Arrested and held for three years without a trial.
After more than 30 court dates, the charges against him were dropped.
Jay-Z became an integral part of Kalief Browders story simply by telling it.
Jay-Z has put significant resources into the fight for criminal justice reform.Monica Schipper/WireImage
Tragically, Kalief Browder, besieged by trauma and depression, took his own life in 2015.
In 2017,Timewas given the prestigious Peabody Award for outstanding documentary filmmaking.
This was not a one-off.
Jays commitment to social justice continued beyond the Kalief Browder case.
Its effects were not difficult to identify.
In November 2017, the rapper Meek Mill was arrested in Manhattan for popping a wheelie on a motorcycle.
At its founding the organizing raised $50 million to support these efforts.
In stark language the ad demanded U.S. And yet your department refuses to act.
The damp conditions spawned toxic mold which in turn led to health problems among the men exposed to it.
The food served there was commonly contaminated with rat feces and roaches.
Parchman Prisons history is a microcosm of the American criminal justice system.
That history informs the present.
The images galvanized calls for reform in the system, but state officials continued to drag their feet.
Team Roc noted at the time that they were not taking our foot off the gas.
Criminal and Social Justice Essay by author Jelani Cobb forThe Book of HOV,published by Assouline.
