Ava DuVernay’s Central Park Five series for Netflix is one of the year’s most anticipated, so it’s fortunate for us that we won’t have to wait long. Today a teaser for the star-studded four-part series has been revealed, along with its official title, When They See Us, and a release date of May 31st.
The story of the Central Park Five remains an ugly example of this country’s history of racial injustice in the legal system. In April 1989 five men; Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise, all minorities, were accused of the brutal rape of a white woman in Central Park. Dubbed by the press as the “Central Park Five”, they were quickly railroaded and convicted of the crime which they did not commit. The series will follow the men from 1989 through 2002 when the charges were vacated, and then to 2014 after a settlement with the city.
Portraying the five young men are Jovan Adepo, Jharrel Jerome, Chris Chalk, Justin Cunningham, and Freddy Miyares, while the rest of the ensemble includes Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga, John Leguizamo, Niecy Nash, Kylie Bunbury, Felicity Huffman, Adepero Oduye, Storm Reid, Blair Underwood, and Famke Janssen. DuVernay directed all four episodes and co-wrote each with Attica Locke, Robin Swicord, and Michael Starrbury.
Hopefully straps the President down and forces him to watch this, as well. Trump infamously took out a full page ad calling for the men to receive the death penalty, and in 2014, long after they had been found to be innocent, doubled-down on his claim that they were guilty. Gee, I wonder why.
Check out the synopsis and teaser below: Based on a true story that gripped the country, When They See Us will chronicle the notorious case of five teenagers of color, labeled the Central Park Five, who were convicted of a rape they did not commit. The four-part limited series will focus on the five teenagers from Harlem — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise. Beginning in the spring of 1989, when the teenagers were first questioned about the incident, the series will span 25 years, highlighting their exoneration in 2002 and the settlement reached with the city of New York in 2014.