On Thursday, Jay Z and The Weinstein Company held a press conference to announce their upcoming television documentary series set to air in January on Spike TV. The series is about Kalief Browder, a 16-year-old who was imprisoned for three years at Rikers Island without conviction or a set date for trial.
Two years after his 2013 release, Browder took his own life. The six-part documentary series will chronicle Browder's time at Riker's Island and experience in solitary confinement while also examining America's broken criminal justice system.
During the press conference, Jay Z responded to questions about criminal justice reform and police brutality in addition to inquiries about the new series.
According to Fader, a CNN reporter asked for Jay's opinion on how to "[stop] police brutality against African-American men." Jay Z responded by calling for "trust on both sides" and compassion. He also shared his view on body cameras, stating that "having the camera on someone creates more distrust."
When you have compassion for what someone goes through—we're all looking for a short embrace at time. Judgment is the enemy of compassion. When you are able to identify that…we’re all not perfect, we may make mistakes... When you have compassion for what someone’s going through and their plight, my personal belief, having the camera on someone creates more distrust. When we have an exchange and it has to be recorded, something’s wrong there, something’s broken. A camera can’t fix a relationship between a person that’s hired to protect and serve and society... There has to be respect on both sides.
Later in the conference, Jay was asked which presidential candidate he felt would most effectively continue President Obama's criminal justice reforms. He chose not to endorse either candidate by name, stressing that "it's not a political issue. It's a human issue."
