On Sept. 29, Siena Heights had the honor of having author Bryan Stevenson speak at the Common Dialogue Day as our tradition over the years. In his speech, he spoke about creating justice.

“We live in a time when (the) threat and justice is dynamic,” he said. He said the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world. About 7 million of Americans have been arrested. And 31 percent of the black population in Alabama have lost the right to vote.

Stevenson is an award-winning author of the book “Just Mercy,” who won several awards in 2014, and founder and executive of the Equal Justice Initiative, a private-non-profit organization headquartered in Montgomery, Ala. Stevenson is also a law professor at the New York University School of Law.

Stevenson highlighted about his urge to go to law school, and the need that he had to do something about justice in his life. He spoke about a case he treated in the courtroom of a 14-year-old black boy who killed his mother’s boyfriend. He thought the man had killed his mother in a fight. He discussed other cases he had to deal with.

He said, “We have been infected by our history of racial equality. Terror has shaped our country. Our history for decades in this country is that we humiliate people. We can’t change the world without a commitment to stay hopeful; you have to be willing to do things that are uncomfortable.”

He said if we go to the places that people are suffering, places where there is trouble and despair, not only will you learn how to change some of these problems, but something about you will change. He said we need to look into problems closer and make a change.