When They See Us: 5 Things You Didn't Know About The Central Park Five
Nearly 30 years ago, five teens from New York were convicted of a crime that would ultimately rewrite the narrative of black youth in America and paint a horrific picture of how black Americans are mistreated by police and the criminal justice system as a whole.
The late-eighties were a tumultuous time for race relations in this country where everything was seen in black and white. This was made abundantly clear after a 28-year-old white woman was found bloody, beaten, raped, and left for dead one night in Central Park, making teen in the area a suspect. After a night of subpar police work, detectives had five black and brown boys in custody for a crime that we would later learn they did not commit.
After garnering a whole gang of false confessions and literally no substantial evidence, five boys, aged 13-16 were convicted of rape, robbery, attempted murder, and sexual abuse, and were sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
Ava Duvernay's four-part Netflix series When They See Us tells the story of these young boys and their families who fought for justice and were ultimately cleared of all charges. Since the limited series was released, the world has reacted in a major way, even causing lead prosecutor on the case, Linda Fairstein to delete her social media pages. If you haven't seen it yet, it's time to hit up your ex for that Netflix password, sis, because this series offers vital information that we can all learn from when it comes to protecting ourselves in this country. Here's a few things you might not have known about the case:
Donald Trump Helped Create The Narrative
Netflix
Racism. Injustice. Corruption. It's only right that 45 take his rightful place in this history of f*ckery. Donnie was making problematic political moves way back in 1989, when he paid for full page ads in New York newspapers (totaling about $85,000) that called for the five boys to face the death penalty after their convictions.
Even after the victims were cleared and the real perpetrator was convicted, he stood strong on his belief that the five men were guilty and refused to issue any form of apology.
It's Been A Hard Week Linda Fairstein, And It's Only Monday
Listen, Linda. You know you done f*cked up, right? While I'm sure her original intentions were as pure as any white woman with undeniable racial bias, Linda Fairstein is a true example of the type of people we DO NOT need in our criminal justice system.
Her willingness to demonize and take the lives away from five young boys based on a whim was criminal and according to Black Twitter, we're not opposed to street justice via social media. Since the documentary aired, the former prosecutor has deleted all of her social media accounts and a petition has been created that calls for Amazon, Audible, and all other book retailers to remove all of her books from their platforms.
The Central Park 5 Asked Ava To Tell Their Story
After the debut of Ava Duvernay's film, Selma, in 2015, everyone was dying to know what Ava had up her sleeve next, including Raymond Santana, who reached out to the popular director via tweet. After a brief exchange via DM, Ava put her thinking cap on and got to work.
"I found myself at a dinner in Harlem with Kevin [Richardson], Yusef [Salaam], and Raymond. It was very powerful to have them all together. The thing that really struck me is no one's ever heard their story beyond 'the crime,' or the night itself. The documentary does a beautiful job of recounting that night, but when I sat with them and they told me about everything else, that was really fascinating."
Two years later, the series was announced and the boys would finally have a chance to tell their story in its entirety. Although there had been a wildly popular PBS documentary that shed light on their experience, they expressed that no one had ever told their story beyond their alleged crimes.
Ava told Vanity Fair that although she was honored to tell their story, it wasn't easy and she even provided a crisis counselor on set.
"It wasn't a very healthy thing to do. But they asked me to do it, and I wanted to tell their story. Their story wasn't told when they were boys. It was told for them and it was twisted and it was lies. There was so much more to it, and I wanted to tell it for them."
The Real Reason The Last Episode Is Dedicated To Korey Wise
When creating the limited series, Korey expressed that his experience was much different from the Central Park Five, because as the oldest of the group, he was treated much differently both before and after his conviction. Ava explained that because of this, she wanted to make sure that she told his story much differently.
"When I first met Korey, within 15 minutes he said, 'There is no Central Park Five, it's four plus one.' And I never forgot that. He looked me in the eyes and he said, 'They had an experience and I had an experience. They are not the same.' He had some pain and some anger about being lumped into the Central Park Five when the four were in juvenile hall detention."
