
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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Adrian Marcel On Purpose, Sacrifice, And The 'Signs Of Life'
In this week's episode of xoMAN, host Kiara Walker talked with R&B artist Adrian Marcel, who opened up, full of heart and authenticity, about his personal evolution. He discussed his days transitioning from a young Bay Area singer on the come-up to becoming a grounded husband and father of four.
With honesty and introspection, Marcel reflected on how life, love, and loss have shaped the man he is today.
On ‘Life’s Subtle Signals’
Much of the conversation centered around purpose, sacrifice, and listening to life’s subtle signals. “I think that you really have to pay attention to the signs of life,” Marcel said. “Because as much as we need to make money, we are not necessarily on this Earth for that sole purpose, you know what I mean?” While he acknowledged his ambitions, adding, “that is not me saying at all I’m not trying to ball out,” he emphasized that fulfillment goes deeper.
“We are here to be happy. We are here [to] fulfill a purpose that we are put on here for.”
On Passion vs. Survival
Adrian spoke candidly about the tension between passion and survival, describing how hardship can sometimes point us away from misaligned paths. “If you find it’s constantly hurting you… that’s telling you something. That’s telling you that you’re going outside of your purpose.”
Marcel’s path hasn’t been without detours. A promising athlete in his youth, he recalled, “Early on in my career, I was still doing sports… I was good… I had a scholarship.” An injury changed everything. “My femur broke. Hence why I always say, you know, I’m gonna keep you hip like a femur.” After the injury, he pivoted to explore other careers, including teaching and corporate jobs.
“It just did not get me—even with any success that happened in anything—those times, back then, I was so unhappy. And you know, to a different degree. Like not just like, ‘I really want to be a singer so that’s why I’m unhappy.’ Nah, it was like, it was not fulfilling me in any form or fashion.”
On Connection Between Pursuing Music & Fatherhood
He recalled performing old-school songs at age 12 to impress girls, then his father challenged him: “You can lie to these girls all you want, but you're really just lying to yourself. You ain't growing.” That push led him to the piano—and eventually, to his truth. “Music is my love,” Marcel affirmed. “I wouldn’t be a happy husband if I was here trying to do anything else just to appease her [his wife].”
Want more real talk from xoMAN? Catch the full audio episodes every Tuesday on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and don’t miss the full video drops every Wednesday on YouTube. Hit follow, subscribe, and stay tapped in.
Featured image by xoNecole/YouTube
You Don’t Have To Choose: How Black Women Can Care For Others Without Self-Sacrifice
One of the primary instructions we receive before a flight takes off is to prioritize putting on your life vest first if there’s an emergency, even before assisting others. It’s funny how this rule rarely translates to the daily routine of women.
As women we are taught, directly and indirectly, to put others first. Whether it’s our romantic partners, kids, parents, friends, or even our jobs. Mental health survivor and founder of Sista Afya Community Care, Camesha Jones-Brandon is challenging that narrative by using her platform to advocate for Black women and their right to self-care.
Camesha created the organization after her struggles with mental health and the lack of community she experienced. The Chicago native explains how she created Sista Afya to be rooted in “culturally grounded care.”
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“So at my organization, Sista Afya Community Care, we focus on providing mental health care through a cultural and gender lens,” she tells xoNecole. “So when we think about the term intersectionality, coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, we think about the multiple identities that lead to certain experiences and outcomes as it relates to Black women.
“So in the context of culturally grounded care, being aware of the cultural history, the cultural values, and then also the current issues that impact mental health outcomes.”
Words like “strong” and “independent” have long been associated with Black women for some time and many of us have begun to embrace the soft life and are using rest as a form of resistance. However, some of us still struggle with putting ourselves first and overall shedding the tainted image of the “strong, Black woman” that had been forced on us.
Camesha shares that while there’s more and more communities being created around empowerment and shared interests like running, she still questions, “are Black women really comfortable with being vulnerable about sharing their experiences?”
Being vulnerable with ourselves and others play an important role in healing the instinctive nature of always being “on” for everyone. “I'm currently facilitating a group on high functioning depression, and yesterday, we talked about how when Black women may be struggling or have shared their concerns with other people. They may be minimized, or they're told to just be strong, or it's not so bad, or I went through something worse back in Jim Crow era, so you should be thankful,” she explains.
“So I think there's a challenge with Black women being able to be honest, to be vulnerable and to receive the support that they need in the same capacity as how much they give support to other people. So that is probably a very common theme. I think we've made a lot of progress when we talk about the superwoman syndrome, the mammy stereotype, the working hard stereotype, the nurturing stereotype. I think we're beginning to unpack those things, but I still see that we have definitely a long way to go in that area.”
I think there's a challenge with Black women being able to be honest, to be vulnerable and to receive the support that they need in the same capacity as how much they give support to other people.
Roman Samborskyi/ Shutterstock
While we’re unpacking those things, we know that we’re still women at the end of the day. So as we continue to serve in various roles like mothers, daughters, sisters, and caretakers, we have to make caring for ourselves a priority. Camesha reveals four ways we can still care for others without abandoning ourselves.
Trust
First things first, trust. Camesha explains, “Some of the burdens that Black women have can be linked to not feeling like you can trust people to carry the load with you.
“It's hard because people experience trauma or being let down or different experiences, but one of the things that I found personally is the more that I'm able to practice trust, the more I'm able to get my needs met. Then, to also show up as my best to care for other Black women.”
Know Your Limitations
Another thing Camesha highlighted is Black women knowing their limitations. “The other thing that I would like to bring up in terms of a way to care for yourself is to really know your limitations, or know how much you can give and what you need to receive,” she says.
“So often, what I see with Black women is giving, giving, giving, giving, giving to the point that you're not feeling well, and then not receiving what you need in return to be able to feel well and whole individually. So I really think it's important to know your limitations and know your capacity and to identify what it is that you need to be well.”
Don’t Take On A Lot Of Responsibilities
Next on the list is not taking on so many responsibilities, sharing herself as an example. “The other thing is taking on too much responsibility, especially in a time of vulnerability.
“One thing that I personally struggled with was being so passionate about community mental health for Black women, and saying yes to everything and taking on so much responsibility,” she reveals. “That affected me to do well in serving Black women and then also impacting my own well being.”
Practice Self-Care
Lastly, she notes the importance of practicing self-care. “The last thing is really practicing regular self care, regular community care, so that it's embedded into your daily life. So for me, having prepared meals, going to the gym, getting eight hours of sleep, spending time with friends and family, all of those things are part of my self care that keep me at my best,” she explains.
“Then community care, leaning into social networks or social groups, or spending time with other interests or hobbies. That's a part of my community care that keeps me going, so that I can take care of my needs, but also to be able to show up best in care for others.”
Find out more about Camesha and Sista Afya Community Care at communitycare.sistaafya.com.
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