A VIP screening of the new documentary titled “The Power of the Pen,” about the passing of Georgia House Bill 479 and its relation to the Ahmaud Arbery case, will be held on Tuesday, April 19 at 6:30 p.m. This event will be inside the Torian Auditorium in the College of Business Administration, Howard Jordan building and is free and open to the public.  

The documentary is presented by Savannah State University (SSU), the SSU Student Government Association, and the Gilliard Foundation. It was written and narrated by Ga. State Rep. Carl Gilliard and edited by Kareem McMichael, online content manager in SSU’s department of Journalism and Mass Communications.

During the 2021 legislative session, Rep. Carl Gilliard of Garden City co-sponsored House Bill 479, an updated version of his original House Bill 45, to repeal Georgia’s citizen’s arrest law. On May 10, 2021, Governor Brian Kemp signed the bill into law. “In 1863, the law was made right after the Reconstruction Era to essentially lynch people legally,” said Gilliard. “I decided to use the power of legislation to find a way to do something about this law.”

The changes prevent citizens from being able to make arrests and overhauls the previous law from 1863. State Rep. Gillard says this bill likely played a large role in convicting the men charged with killing Arbery.

The documentary features Tracy Rookard, Ga. State Rep. Roger Bruce, New York Senator Michael Gianaris, S.C. State Rep. Wendel Gilliard, and Attorney Max Hess.