Kalief Browder's Family Reflect On His Life And Legacy Ahead Of 'TIME: The Kalief Browder Story'

On May 15, 2010, sixteen-year-old Kalief Browder, a Bronx, New York resident was arrested while walking home from a party for allegedly stealing a backpack. Though he was never convicted of the crime, Browder would spend over the next one thousand days of his life locked away on Rikers Island, being beaten, starved and tortured. Browder spent eight hundred of those days in solitary confinement before he was finally released, with all charges dismissed, over three years later.

A victim of a broken justice system, which cares little for impoverished people of color, Browder was unable to escape the things that he saw and experienced while at Rikers. On June 6, 2015, at the age of twenty-two-years old, Browder hanged himself at his home. The day before, he told his mother, Vendica Browder, “Ma, I can’t take it anymore.”  At the time of his death, Browder’s story was making waves across the country. Now, with their compelling, six-part documentary event series, TIME: The Kalief Browder Story, Spike and The Weinstein Company are finally giving Browder the voice he so desperately wanted. This comprehensive look at his life, case, and incarceration at Rikers allows Browder the opportunity to speak for himself.

The evening before the series debut, ESSENCE caught up with Kalief Browder’s siblings: Nicole, Deion, Kamal and Akeem Browder, his lawyer Paul Prestia and filmmakers, Jenna Furst and Nick Sandow for a special screening and Q&A in New York City. Bronx City Council member Ritchie Torres moderated the panel.

Ritchie Torres: For the Browder family, can you give us a sense of who Kalief was as a person?

Nicole Browder: Kalief was a normal person like all of us. He was a happy kid, a silly kid; he was very smart. He always stood up for what was right. He was hardheaded and very playful. We picked on him a lot of the time because he was the youngest. Before he went to Rikers, he was a normal teenager getting to know who he was.

Deion Browder: One thing I will always remember about Kalief was how energetic he was. He was always into sports. He always wanted to try new things. He would do a lot of things to stand out as if to say, “Hey, I am here!” But, he was just a fun and energetic person, and he brought life to everyone around him.

Kamal Browder: He was always the competitive type. I brought a game called NBA 2K, and his team used to always be the Portland Trail Blazers. I don’t know how he found out who Clyde Drexler was, but he used to always call him Clyde the Glide, and he used to do insane dunks to make me mad.

Akeem Browder: Kalief was my younger brother, and you look to your younger siblings, and you want to protect them. He was just a kid. I mean no matter how old my younger brothers or my sister gets, they’re kids to me.

Continue reading on ESSENCE.com. 

Anthony Mackie, Jennifer Connelly & Paul Bettany Discuss Making 'Shelter' & the State of Homelessness in NYC

Earlier this week, New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton decided to share his personal remedy on conquering the astronomical homeless problem in New York City. Bratton said, “My best advice to the citizens of New York City: If this is so upsetting to you, don’t give. One of the quickest ways to get rid of them is not to give to them.”

Ambivalence and lack of compassion have helped foster the present state of homelessness not only across this country, but also around the globe. Though many of us pass by homeless people on a near daily basis, they often become invisible to us. Like a fire hydrant or some other sidewalk fixture, they are present but unseen. In his new film “Shelter” Director Paul Bettany gives voice to two homeless people that used to live outside of his apartment building.

Bettany recently sat down with the stars of “Shelter”, Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie, to discuss the state of homelessness in NYC, preparation for the film, and what they all learned from this eye-opening experience. Here are some of the highlights.

On The Global Homeless Crisis

Paul Bettany: It’s no coincidence that Tahir is an illegal immigrant and a Nigerian Muslim. Nobody was talking about Boko Haram that I knew of three years ago, no one was talking about the refugee crisis three years ago. I simply don’t understand the refugee crisis.  The history of humanity can be told through a story of migration and settlement. If I can’t protect my family, I’m coming to where you are; I’m just coming. It’s a round world, and we’ve all got to get on with it and move on. What frightens me is when you hear the rhetoric of  [Donald] Trump and then his ratings go up.

On Choosing To Highlight Certain Issues The Homeless Face

PB: Well first off, when I started writing the film it wasn’t about homelessness, it was about judgment. I feel like the world we live in seems to be full of an increasingly grey area, but the culture that we live in seems to be getting really entrenched in black and white positions, and I think it’s urgent to talk about that because it’s going to kill us all. Before it was about homelessness, I wanted the film to be a romance. I wanted it to be about two people who are unforgivable on paper, and then make you forgive them. My experience of people is that they are infinitely forgivable.

On The Homeless Couple That Inspired the Film

PB: Around the same time I wanted to make a film about judgment, Hurricane Sandy hit New York City.  Before the hurricane, a homeless couple lived outside my apartment building. They were a black man and a white woman, and I would see them everyday. My children would say hello to them, they would say hello to us and that was the extent of it. I’m ashamed to say that day by day, their poverty became more acceptable to me and they became invisible before they actually despaired. And then, Hurricane Sandy hit and I never saw them again. We were in mandatory evacuation of our area, and they used to live in this tiny little park. I noticed they seemed to complain a lot less about their circumstances than I did, and I admired that. When I didn’t see them anymore, I felt the instinct to write about them. However, I didn’t know who they were, so I thought it might be a very good way to discuss judgment, because I find that our response to homelessness really puzzlingly. It’s a peculiar response that people have.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Image: Shelter/Screen Media Fims