On Wednesday (May 10), the A&E Network premiered a trailer for an upcoming documentary titled Exposing Parchman. As explained in the video’s description, the film — which is also produced by Roc Nation, Good Caper Content, and Red Summer — will put a spotlight on both the notorious Parchman Farm prison complex and Mississippi’s correctional system as a whole. “The film tells the inside stories of the families, the legal team, and Roc Nation across three years of legal battles to end the deadly conditions for those incarcerated at Parchman,” the message reads.
Among the many speaking out in the clip are JAY-Z and Yo Gotti, both of whom have been champions in the national campaign for prison reform. As previously reported by REVOLT, the hip hop moguls and Team Roc filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi Department of Corrections after claiming inmates died due to “years of severe understaffing and neglect.” In January of this year, the lawsuit was dropped after Parchman appeared to show improvement within its facilities.
“We are pleased with the changes made to date and the improvements in the day-to-day lives of the guys inside,” said attorney Jordan Siev, who worked with Team Roc during the legal battle. “But we’re also cognizant of the fact that Parchman has had a long history of lawsuits, improvements, and then backsliding conditions.”
Exposing Parchman was first announced in 2022 as a four-part docuseries. In a statement provided during that time, Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez further expressed the importance of bringing awareness to the crisis at hand. “In 2020, Roc Nation and Team Roc launched a fight to put a stop to the literal death sentences imposed on inmates through the inhumane, violent, and torturous conditions created by Parchman prison officials,” she said. “We are honored to… make sure the atrocities and history of Parchman are top of mind on a national stage.”
Check out the aforementioned trailer below. Exposing Parchman officially lands on A&E June 17.