We have just returned from a week of shooting in Mississippi for the Mississippi Center for Justice.  I first became familiar with MCJ’s innovative and energized style of lawyering while collaborating with them on Katrina recovery in the months after the storm.  I was part of a team at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law that helped MCJ respond to the needs of tens of thousands of low and moderate income Katrina victims, and to navigate the tangle of cruelty and incompetence that defined – and still defines – the government’s response to Katrina.

This time around, we were engaged in the ambitious task of helping MCJ do two things at once: integrate video into their advocacy around some key issues and create media to help them promote their work.

We focused on three key issues, all of which are related: payday lending (with up to 578% interest rates!), abuses by public housing authorities, and Katrina recovery.  We will be posting separately on each of these issues in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, here are a few photos from the week of us shooting, with our brilliant and tireless producer, Christie Herring.