Opportunities for Care, Repair, and Equity: Discovering Music in Research on Racial Injustice

This presentation is rooted in Bryan Stevenson’s work with the Equal Justice Initiative for truth and reconciliation around the legacy of slavery. On September 12, 2017, Stevenson visited Nebraska Wesleyan University and presented four practices from his book Just Mercy: 1) get proximate to the problem, closer to groups and people who are suffering and neglected in their suffering, 2) change narratives that sustain inequality, 3) stay hopeful, because hopelessness is the enemy of justice, and 4) be willing to do uncomfortable things. Stevenson’s presentation inspired me to undertake sustained research and teaching on racial justice. My work was informed by several visits to the EJI’s sites, including the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and attendance at the EJI’s Classical Music Convenings in 2023 and 2024. This presentation documents ways in which music was key to racialized dehumanization, torture, and even death—a striking, unexpected discovery…