Yusef Salaam, a member of the Exonerated Five, is reportedly one step closer to achieving his political goal of holding a seat on the New York City Council. Outlasting competition from Inez Dickens and Al Taylor, Salaam won the Democratic Primary and earned the party’s nomination as he aims to represent Council District 9 in Central Harlem on the New York City Council. The New York native will enter this November’s general election as the presumed favorite.
Salaam has devoted many of his campaign efforts toward promoting affordable housing, limiting gentrification and cutting down on poverty in Harlem. He stands apart from his peers as one of the faces of the Exonerated Five, a group of Black teenagers exonerated of a rape in Central Park they did not commit. The highly-publicized 1989 incident was brought back into the national conscience with Netflix’s limited series, When They See Us, in 2019.
“My victory signals that we have had enough,” the told PBS.
“The challenge, I think, is trying to really understand, how is it that, as a people, we can pay taxes, but yet we see no investment in our community? How can we pay taxes and we see no support, no services? We, in fact, see slashes to the educational budget and things of that nature.”
Salaam will have the opportunity to cross the finish line and earn a city council seat when the general election takes place on November 7, 2023.
