Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Yusef Salaam - Poet and activist

Sarah Montague talks to Yusef Salaam, wrongfully convicted for rape and assault as a young man in New York. Can racial injustice in the US criminal system be tackled?

Yusef Salaam was just 16 when he and four other black and Latino teenagers were wrongly convicted of the rape and assault of a woman jogging in New York's Central Park. Even before their trial the then property tycoon Donald Trump took out newspaper ads calling for the death penalty. The five served out their sentences before being exonerated when another man admitted to the crime. Yusef Salaam says their case is the story of the criminal system of injustice in America. But as anti-racism protests continue, and fears of worse unrest to come, is the chance of real change even more remote than in the America of his youth?

24 minutes

Credit

Role Contributor
Presenter Sarah Montague

Broadcasts