![]() The four-part series follows the teenagers from their arrests through their prison terms and reentry to their official exoneration in 2002. Academy Award-nominated director Ava DuVernay has dramatized the case of five young teenagers of color who were falsely convicted of beating and raping Trisha Meili, a white female jogger in the park – convictions that hinged decisively on confessions they made to police in the hours after the attack, confessions the men contend were coerced. He was back in April 1989, his senior year of high school and the year when the so-called Central Park Five case made national headlines. He knew it wouldn’t be a happy story, but when he finally hit play and the first beats of Special Ed’s rap “I Got It Made” raised the curtain on the hit Netflix miniseries, he couldn’t help but start nodding along. When the drama “When They See Us” first came out last month, James Peterson had been afraid to watch it. The show illustrates flaws that could be fixed with legislation and rule changes, says John Raphling, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. “That’s only going to happen,” he says, “as people understand how the system really works.” The demand for consequences for prosecutors and detectives involved in the case has already resulted in a loss of livelihood in some instances. “When They See Us” can’t have that kind of impact, as the men are already exonerated, and the result seems to have been more muddled targets for viewer outrage. Similar series and documentaries have led to new charges or reexamination of convictions. ![]() The four-part program follows the teenagers known as the Central Park Five from their arrests through their prison terms to their official exoneration in 2002. It has continued to attract plaudits and criticism and has spurred a public backlash against investigators and prosecutors involved in the 1989 rape case. It is also the latest in a steady stream of documentaries and drama series exploring flaws in the American criminal justice system. “When They See Us” was the most-watched show on Netflix for seven days following its release at the end of May. And that takes a lot of work. Today’s lead story, as arduous as it was, is an attempt to do that – to understand an important part of America just a little bit better, to help open the door to progress for all. Finding answers will be impossible without understanding those deeper forces. The roots of violence everywhere are as much mental as political, influenced by culture and values. But that same rule applies to all regions – in the U.S. To ensure he got the story right, Patrik went back a second time. What we found was a portrait not of policies or legislative bills, but of an underlying mental landscape and how that has led to higher rates of violence. Why?In traveling to Nashville, Tennessee, and Alexander City, Alabama, Noah Robertson and Patrik Jonsson sought to show different faces of violence in the South, in large cities and rural hamlets, without falling into stereotypes or shallow narratives. And within these trends, one sticks out for its clarity and constancy: The American South has dramatically higher levels of violence. There is no single “gun violence problem” in the United States, but different challenges in different places. Rather, it is a product of the subject: the roots of violence. American conversations about gun violence – particularly mass shootings – often revolve around gun laws and mental health.But the closer we looked, the more we saw something else. Today’s lead article was not one of those stories. That’s not criticism. An idea emerges, and with a minimum of fuss, it is done. When They See Us premieres on Friday, May 31, on Netflix.Ĭandice Marie Benbow is a journalist and theologian who writes about black women’s faith and culture.Sometimes, a story comes together with kinetic beauty. I hope they see that our love is strong enough to change history and that we are also worthy of attention.” ![]() And so Blake hopes When They See Us offers this message to black women: “I hope that black moms will see that Ava is thinking about them and that they matter. Despite her son’s insistence that she should skip a visit to have a day for herself, her commitment to him never wavered. Before her recent passing, on March 22, 2019, Linda told Blake she never missed an opportunity to visit her son, even while caring for her ailing husband and mother. When When They See Us premieres, it will be bittersweet for Blake, who wishes Linda could have gotten the chance to see the care with which DuVernay told her story. “It was the mothers, the sisters, the aunties, the girlfriends, maybe even the teachers who knew these young men for who they actually were, not what the police or the prosecutors or the media were saying about them.” ![]() “It wasn’t just the boys who were affected by this,” Reid says.
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