‘When They See Us’: A Must See Miniseries

When They See Us…so hard to watch yet so necessary.

When I saw the trailer for the Ava Duvernay directed Netflix miniseries a month ago, I couldn’t wait to watch it. I had never heard of the Central Park 5 before then and found myself diving in to articles about what happened on the night of April 19, 1989 that impacted the lives of 5 brown boys in a way they would’ve never imagined. April 19, 1989. That date is now forever drilled into my brain. At 12 am on May 31st, I began watching When They See Us and dove into a whirlwind of emotions.

There are so many words to describe this 4 part miniseries. Powerful. Heartbreaking. Compelling. Resilience. Racism. Anger. Fear. Oppression. Knowledge.

It made me feel so many things. I was drawn in immediately. However, I didn’t think I would make it through part one. After the first 20 minutes, I was on the edge of my seat, frustrated and scared for those five young, INNOCENT, boys. Disgusted and angry at the cops, the detectives and most importantly, the system. Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise, 14, 15, and 16 years olds, were convicted for brutal crimes they did not commit and lost their youth because of it.

The actors and actresses were phenomenal. An all-star cast with rookies such as, Asante Blackk (who plays young Kevin Richardson) , Ethan Herisse (who plays young Yusef Salaam) and then we have Niecey Nash, Michael K. Williams, and John Leguizamon who play parents of the Exonerated Five.

We see the lives of the teenagers leading up to and following their convictions but we also see life after getting out of prison and the struggle with starting over in a system that doesn’t make it easy. I was blown away by ALL of the performances by the boys and men who portrayed these brave men but Jharrel Jerome…WOW.  I absolutely loved him in Moonlight but his portrayal as both the teenage and adult Khorey Wise was outstanding and moving. I felt him. I felt for him. They tried to break him over and over again but he survived.

A personal takeaway for this series is I think about what I would have done if I were Kevin’s older sister and if I would’ve signed his written confession because all he wanted was to go home. Just seeing the various family dynamics and the limited resources is what really hurts me for the families being in that situation.

30 years later and this still could be anyone of us.