When They See Us is not mere blaxploitation television. Neither is it another documentary that impartially shows the flaws of criminal justice system in America. It is a 4-part film recreating the case of the boys previously known as the Central Park Five. They were wrongfully accused and sent to prisons and juvenile detention centers for the sexual assault of a female jogger in 1989 in NYC.
This interview, (When They See Us Now) presented by Oprah, is a great opportunity to prove how important it is that black creators work in the film industry telling our community stories. It invites the writer and director of the film, Ava DuVernay, the producers, the actors, and the men now known as The Exonerated Five: Kevin, Antron, Raymond, Yussef and Korey. While the 5 men are kind and brave enough to share the difficulties, trauma, resilience and redemption they all faced having lived a tremendous injustice and then being set free, the cast and crew of the film remind us how powerful the art of storytelling can be to create empathy and raise awareness. They tell us how they used their experience and their platform to achieve turning a real story of tragedy and overcoming caused by racism, a broken criminal justice system and mass incarceration into a form of art that draws attention to humanity, family, hopes, dreams, fear and subjectivity of people of color in America. Not only did they put together a beautiful piece of television; it is a call to action for us to become a better society.
