During the 2021 National Celebration of Pro Bono, October 24-30, 2021, the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service encourages programs to sponsor a book club for your members and volunteers and invites all programs to highlight “A Knock at Midnight.”

On October 27, 2021 at 4:00 PM ET/3:00 PM CT, the Committee is hosting a complimentary webinar discussion with David Bienvenu, Chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service conducting an interview with Brittany Barnett, author of A Knock at Midnight during the National Celebration of Pro Bono.

A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom  by Brittany K. Barnett.  

Amazon Description: Brittany K. Barnett was only a law student when she came across the case that would change her life forever—that of Sharanda Jones, single mother, business owner, and, like Brittany, Black daughter of the rural South.

A victim of America’s devastating war on drugs, Sharanda had been torn away from her young daughter and was serving a life sentence without parole—for a first-time drug offense. In Sharanda, Brittany saw haunting echoes of her own life, as the daughter of a formerly incarcerated mother. As she studied this case, a system came into focus in which widespread racial injustice forms the core of America’s addiction to incarceration.

Moved by Sharanda’s plight, Brittany set to work to gain her freedom.  This had never been the plan. Bright and ambitious, Brittany was a successful accountant on her way to a high-powered future in corporate law. But Sharanda’s case opened the door to a harrowing journey through the criminal justice system.

By day she moved billion-dollar deals, and by night she worked pro bono to free clients in near hopeless legal battles. Ultimately, her path transformed her understanding of injustice in the courts, of genius languishing behind bars, and the very definition of freedom itself.  Brittany’s riveting memoir is at once a coming-of-age story and a powerful evocation of what it takes to bring hope and justice to a system built to resist them both.

We hope you will join us for this exciting event. Please share this information with your members and followers, all are welcome.