It was just a few months ago when news of JAY Z signing a TV/Movie entertainment deal with the Weinstein Company. In doing so, several pitches were made to develop movies along with documentaries. Sean ‘JAY Z’ Carter has never shied away from voicing his opinion on issued stemming from exaggerated drug charges to unlawful convictions of the innocent.
In this case, the unlawful convicted is the Bronx teenager Kalief Browder. If the name is unfamiliar you’ll remember his name now. Kalief was the young gentlemen who at the age of 16 was held on Rikers Island for 3 years without being given a fair trial. A fair trial for a robbery charge he was imprisoned for without a proper conviction. Not only was he imprisoned for 3 years without conviction, Kalief was held in solitary confinement for 2 of those years.
Kalief Browder’s story has ignited wide-range activism and many seeking for reformation of the New York City justice system. What makes the situation that more eye-opening is the psychological impact the time behind bars had on Browder. At the young age of 22, he had a rough time adapting to society and took his own life.
You have to commend a man like JAY Z who is bringing such an “inhumane” situation to light and with many other using their voice and platforms to bring to light the serious issues going on, there is a lot of fighting left that we have to do but progress is slowly being made.
The six-part miniseries will air on SpikeTV starting this March.