Jay Z Promotes ‘TIME: The Kalief Browder Story,’ Gets 1.7 Million Facebook Views [Video]

Shawn “Jay Z” Carter is making waves on social media with a preview of his newly produced documentary. In conjunction with Weinstein Television and Spike TV, Jay Z has announced the release of the six-part documentary titled TIME: The Kalief Browder Story. The buzz about The Kalief Browder Story began months ago when Jay Z held a press conference at The Roxy Hotel Cinema on Thursday, October 6, in New York.

However, now that the Jay Z Facebook page posted a preview clip of TIME: The Kalief Browder Story, along with a description of the docuseries, the buzz is going viral.

“TIME: The Kalief Browder Story Trailer: Watch the trailer for TIME: The Kalief Browder Story, a 6-part series that will change the way we look at our criminal justice system. Premieres March 1, at 10PM ET on Spike. #KaliefBrowder“

With more than 1.7 million views on Jay Z’s Facebook post alone as of this writing, the video brings light to the plight of Browder, a 22-year-old from the Bronx who spent three years in jail as a teen with no trial. According to Rolling Stone, Kalief experienced the torture of two years spent in solitary confinement; all due to charges that accused Browder of stealing a backpack. It’s a crime that Kalief continually denied committing. In spite of the charges that stemmed from a phone call to police about “black guys” who stole the victim’s bag, the false charge against Browder forced Kalief to suffer through 31 hearings that resulted in no convictions. Browder endured the brutality of the hardened Rikers Island prison, an experience that placed such psychological trauma upon Kalief that Browder committed suicide in 2015.

As seen in the above photo, family and friends attended Kalief’s funeral on Tuesday, June 16, 2015. The funeral was held in the Bronx borough, after Browder hung himself inside the home of his mother on Saturday, June 6, 2015. Kalief’s plight was brought into focus when The New Yorker profiled the tragic case of Browder, which shows up in Google with the title Three Years on Rikers Without Trial. That profile gained attention and showed the world the treatment Kalief had received ever since the night shortly before Browder’s 17th birthday when Browder was coming home from a party with friends, and he was accused of stealing a backpack. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Browder’s story influenced Rikers Island reform and helped change the city’s criminal justice system.

Now that Jay Z is bringing his star power to shed even more light on the tragic case with Time: The Kalief Browder Story, which will begin airing March 1, at 10 p.m. ET on Spike, more folks will learn of Kalief’s story. On social media, folks are reacting to the docuseries months before it airs.

As seen in the below photo, Harvey Weinstein sat next to Jay Z during the press conference that announced the collaboration of Weinstein Television and Spike TV to promote the TIME: The Kalief Browder Story.

A sampling of the comments flowing into social media regarding Kalief’s story can be read below.

Louella Meadows Reynolds: “This young man committed suicide shortly after his release from prison. This should be an excellent doc. I have followed this story for a long time.”

Carrie Shineman: “I have followed it too Louella. This boy was brutalized in prison, beaten, denied a speedy trial and forgotten. This is a disgrace, and the reason I support the ‘take a knee’ statement during the National Anthem the athletes have received such bad press for. This young man was denied every right Americans have been promised. My heart is breaking for his family, and America in general.”

[Featured Image by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP Images]