Founded in 1989 by Bryan Stevenson, a widely acclaimed public interest lawyer and bestselling author of Just Mercy, Equal Justice Initiative is a private nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons. Just Mercy is also now an award-winning film.
The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.
The organization challenges the death penalty and excessive punishment and provides re-entry assistance to formerly incarcerated people.
In 2018, EJI opened the Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. The Legacy Sites are part of their national effort to create new spaces, markers, and memorials that address the legacy of slavery, lynching, and racial segregation, which shapes many issues today.
EJI works with communities that have been marginalized by poverty and discouraged by unequal treatment. They have launched programs aimed at reducing poverty in America, including an Anti-Hunger Program that has served thousands of families struggling with food insecurity and a health clinic that provides free care to vulnerable people.
Generous Congregation
Our practice here at UUSM is to dedicate half of our non-pledge Sunday offerings to organizations doing work in the world that advances our Unitarian Universalist principles; the other 50% of the offering is used to support the life of our church.
UUSM’s Generous Congregation program supports our church community. And together, we uplift the reach and impact of vital organizations doing work we could not do on our own. This month, half of our Sunday offerings will go to the Equal Justice Initiative. Your donations will help EJI continue to work to change the narrative about race in America.
Please consider supporting the mission of our church, and the Equal Justice Initiative. To give right now, text “$10 GCC” to 844-982-0209. (One-time-only credit card registration required.) Or visit Make a Donation at uusm.org and reference Generous Congregation. Thank you.
