it's the ultimate communication. >> ♪ in america >> brown: from van nuys high school in los angeles, brown, for the pbs newshour. >> woodruff: finally, another in our "brief but spectacular" series. tonight, we hear from attorney bryan stevenson, executive director of the equal justice initiative. >> i was doing a hearing in the midwest. i had my suit and tie on, i was there early. it was the first time i'd been in that courtroom, and i sat down at defense counsel's table as i always do. and the judge walked in, and the judge said, "hey, hey, hey, you get back out there and you wait out there in the hallway, until your lawyer gets here. i don't want any defendant sitting in my courtroom without their lawyer." and i stood up and i said, "i'm sorry, your honor, i didn't introduce myself. my name is bryan stevenson. i am the lawyer." and the judge started laughing, and the prosecutor started laughing, and i made myself laugh because i didn't want to disadvantage my client. but afterwards, i was thinking, "what is it that when this judge saw a middle-aged black man, it didn't even occur