She Rules For Justice

AVA DUVERNAY knows how to tell a story like few others. And when she does, it’s not only clear what happened but what needs to happen still. Now, in a groundbreaking series, she’s telling the story of the Central Park Five.

- Alex Bhattacharji

It’s reasonable to wonder, amid our degrading civic discourse, whether Twitter is anything more than a toxic pool full of trolls. If you follow Ava DuVernay, who is as fearless in 280 characters as she is in person, it’s also reasonable to believe the social media platform can be a catalyst for positive change. The 46-year-old filmmaker has tweeted 40,000 times too—as she does in her films—decry injustice, amplify the voices of underrepresented members of society, and incite activism. In using her voice to raise awareness and funds for issues dear to her, she has also raised her profile, amassing more than 2 million followers, likely the most of any female or African-American director. DuVernay has another reason to believe in Twitter’s power to connect: her devastatingly powerful new project, the Netflix limited series When They See Us, which was born out of an unexpected tweet. Four years ago, tucked amid the likes and atta girls in her feed, DuVernay found a tweet directed at her that read: what’s your next film gonna be on? #thecentralparkfive #cp5 #centralpark5 maybe???? #wishfulthinking #fingerscrossed. The Hail Mary–like missive came from Raymond Santana Jr., who had been one of the five New York City teens falsely accused in 1989 and convicted in the Central Park Jogger case. DuVernay knew the story, perhaps the most widely publicized and racially charged case of the 1980s: black and Latino teens from Harlem strong-armed by the police into giving false confessions, found guilty despite major inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case and a lack of any physical evidence or witnesses, and demonized in media coverage that made the case a national story. She messaged Santana to suggest they meet for dinner. As she says with a sly chuckle, “I slipped into his DMs.”