Season 1: The Story of Willie Mays Aikens and Mandatory Minimums

A power hitter and superstar for the Kansas City Royals in the early 1980’s, Aikens career was derailed by a debilitating addiction to drugs. Arrested at a time when the U.S. had instituted harsh mandatory minimum sentences as a weapon in the on-going war on drugs, a policy that inequitably targeted people of color, Willie found himself sentenced, on a non-violent drug conviction, to twenty years in federal prison.

Sometimes it Rains uses Willie’s journey to explore the history of America’s war on drugs, mass incarceration and the impact it has had on communities of color.

At its heart, this story is about one man’s journey through baseball stardom, to rock bottom, and finally… redemption.