State Champ Radio Yusef Salaam
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The NYPD is under fire after a traffic stop of City Councilman Yusef Salaam, with observers noting it as more inducement for police transparency.
Last Friday (January 25), City Councilman Yusef Salaam was driving through Harlem with his wife and children when an NYPD officer pulled him over. In a statement, Salaam said that as the officer approached, he told him that he was a city council member; Salaam had been listening to a call with his fellow members during the drive. “I introduced myself as Councilman Yusef Salaam and subsequently asked the officer why I was pulled over. Instead of answering my question, the officer stated, ‘We’re done here,’ and proceeded to walk away,” the statement continued. Salaam concluded by stating he wasn’t given a reason for the stop.
The NYPD would release the body camera footage of the incident, saying: “As the video shows, throughout the interaction, the officer conducted himself professionally and respectfully.” When asked about the reason for the stop, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Information Tarik Sheppard claimed that he was unsure if Salaam asked the officer the reason for the stop, but said that the report disclosed that the reason was that Salaam’s vehicle had an out-of-state license plate and illegally tinted windows. Mayor Eric Adams defended the stop saying it was a “picture-perfect example” of a professional police response.
Councilman Salaam, who was one of the Exonerated Central Park Five spending up to a decade wrongfully imprisoned, still maintained that he was not notified then of the reasons for the stop and cited that as a reason why he and his colleagues have heavily advocated for a new police transparency bill opposed by Mayor Adams. He declined to join a ride-along scheduled by the mayor, who claims the new bill’s guidelines would cause more work for officers. Other Council members who are more conservative such as Robert Holden blasted Salaam for announcing his position during the stop, accusing him of “using his official title to evade the law.”
However, Salaam was defended by others in the Council including Sandy Nurse, who overheard the interaction on the call. “He’s a dark-skinned Black man who went through a very traumatic thing as a child,” she said. “I think it would only make sense for him to identify himself, as someone who has lived his experience, to an officer — why wouldn’t he make that clear?”
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Photo: Getty
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The Democratic Party saw some huge wins nationally on election night, with Black candidates including Yusef Salaam factoring in as part of the success.
Defying predictions from various pundits, voters around the country turned out to choose Democratic candidates and policies in major battleground states on Tuesday(November 7), turning back Republican efforts in Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia. In three of those races, Black candidates stood out, making significant history with their wins.
In New York City, Dr. Yusef Salaam was elected to the City Council, representing a district in upper Harlem after winning his primary election in a landslide and running unopposed on election night. A member of the Exonerated “Central Park” Five, Salaam along with four other Black and Latino teens were charged and wrongly convicted of beating and raping a white jogger in 1989. The Democratic politician spoke about how the experience of serving 7 years before his conviction was thrown out in 2002 “guides me and informs me and allows me to be a humble servant for the people.”
Another historic victory featuring a Black candidate came to fruition in Philadelphia as Democrat Cherelle Parker became the city’s first-ever woman mayor, soundly defeating Republican challenger David Oh. Parker’s win continues the streak of Democratic leadership in the city in the position since 1952 as she becomes its 100th mayor. The former Philadelphia City Council member ran on a platform of reinforcing public safety. “I’m uniquely prepared to make the city the safest, cleanest, greenest big city in the nation with access to economic opportunity for all,” she said during her campaign.
In another landmark moment, Gabriel Amo won his special election to become the first Black person to represent the state of Rhode Island in Congress. His robust victory over Republican Gerry Leonard earned him the seat vacated by former Representative David Cicciline. The son of Ghanaian immigrants, Amo previously served as deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Biden and Obama presidential administrations. He recognized the impact of his win in speaking to the press afterward. “I certainly believe I am part of a generational shift that has been underway before me,” Amo said.
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of the Exonerated Five has been declared the winner of his New York City Council election, capping off a surging campaign.
On Wednesday (July 5th), the city’s Board of Elections released the results of its completed ranked-choice voting tally which began after general voting ended last Tuesday. The tally showed that Salaam won 64 percent of the vote, an overwhelming amount compared to the 36 percent of the vote for the veteran state assembly member Inez Dickens. Another state assembly member, Al Taylor, was eliminated in the third round of the voting count.
“This is a victory for justice, dignity, and decency for the Harlem community we love,” Mr. Salaam said in a statement after the results were posted. “It’s a victory in support of not turning our backs on those in need, for saying we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers and for saying the only way for all of us to thrive is to believe in the promise we all have.”
Salaam’s win assures him of a seat on the City Council, replacing incumbent Kristin Richardson Jordan. The politician, whose democratic socialist policies brought her high scrutiny, dropped out in mid-May. Dickens, who represented the district for years before taking an assembly seat, had received far more institutional support for her campaign, even getting the only endorsement in the primary election season from Mayor Eric Adams.
The 49-year-old New York native spoke out about his experience being one of five Black and Brown teens wrongly convicted in the assault and rape of a woman jogger in Central Park in 1989. The case grabbed national attention, with future former President Donald Trump excoriating the teens asking for the death penalty to be given to the teens. Salaam would be released in 1997 and the Exonerated Five would be cleared of wrongdoing in 2002 after DNA tests confirmed another man was the assailant.
Salaam is expected to pursue moderate agenda plans during his time in office, focusing on issues of the lack of social services and affordable housing. “The problem that we are experiencing in Harlem right now is that we are being pushed out,” Mr. Salaam said to the New York Times. “They’re saying that we’re leaving, but the truth of the matter is that we are being priced out and therefore we are being pushed out.”
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Yusef Salaam, a member of the Exonerated Five, won his primary election to the New York City Council in a strong fashion.
As the results of the Democratic primary for the City Council’s 9th District came in at 11 P.M. on Tuesday night (June 27th), the 49-year-old author and justice activist was leading state Assembly members Inez Dickens and Al Taylor with more than 50% of the vote. Dickens and Taylor netted 25% and 15% of that vote, respectively. Kristin Richardson Jordan, the incumbent who dropped out of the race unexpectedly but was still on the ballot, came in last but earned 10% of the vote.
Salaam gathered with his supporters at Harlem Tavern, entering to raucous applause. In a speech he gave to the crowd which was covered by Jeff Coltin of City & State NY, he said: “What has happened on this campaign has restored my faith in knowing that I was born for this. I am not a seasoned politician. So therefore this was not politics as usual.”
In being one of the five Black and brown teens – the others being Antron McCay, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise – falsely accused and convicted of assaulting and raping Trisha Melli in 1989, Salaam’s experience served as fuel for his life as a justice advocate after he and the others were exonerated after another man confessed to the crime. That story drew many in the Harlem district to back his campaign. The win guarantees that Salaam will serve on the City Council for two two-year terms, as there is no Republican candidate slated for the district.
He referenced that situation and the 1989 newspaper advertisement by Donald Trump calling for the death penalty in their case, although he deigned to call out the former president by name. “This campaign has been about those who have been counted out, those who have been forgotten,” Salaam said in his speech. “I am here because, Harlem, you believed in me.”
There was the possibility of Salaam potentially going through a second round of counting votes due to New York’s ranked-choice voting system, but the lead that he holds makes it mathematically impossible for Dickens and Taylor to overcome. The 73-year-old Dickens, who scored the only endorsement by Mayor Eric Adams in any City Council election this primary, reportedly called Salaam to concede later that evening.
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