A Conversation with Dr. Yusef Salaam, Member of the Exonerated Five

Event is free and open to the public. 

We are honored to welcome Dr. Yusef Salaam on February 3rd as the keynote speaker for Black History Month. Dr. Salaam, one of the Exonerated Five, actively works to advocate on issues of mass incarceration, police brutality and misconduct, false confessions, press ethics and bias, race and law, and the disparities in America’s criminal justice system, especially for young men of color. Since his release more than 20 years ago, Yusef has become a family man, father, poet, activist, and inspirational speaker. In 2016, Dr. Salaam received a lifetime achievement award from President Barack Obama. He was appointed to the board of the Innocence Project in 2018 and has released a Netflix Feature limited series called “When They See Us” based on the true story of the “Central Park Five” with Ava DuVernay, Oprah Winfrey and Robert Dinero, in May of 2019.

Co-sponsored by: Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs, Department for Afroamerican and African Studies, Prison Creative Arts Project, The Central Student Government, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan Law School, Department of American Culture, Office of Student Affairs, School of Education, Arab and Muslim American Studies (AMAS), Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Department of American Culture, Office of Multicultural Initiatives

• criminal justice
• diversity equity inclusion
• Yusef Salaam
• black history month
• innocence project