Political candidate Yusef Salaam was one of five teenagers wrongly convicted of raping a white jogger in a brutal attack 34 years ago.
NEW YORK — Outside a Harlem subway station, Yusef Salaam, a candidate for New York City Council, hurriedly greeted voters streaming out along Malcolm X Boulevard. For some, no introductions were necessary. They knew his face, his name and his life story.
Salaam is one of three candidates in a competitive June 27 Democratic primary almost certain to decide who will represent a Harlem district unlikely to elect a Republican in November’s general election. With early voting already begun, he faces two seasoned political veterans: New York Assembly members Al Taylor, 65, and Inez Dickens, 73, who previously represented Harlem on the City Council.
Those pain points are many in a district that has some of the city’s most entrenched poverty and highest rent burdens. “But his is one of a thousand in this city that we are aware of,” Taylor added. “It’s the Black reality.”“As a Black man myself, I know exactly what’s at stake,” Gadson said. “I don’t think there’s anybody more passionate about challenging systemic issues on the local level in the name of justice because of what he went through,” he said of Salaam.
All three have received key endorsements. Black activist Cornel West has backed Salaam. Dickens has the backing of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and former New York U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel. Taylor is supported by the Carpenter’s Union.
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