I just finished reading The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row, the memoir of Anthony Ray Hinton, a man who spent 30 years on death row for a crime he didn’t commit. The Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama exists because of stories like these. The Equal Justice Initiative (also known as EJI) was founded by attorney, Bryan Stevenson, where he also serves as Executive Director. EJI is the home of The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice.
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.”
“[Mr. Hinton] One of the longest serving death row prisoners in Alabama history and among the longest serving condemned prisoners to be freed after presenting evidence of innocence. Mr. Hinton is the 152nd person exonerated from death row since 1983.” — via eji.org
Read more: Anthony Ray Hinton Exonerated After 30 Years on Death Row
The story of Mr. Hinton hits so close to home being that I grew up in Jefferson County, Alabama. It’s heart-wrenching, eye-opening, and a harsh reality of what is still going on today. If you don’t read anything else this year, add this book to your reading list. It’s a powerful story of hope, love, justice, forgiveness, and freedom. This book is also part Oprah’s 2018 Book Club. I’m grateful that Mr. Hinton is sharing his story with the world. I pray that this will be part of a movement for change for racial justice.
I’ll be following up with Bryan Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. You can also find out more about EJI here.
I shared about my visit to EJI’s Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice and you can read that post here.
Have you read any good books lately?
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