Annual Juneteenth Ally Award BBQ Lunch

The Center for the Healing of Racism Presents

The 22nd Annual Juneteenth Ally Award Bar-B-Que Luncheon THE COLOR OF FORGIVENESS When: June 18, 2016 Where: 1800 Sul Ross, Pecore Hall Time: 12:00 PM RSVP by calling: 713-520-8226 or Emailing: [email protected]

Donation: $50.00

Meet Yusef Salaam, 2016 Ally Award Recipient On April 19, 1989, a young woman in the prime of her life was brutally raped and left for dead in one of New York Cityís most iconic spaces, Central Park. Five teens from Harlem – four black and one Latino – were tried and convicted of the crime, the accused teens became known collectively as the “Central Park Five.”  One of those boys, Yusef Salaam, was just 15-years-old when his life was upended and changed forever. In 2002, after the Central Park Five spent between seven and 13 years of their lives behind bars, the sentences of the boys-now men-were overturned.

Yusef eagerly shares his story with others. In speaking out against injustice, he conveys the importance of continuing oneís educationówhether formal or otherwise. He also touches on the effects of incarceration and the disenfranchisement of economically disadvantaged people and its overwhelming effects on both their families and the community at large. Yusef also advocates for drastic policy changes relating to the prison industrial complex. He is a firm proponent of video surveillance in all police interactions with so-called suspects, banning solitary confinement for juveniles and staunchly opposes capital punishment.