Bryan Stevenson: We need to talk about an injustice | Video on TED.com

Bryan Stevenson: We need to talk about an injustice | Video on TED.com

Bryan Stevenson: Public-interest lawyer

    

Bryan Stevenson is the founder and executive director of the  Equal Justice Initiative, fighting poverty and challenging racial  discrimination in the criminal justice system.

Why you should listen        to him:    

Bryan Stevenson is a public-interest lawyer who has dedicated  his career to helping the poor, the incarcerated and the condemned. He's  the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative,  an Alabama-based group that has won major legal challenges eliminating  excessive and unfair sentencing, exonerating innocent prisoners on death  row, confronting abuse of the incarcerated and the mentally ill, and  aiding children prosecuted as adults. One recent victory: A ban on life  imprisonment without parole sentences imposed on children convicted of  most crimes in the United States.

"Bryan Stevenson blew my my mind, engaged my heart, and inspired my soul."

Diego Rodriguez

http://www.ted.com/talks/bryan_stevenson_we_need_to_talk_about_an_injustice.html

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TED Blog

                             05 March 2012

TED’s first response to Bryan Stevenson’s talk on injustice

 


Bryan Stevenson’s talk inspired one of the longest and loudest  standing ovations in TED’s history. And it provoked a blizzard of  requests from audience members that we find a way to support the work of  his nonprofit organization, the Equal Justice Initiative.
When I asked Bryan about funding needs, this is what he said: “We are  trying to raise $1.5 million for a campaign that ends excessive  sentencing of children and stops the practice of putting kids in adult  jails and prisons, where they are 10 times more likely than other  incarcerated people to be the victims of sexual assault and violence. We  just started this effort, and support from the TED community could be  huge. I’ll be arguing a case in the U.S. Supreme Court on this issue  next month.”
So the next day, I invited members of the audience to contribute. In  just a few minutes 6 people pledged $100,000 each, 18 pledged $10,000  and more than 100 pledged $1,000. With subsequent pledges received by  text and email, and a $100,000 contribution from TED itself, I was able  to write to Bryan confirming that TED will be writing his organization a  check for $1.12m.
But beyond that, it’s clear that many people who saw this talk want  ongoing involvement on this issue. Bryan’s organization can be contacted  directly here. And TED is committed to making this issue a core part of its TED Prize initiative on The City 2.0.  The thinking here is that the future of cities and massive  incarceration levels are inextricably linked. If huge numbers of  families are missing their fathers, it’s hard to imagine how inner-city  renewal takes place. The City 2.0 initiative is all about empowering  citizens in every city to work together to shape their city’s future. So  we plan to work with Bryan to build a system that will allow people to  take action locally on this issue. If you have thoughts on how this  could be done, or wish to offer help, please write to tedprize@ted.com.
It’s truly thrilling to see what happens when someone comes to TED  and induces a whole new view of the world in our audience — and does so  in such a powerful and inspiring way. I suspect the response to this  talk will be equally massive online. If you haven’t yet seen it, you  really must. It’s here.
– Chris Anderson

Source:
http://blog.ted.com/