SWAMPSCOTT — The public library is continuing its “journey toward dismantling racism” launched in October into January with a Zoom discussion with racial justice advocate Sofia McDonald.
A fellow with the Alabama-based Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), McDonald will talk about her work fighting racial inequality during a Thursday, Jan. 7, 6 p.m. Zoom discussion.
Reference Librarian Janina Majeran said EJI was founded in 1989 by Bryan Stevenson, author of “Just Mercy,” which tells the story of Walter McMillian, a wrongfully-convicted Black man, who was placed on death row in Alabama. Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx starred in the 2019 movie of the same name, based on his book.
“It also tells the stories of countless others who have been illegally convicted and sentenced to life or the death penalty due to unfair trials and shoddy investigations. This was the beginning of EJI and the work they do to help those like Walter,” Majeran said.
The library and Swampscott, Unites, Respects, Embraces (SURE) teamed up in the fall to launch “One topic one town: A journey toward dismantling racism” focused on reading and discussion.
Majeran said McDonald will talk about how her work has grown to encompass police reform and legal work for equal justice during the discussion on Jan. 7.
A graduate of the New York University School of Law where she was in the Equal Justice and Capital Defender Clinic, McDonald worked for the Policing Project, and interned for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense Fund.
Before law school, she was a special education teacher in Chicago with Teach for America. She worked on the appeal of a client on death row in Alabama as a litigation associate at Ropes & Gray LLP prior to joining EJI in 2019.
The library urges people interested in hearing McDonald’s presentation and participating in a question and answer session to visit eji.org for more information and go to the
library’s website to register for the discussion. A Zoom link will be provided.
Local discussions on racial equality have evolved since George Floyd’s death by a police officer in Minneapolis in May.
Swampscott police and fire departments voted to leave the civil service public employee hiring system in November with backing from Town Meeting.
Black Lives Matter demonstrators have been a Thursday and weekend fixture at the beach end of Monument Avenue, typically with counter-protestors separated at a distance at the request of police.
One Topic One Town discussions organized by the library and SURE are covering five books, with “Just Mercy” the first one featured.
