To Jay Z, telling the Kalief Browder story is about more than one young man. The rap mogul says that the life of the teenager who was held at Rikers Island for three years without trial is the one of a “modern day prophet.”
In a press conference held yesterday (October 6) in New York about his Spike docuseries, Time: The Kalief Browder Story, Jay Z offers his solution to stopping police brutality in light of Browder’s fight for justice and that of so many who lost their lives at the hands of police, including Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and Terence Crutcher this summer.
“When you have compassion for what someone goes through — we’re all looking for a short embrace at time,” he said, according to The FADER‘s reporter who was in attendance. “Judgement is the enemy of compassion. When you are able to identify that…we’re all not perfect, we may make mistakes. All of us, every single one of us. 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 a relationship. There has to be respect on both sides.”
The Game and Snoop Dogg have attempted to lead the charge in improving race relatons in the country. The upcoming generation, including Vic Mensa and Ty Dolla $ign, is bringing its own voice to the table in how to bring peace to the United States.
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Hov cites Browder, who committed suicide last year at the age of 22 after being released from legal custody, as evidence of the larger issue at hand.
“This young man just by the fact that he brought all of us here today lets you know how powerful of a soul he was,” Jay Z continues at the press conference. “… He’s here today and he’s done more in 19 years than what a lot of us will do in a lifetime.”
