DeKalb County NAACP hosts film screening fundraiser

The DeKalb County Branch of the NAACP is hosting a screening of the film “Just Mercy” as a fundraising event. In partnership with Compassionate Atlanta, the viewing will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10 at AMC North DeKalb 16, 2041 Lawrenceville Highway, Suite F-22 in Decatur.

A synopsis by Rotten Tomato describes the film as a thought-provoking true story that follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (played by Michael B. Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Stevenson had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley, played by Brie Larson.

One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian, played by Jamie Foxx, who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the only testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie. In the years that follow, Stevenson becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for McMillian, and others like him, with the odds-and the system-stacked against them.