Just Mercy

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a premier of the movie, Just Mercy starring  Michael B Jordan and Jamie Fox. The event was sponsored by MMS Advocates and Corazon Kwamboka, Valentine’s Cake House, Anga Imax Cinemas and Vera Beauty College aimed to create a platform for lawyers and advocates to interact from all over Nairobi.

Here’s the trailer to give you an overview of the movie.

The movie is based in the United States and hits the nerve on matters race: How being born black in the US has condemned people to being guilty because of their skin color. It is based on a true story of prisoners, some innocent, condemned to execution without adequate representation.

Most times the race issue seems like a problem for the United States. I would argue it manifests in our societies in different shapes and forms. You could say tribalism or nepotism in Kenya. You could even go ahead and liken our legal system and it’s flaws to the injustices in the movie.

After watching this, I had to take a moment and reflect, why am I a lawyer?

I may not share the most conclusive answer here. What I would ask you the reader is, why do you pursue your vocation or profession?

In a country where our conscience seems gravely lacking, where we hide behind gadgets and throw insults at one another on Social platforms,  I really wonder whether we are true to ourselves. On some days I believe we are, when the circus of Social Platforms stops and we stand by a cause as Kenyans for the good of this country. Moments like those I will say I do see the power we have. Or rather, the acknowledgement that we have power and we refuse to ‘forget and move on’.

There’s a lot to be done. It’s argued the system is broken, the arms of government are not independent, businesses are doing terribly, the economy is stagnating if not get worse, healthcare is not affordable, there are no jobs and what have you.

We know the problems we have as a nation, we hear it everyday on the news. From this movie however, Michael B Jordan’s character decided to set up a legal clinic in a racist town with a broken judiciary and fought for the rights of people like him through legal aid. All the odds were against him. But he stood and did what was right by his people.

The question is, what will you do to make your country better?