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Justice and Justice Doc, “Walk a Mile in Their Shoes,” Playing Today in Verona

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Marie and Johnny Justice

“If we could take at least one hour to give back to the community, we’d have plenty of hands out in the community,” said Johnny Justice, co-founder of Justice and Justice Productions.

The documentary Walk a Mile in Their Shoes is one of the ways Johnny and his wife, Marie Justice, are doing just that.

The film focuses on individual narratives from marginalized individuals living in Madison. The individuals that were interviewed describe their stories and their daily problems that are often overlooked. One of the individuals is a Native American gentleman who grew up in a white foster home and lost his identity as a result. He talks about the spiritual journey he went on to find out who he is and where he came from. Some of the other narratives include a black felon, a transgender woman, an undocumented immigrant, and a man who was previously homeless.

The idea for this documentary comes from a previous project with the Intentionally Welcoming Communities program, a nonprofit organization that built a team to engage diverse communities in mutual support and to enhance the resiliency of local communities to respond collectively and effectively during stressful times.

“We really want to show people that these people aren’t just numbers, statistics. These are actual human beings who are marginalized and struggling,” said Marie Justice.

It was also important to make sure that we focused on Madison because people always believe that this problem isn’t happening in their own backyards. We want to make a point and make sure everybody sees all these different existences going on in our city, Johnny Justice added.

Marie and Johnny Justice want the film to give a voice to people society typical forgets about, and to spark difficult conversations within the Madison community to begin the framework to create real change.

“Our goal is that it changes people’s minds and ignites them to be a part of the change, to contribute something to their communities,” Marite Justice said. “If you spend on hour a week doing something to contribute to our community, it’s going to make a difference. So our hope is to inspire people to want to be a part of the solution.”

A screening will take place on Saturday, April 8th at 1 pm at the Farley Center for Peace and Justice in Verona at 1 p.m. A Q&A session with Johnny and Marie will follow the screening. A $10 donation is requested.