N.C. A&T to Host Virtual Presentation by “Just Mercy” Author Stevenson

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Nov. 10, 2021) – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s Text-in-Community Program (TIC) will host a virtual presentation by Bryan Stevenson, author of the campus read for the 2021-22 academic year, “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption,” on Wednesday, Nov. 17, at 5 p.m.

Stevenson’s presentation, “Race, Poverty and the Criminal Justice System in America,” is free and open to the public. Register here.

Stevenson is a public interest lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a Montgomery, Alabama-based nonprofit law office committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment and to confronting racial and economic injustice in the United States. It provides legal representation to men, women and children who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in jails and prisons. The EJI also challenges the death penalty in adult cases and life imprisonment for juveniles and children and assists the formerly incarcerated with reentry into society.

North Carolina A&T established the TIC program in 2003 with the goal of selecting one book each academic year that engages the campus, particularly first-year students, in intellectually-stimulating activities such as panel discussions, debates, quiz bowls and film series. When possible, the author is invited to campus for a day of interactions with students, faculty and staff, ending with a presentation that is open to the campus community and the public.

Stevenson’s presentation will be facilitated by Jelani Favors, Ph.D., the Henry E. Frye Distinguished Professor in the Department of History and Political Science at A&T. The presentation will be followed by student questions.

A&T’s previous TIC selections include:

• “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander
• “Mens et Manus: A Pictorial History of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University” by Teresa Styles and Valerie Nieman
• “I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban” by Malala Yousafzai
• “The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates” by Wes Moore
• “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebeca Skloot

The TIC program is sponsored by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the Office of Student Affairs. For more information, contact Beverly Grier, Ph.D., at bcgrier@ncat.edu.