On Friday, January 10th, Compassionate Atlanta, along with the Love & Light Institute, hosted a fundraiser during a screening of the movie “Just Mercy” at the AMC North Dekalb 16. This movie portrays the early days of The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), which gives free legal representation to death row prisoners. The fundraiser contributed to Dekalb County’s Remembrance Project and the Fulton County Remembrance Coalition, two EJI initiated projects to make sure lynching victims are not forgotten.
The atmosphere created by the movie made people realize how important these remembrance projects are. Everyone in the theatre was glued to the screen. During some scenes everyone was clapping and cheering and laughing. In other scenes you could almost hear a pin drop. People were sniffling and very emotional. Jamie Foxx’s portrayal of Mr. McMillian was quite moving. During the end credits, there are photos of the real people from the real story. After the movie, Iyabo Onipede of Compassionate Atlanta spoke first, and then she handed the microphone off to the representatives of the two Remembrance Projects to share the mission of their groups work. On March 29th, Dekalb is unveiling a marker commemorating and memorializing the lives of Dekalb residents impacted by racial terrorism. Denitra Isler, one of the actors in the film also was present and spoke a little about how her personal experience. She said it was very meaningful to work alongside these amazing actors to tell this powerful story.
Jimmy Freels
Intern-Compassionate Atlanta
