‘He Wanted Us Dead’: ‘The Exonerated Five’ Speak Out Against Trump During Democratic National Convention Performance – Essence

Members of the “Central Park Five,” now often called the “Exonerated Five,” spoke on the Democratic National Convention on Thursday to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid.

Yosef Salaam, Korey Wise, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson and Antron McCray were wrongly convicted of rape and assault as teenagers in 1989. The case became a flashpoint within the racist atmosphere in New York on the time, fanned in no small part by Donald Trump, who took out full-page ads in several newspapers, including the NY Times, calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty for the boys, who were then between 14 and 16 years old, a move that every one but sealed their fate within the court of public opinion.

“Thirty-five years ago, my friends and I were in prison for a crime we didn’t commit. Our youth was stolen from us,” Wise said on stage. “Every day we walked into the courtroom, people were yelling at us, threatening us, because of Donald Trump.”

“Vice President Harris also worked to make things more fair. I know she will do the same as president,” Wise added. Years later, their convictions were overturned when one other man confessed to the crime and DNA evidence confirmed his guilt. But Trump has never apologized for his actions.

Salaam, now a New York City councilman, said: “45 wanted us to die. He wanted us to die,” he said. “He rejects the scientific evidence rather than admit he was wrong. He has never changed. And he never will.”

Salaam invoked the words of Martin Luther King Jr., the identical words he uttered after being released from seven years in prison: “Free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.” He expressed hope that those words could possibly be echoed by thousands and thousands of Americans if Kamala Harris defeats Trump within the upcoming election.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, founding father of the National Action Network and a longtime civil rights leader, gave the boys a private reflection on his many years-long relationship with Trump. Sharpton, who has feuded with Trump for years, delivered a devastating critique of the previous president’s character and motivations.

“Only once in that time has he taken a stand on race,” Sharpton said, referring to Trump’s infamous ads. “He spent a small fortune on full-page ads calling for the execution of five innocent teenagers.”

Sharpton’s indictment of Trump didn’t end there. He underscored Trump’s ongoing pattern of self-enrichment and divisive rhetoric, referring to his refusal to apologize for claiming that migrants hold “black jobs” during a recent debate. “Well, in November, we’re going to show him when black people do their jobs. And we’re going to join white people, brown people, and Asian people in doing the work for those who did the work for us.”

As Sharpton turned his attention to Kamala Harris, he invoked the legacy of Shirley Chisholm, the primary black woman elected to Congress and the primary woman to hunt the Democratic presidential nomination. “Fifty-two years after she was told to sit down, I know she’s watching us tonight as a black woman stands to accept the nomination for president of the United States,” he said, his words a poignant reminder of how far the nation has come — and the way far it still has to go.

Sharpton’s message was clear: The fight for justice, equality and dignity continues, and it’s a fight that can not be abandoned. “We have fought too hard to have to leave the kitchen,” he said. “We are now heading to the Oval Office. We will not back down.”

His rallying cry went beyond gender. “We fought hard to get our LGBTQ loved ones out of the closet, and we will not back down,” he continued. “We fought hard for the right to choose, the right to an education. We suffered, we died, we bled, we went to jail for the right to vote, and we will not back down.”