That was amazing."
The stories didn't just cause Hamerlinck to shed some tears. The night helped her to gain some new perspective.
"I didn't know that he had gone through so much to get where he is," Hamerlinck said. "It's really inspiring for me to know that there's someone else who has pushed through those discouraging times and that I can get there too if I just keep moving."
This type of revelation was something Strzepek had hoped for when discussing Stevenson and his justice views.
"I think it's great when students will consider multiple perspectives and when they're willing to look at the evidence and change their ideas. I think it's pretty powerful," Strezpek said. "I mean I certainly think that students should look at both sides of the story. I would never want students to agree with what I think is right, I want them come to that conclusion on their own."
Stevenson continues to actively promote justice and does it for much more than his career.
"I do what I do because I'm broken too," Stevenson said.
–by Haley Gibbs for The Buzz
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