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Warner Bros. announced that Just Mercy, Michael B. Jordan‘s 2019 drama that highlights systemic racism in American policing and legal systems, will streaming for free on digital platforms in June.
The film follows the real life story of Bryan Stevenson (Jordan), the defense attorney who fought to get the wrongfully convicted Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx) off of death row. McMillian, a black man from Alabama, was charged with the murder of an 18-year-old white woman named Ronda Morrison in 1988. Despite zero physical evidence tying him to the crime scene, a rock-solid alibi with multiple witnesses, and a gerrymandered trial that lasted one day, McMillian was sentenced to death row and spent six years in prison. Stevenson, who at the time was director of the Alabama Capital Representation Resource Center, took up McMillian’s case and over several years and multiple appeals finally got McMillian’s conviction reversed in 1993 after exposing how deeply rooted racism was — and currently is — in the criminal justice system.
Warner Bros. said in a statement, “We believe in the power of story. Our film Just Mercy, based on the life work of civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, is one resource we can humbly offer to those who are interested in learning more about the systemic racism that plagues our society.” The free streaming release comes at a time when protests over the death of George Floyd — and many other other black Americans — while in police custody are sweeping the nation.
Black lives matter. Text DEMANDS to 55156 to sign Color of Change’s petition to reform policing, and visit blacklivesmatters.carrd.co for more ways to donate, sign petitions, and protest safely.