Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative - Fighting Against Inequality in the Justice System

During Pacifist Fight Club: Round 3, Deshonna Collier-Goubil spoke on the racial inequality found in the US Prison System. In this TEDtalk, Bryan Stevenson addresses the elephant in the room: "We Need to Talk about Injustice." He urges us to explore our national past to discover the connecting points to where we are today in our imbalanced system of justice.

While some efforts are being made to reduce the over-capacity of prison systems (in California, and other states) Compton's Mayor Brown recently stated in an interview with Vogue, that these plans aren't "very well thought out." While she advocates state-initiated training programs, Stevenson insists change won't be made—that justice won't be served—until we as a nation take a hard look at our past. Bryan Stevenson is a story teller, and weaves memorable moments with his grandmother, and sitting in a living room with Rosa Parks, into his even-handed case for racial equality and system reform.

Stevenson founded and serves as executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative. EJI fights against the Death Penalty and the sentencing of children to adult prisons, as well as fighting for policy and system reform, all the while challenging the blind-eyes of the status quo.

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Fight Club Homework Assignments:
Revisit: Pacifist Fight Club: Round 3 and watch Deshonna weigh in on the issue.
Discuss or Ponder: What are the effects of a voting system where 1/3 of a demographical voice has been systematically silenced?

GUNS AND PRISONS STEALING AMERICA'S FUTURE

The prison and gun industries have raked in billions of dollars this year -- all while our communities continue to be destroyed by their disastrous effects. Young men and women in and out of the prison system without a chance to succeed.
But these two issues continue to be ignored by the two people with the biggest platform to talk about and FIX them -- President Obama and Governor Romney. 

The number of prisoners in America has quadrupled since 1980. And we spend six times more on prisons than on higher education! Is that the kind of message we want to send to our children? That prisons, not children, are worth the investment? That just doesn't make sense!

We must tell America's next president to do something about guns and our mass incarcerations. Steel -- whether in the form of a gun or prison bars -- will never solve our problems. We need to face our problems and find common sense solutions now.

Next week, we'll deliver this petition to the two candidates before the debate in New York. We need your name so they know that Americans care about these issues that affect so many of our families.

If you or someone you know has been affected by gun violence or our mass incarceration system, sign this petition TODAY>

Let's give our children and families a better future, free from crime and free from profit-motivated imprisonment.

THREE STRIKES OF INJUSTICE

On Nov. 6, voters in California will decide whether to adopt Proposition 36, a ballot initiative that would reform the most draconian aspects of the law — and, in our view, restore the original intent of voters, which was to lock away violent career criminals for life, without unjustly throwing away the lives of small-time, nonviolent offenders like Mr. Taylor. Like most Californians, we believe that the punishment should fit the crime. We’re encouraged that polls show broad public support for the measure.

WATCH VIDEO>

PART 1: DeShonna Collier-Goubil - The Prison System and Equality

Video streaming by Ustream PART 1

PART2: DeShonna Collier-Goubil: The Prison System and Equality

Video streaming by Ustream PART 2