The first official trailer for Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story pulls back the curtain on the powerful six-part series slated to premiere on the Paramount Network on July 30 at 10 p.m. The first extended look at the docuseries, executive produced by JAY-Z (credited as Shawn Carter), opens with the 911 calls reporting the shooting of the 17 year-old by George Zimmerman.
With moving images of Martin’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, the minute-long preview traces the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement beginning with the unarmed teen’s shooting on Feb. 26, 2012, which galvanized a nationwide crusade that transformed Martin into the face of a social justice wave that continues to this day.
Zimmerman, who used Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law as justification for the shooting of the teen, claimed self-defense in the incident; he was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in July 2013. The trailer gives a glimpse at some of the massive protests that were sparked by the shooting and Zimmerman’s acquittal, with many of the marchers carrying signs depicting Martin’s face and the phrase “Justice for Trayvon.”
In addition to Martin’s parents, the doc will feature interviews with the family’s lawyer, Benjamin Crump, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Carmelo Anthony, Angela Davis and many others. The film is Jay’s second foray into telling a story about the impact of the modern criminal justice system on black youth, following in the footsteps of 2017’s Peabody Award-winning Spiek TV docuseries TIME: The Kalief Browder Story. That film followed the tale of the young black man from the Bronx who spent three years at Rikers Island Prison for allegedly stealing a backpack before his death by suicide at age 22.
Check out the trailer below.