The watershed moment which made me realize I HAD to become a writer was the trial of the Central Park Five. These boys were railroaded by a system which fed on the myth of the dangerous Black boogeyman. Sadly they were trapped by the perfect storm of corrupt policemen, inept prosecutors and complicit press agents.
Award winning filmmaker Ken Burns tells the story of the Central Park Five from their perspectives as they encounter the hell of the American criminal justice system for a crime they didn’t commit yet would still serve the full sentences for irreversibly changing their lives forever.
The Central Park Five was me and my brothers, or some other group of young Black teenagers who had to take the weight of the whole New York City piled on top of their shoulders. They are still standing. The Central Park Five are my heroes.
Real powerful subject matter, as well as infuriating.
I have issues with Ken Burns as filmmaker (“Jazz” was often far more milquetoast than it should have been) but major props to him taking on this almost certainly unpopular subject…
DP & Foster, related, take a week or two and read T.J. English’s book “The Savage City”–
http://www.amazon.com/The-Savage-City-Murder-Generation/dp/B005Q5OXIY
It isn’t going to make anyone “happy” but it might just help (further) focus how all of us spend our time remaining.
Ken Burns is a Vermont resident so I’m always proud to see his projects coming out. I’ve only seen a couple of his documentaries but I commend him for tackling some of the greatest stories in American history.
i have to see this. thanks for the good post.
Cant wait to see this
I have to see what kind of spin they put on this…..bad kids, good kids, bad cops, good cops….I’ll hold my judgement off until then because I lived through this type of bullshit (still do) and I hope they jack up the facts to make a ‘good movie’……..