News

Kalief Browder, the teen who was jailed over allegations of a stolen bookbag and then retained and abused for two years at New York’s notorious Riker’s Island prison, has been awarded a $3.3M settlement, though he didn’t live to see it. Browder struggled to become whole after his ordeal, ultimately committing suicide at age 22 […]

If You Missed It

Have you ever been arrested by the police and charged with a crime you didn’t commit? I don’t mean pulled over for a speeding ticket. I don’t mean harassed or ridiculed. I don’t mean treated like a suspect. Those things are all terrible, but I’m asking, have you ever been arrested by the police, then […]

If You Missed It

New York City loves to brag about its liberal reputation. We have a progressive Mayor. Democrats absolutely dominate the City Council. The city is so firmly anti-Trump that it seems like he’s literally afraid to come home these days. We have a Democrat in the Governor’s Mansion. The state has a truly liberal Attorney General. […]

With an executive producer hand in the Spike documentary series on Kalief Browder and the upcoming project on Trayvon Martin, Jay-Z is calling on more producers, filmmakers and activists to turn a creative eye toward addressing socially issues that can spark activism. The rap mogul shared his call to action in a guest column for The Hollywood […]

News

Kalief Browder’s story is still one of the darkest tales in the history of the American prison system. After committing suicide at just 22 years old, the young man who served three years at Rikers Island (although he was never convicted), received a beautiful posthumous birthday gift this year. On Wednesday, officials announced that a Bronx […]

Little Known Black History Facts

Rikers Island, New York’s infamous jail,  has a reputation of violence, corruption and oppression. Recently, activists hoped to have the prison’s name changed have after historians linked the name Rikers to a Dutch family that participated in an illegal slavery scheme. Richard Riker, a descendant of Dutch immigrant Abraham Ryken, was reported to be a […]

Top News

New York City's mayor ignores prison reform activists and plans renovation of controversial prison complex.

If You Missed It

His death is on our hands. It was fully and completely preventable. It happened on our watch. We are all responsible. End of story. It’s not a conservative or liberal thing. It’s not a Republican or Democrat thing. It’s a New York thing. It’s an American thing. And this morning, I’m asking all of you […]

Entertainment

On any given day, there are many sad stories about young black men receiving prison sentences that they didn’t deserve and the horrifying conditions of the prisons where they are relegated to serve out their sentences. The saddest instance of this issue in recent memory, centers on the case of Bronx, New York teenager Kalief […]

By now you may know the story – Kalief Browder has become the primary example of the justice system’s punitive and unjust treatment of Blacks, especially Black males. At 16, Bronx native Browder was arrested on suspicion of stealing a backpack. He spent the next three years of his life in New York’s notorious Riker’s […]

Russ Parr Show Trending

  NEW YORK (AP) — Rap superstar Jay Z is helping shine a light on prison reform by co-producing an upcoming TV documentary about a young man who spent three years behind bars without trial for allegedly stealing a backpack. The rapper teamed up with Harvey Weinstein to produce the six-part “TIME: The Kalief Browder […]