Grady Bobbit will be traveling from Indiana to Belfast to share about the impacts of structural racism on his life and to seek support for his current documentary project, aimed to bring visibility to the impacts of mass incarceration, and to serve as part of a campaign to get him off of parole.

His talks will take place Monday, Sept. 15, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., at the UU Church in Belfast (37 Miller Street) and Wednesday, Sept. 17, from 6:30-8 p.m., at the Possibility Alliance (85 Edgecomb Road).

Bobbit grew up in the segregated south and moved to Indiana as a teenager. In his teens, he and his friends were arrested while robbing a pharmacy. When facing the all-white courtroom, Bobbit had flashbacks to his experience of being open fired on as a child while walking home from school the day Martin Luther King was assassinated. He was too frightened to speak, so he did not plead guilty. Bobbit was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. He went on to spend 46 years in prison, where he participated in a myriad of organizing efforts for prison reform, and mentored thousands of young men through the years.

News release footnotes from the church:

*If you're able to make both days, that would be ideal, as Wednesday will be a chance to deepen the conversation we begin together on Monday. If not, we'll be glad to see you either day.
*Wednesday will be around a fire, so bring warm clothing. We'll be in the yurt if it rains.
*You're invited to bring a contribution to support Grady's documentary project
 *For questions, call Ethan Hughes (207-338-5719) or email Jenna Knapp at jenna.e.knapp@gmail.com