GREENFIELD — Hancock County’s community reading campaign focused on the book “Just Mercy” culminates tonight (Thursday, May 6) with a screening of the movie based on the book, followed by a panel discussion.
The event starts at 6 p.m. at the Ricks Centre for the Arts, 122 W. Main St. The panel discussion will begin after the movie, at about 8:30 p.m. Admission is $5.
The book, by Bryan Stevenson, an Alabama lawyer who founded the Equal Justice Institute, focuses on racial inequities in the justice system. The movie was released in 2019 and stars Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx.
The League of Women Voters Hancock County and the Hancock County Public Library joined to put on the community reading effort to spark discussion about racism in the aftermath of last summer’s protests after the death of George Floyd. About 400 copies of the book were circulated throughout the county, and readers were invited to leave it in a prominent spot after finishing it so others could pick it up.
People unable to attend both the movie and the panel discussion are welcome to attend either.
Panelists will include: Hancock County Prosecutor Brent Eaton; Mike Cunigan, a retired police officer and former city councilman from Muncie, who is Black; and the Rev. Patty Franklin of the Evangel Church of Greenfield, a Black minister and peace advocate.
The discussion will be moderated by Erin Kelly, program director of The Polis Center at IUPUI.
