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10 L Salute to Black History Month features Equal Justice Initiative founder "L ORD, PLANT MY FEET ON HIGHER GROUND." e soulful refrain of a man bound in shackles and chains in a Georgia prison inspired Bryan Stevenson's calling, a life dedicated to helping the poor. Fresh out of college and a student at Harvard Law School, Stevenson was working with a group that advised and assisted death row inmates. Stevenson's quiet message to the prisoner – "You're not at risk of execution at any time in the next 12 months" – forever changed both of their lives. His early experiences working with impoverished and unjustly incarcerated prisoners fueled the young attorney's desire to take action and, in 1995, Stevenson created the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) in Montgomery. e mission of EJI is cemented in Stevenson's continuing resolve to eliminate exces- sive and unfair sentencing, exonerate the innocent on death row and aid children prosecuted as adults. In honor of Black History Month, the Alabama Power Foundation on Feb. 25 led a salute to Stevenson, EJI executive director and winner of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship and reebok Human rights Award. More than 100 civic, community and business leaders attended Stevenson's talk, "Making History Now: e Next Generation of African-Americans Making a Difference," in the company auditorium. During the hour-long Power of Leadership program on income inequality and incarceration, Stevenson Bryan Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative in 1995. Bryan Stevenson shares his calling, a life dedicated to helping the poor. S T O R Y B Y D O N N A C O P E P H O T O S B Y J O E D E S C I O S E