Korey, who only went to jail to accompany a scared friend, wasn't even on the list of suspects but was eventually coerced into a false confession on-camera that would eventually seal his fate at Riker's Island and other maximum security prisons for the next 14 years. His time in prison would ultimately allow him to uncover the true culprit in the Central Park jogger case, but nothing could give back to him the last decade and a half that had been spent in solitary confinement.
"They eventually all went to adult prison, but they got out when he was continuing to serve time. And he was always in an adult prison; he never experienced juvenile detention. Going into Riker's at age 16, as you see in the piece, it made a very singular experience. And I wanted to honor that, so I knew I had to find a way to break him out."
New York Never Admitted Any Wrongdoing
Netflix
A true sign of maturity is being able to admit when you're wrong, so we're going to need the New York Police Department to put on their big girl panties and apologize. Like our current POTUS, the NYPD proved to be sore losers after the convictions of the Central Park Five were overturned and vacated.
While the city settled the case, offering the men a total of $41 million, they admitted to no wrongdoing. Ava told NPR:
"The city never apologized; they settled. No one on the side of the prosecution ever apologized. They've stuck by the fact that even though the real man came out and said: I did it, I did it alone. Even though all of that physical evidence was from him, was matched to the victim, and it was in fact him, and only him, these people still refuse to acknowledge that they — not made a mistake — lied. Lied."
When They See Us is now streaming on Netflix.
Featured image courtesy of Netflix.
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Taylor "Pretty" Honore is a spiritually centered and equally provocative rapper from Baton Rouge, Louisiana with a love for people and storytelling. You can probably find me planting herbs in your local community garden, blasting "Back That Thang Up" from my mini speaker. Let's get to know each other: @prettyhonore.
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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Crystal Renay Is Prioritizing Healing, Her Kids, And Her Coins Amid Divorce
Crystal Renay is reclaiming her time and her identity after dealing with heartbreak. The model was married to Ne-Yo for seven years and they share three young children together. However, after a cheating scandal that resulted in a baby outside of their relationship, Crystal decided to end her marriage to the “So Sick” singer. Now, she is focusing on her bag and her kids. She is co-owner of Johnny’s Chicken and Waffles, launching a lip kit line, and is back on TV starring in the new WE TV reality series Bold & Bougie.
But it wasn’t an easy road, especially with reality TV. From the beginning, Crystal and her castmates bumped heads due to misconceptions and alliances with her ex-husband’s former partner, Monyetta Shaw. However, the mother of three exclusively tells xoNecole that she doesn’t regret her decision to join the show.
Crystal Renay
Photo courtesy
“Honestly, being in that space, we had a– you know, when you're first getting to know people, sometimes it can be smooth, and sometimes it can be rocky,” she says. “In our case, it was a little bit rocky and just getting to know each other, and I like to call it growing pains. And I felt like we had a couple of moments, but all in all, like the experience was really good for me, and I would do it over again.”
Crystal describes herself as “career-oriented” and says she is in her selfish season because she is now prioritizing herself first. But she admits that she is still healing from her divorce. The reality TV star shares some tips for others who may be going through the same thing.
“I would definitely say pray, pray as much as you can. Try to take your emotions out of your reactions to things because it’s always going to be something that you don't like in the situation,” she says. “But we can't move off of emotion because 10 times out of 10, a few months later, you're not going to feel like that. So, I'm a firm believer in not doing things that I will regret later. So I would just say be patient with yourself and stay positive.”
While there may be an opportunity to find love again, that’s not Crystal’s focus at the moment. She is in the rebuilding phase of her life, emphasizing the importance of self-care, personal growth, and finding her own happiness. She has had her share of challenges, including dealing with negative emotions and the public's perception of her, but her priorities involve spending quality time with her children and running lucrative businesses.
“I would definitely say pray, pray as much as you can. Try to take your emotions out of your reactions to things because it’s always going to be something that you don't like in the situation.”
“With my kids, I'm very hands-on. I’m team mother with soccer kids, and they don't really make no goals because they like five years old, but I'm there cheering them on every week,” she jokes. “I want to travel, especially this summer, with my kids and take them somewhere internationally because they're at the age where they can handle a long flight. So, me just spending more time and more new experiences with my kids is my main focus with them and showing them all the love that I could possibly give them.”
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Photo courtesy of Crystal Renay