‘Just Mercy’ free to rent to raise awareness of systemic racism

As protests continue in the U.S. and in cities around the world over the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, many are looking for further avenues to educate themselves on the effects of systemic racism. In response, Microsoft has made the 2019 film “Just Mercy,” which chronicles the true story of Walter McMillian, a black man who was wrongfully convicted of the murder of an 18-year-old girl in Alabama in 1987.

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Just Mercy stars Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, and Brie Larsen. From the film’s description:

A powerful and thoughtprovoking true story, “Just Mercy” follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan 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 (Larson). One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (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, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds—and the system—stacked against them.

Just Mercy is vailable to rent for free for 25 more days at the time of this writing.

Microsoft has also sidelined promotional tweets among its various Twitter accounts to honor George Floyd’s memory this past week. Insteand, the company has used its platform to “amplify voices from the Black and African American community at Microsoft.”

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