Be The Voice...

On Friday I went to see "The Central Park 5", a documentary about the 1989 wrongful conviction,  coerced confession, media persecution and false imprisonment of five innocent Black and Puerto Rican boys for a brutal rape and near fatal assault of a female jogger in New York's Central Park. The real assailant came forth in 2002. Details of the assault and DNA confirmed his confession. Despite being exonerated and having their convictions vacated, the city of NY has yet to apologize or settle a civil lawsuit filed in 2003 on behalf of these young men who physically lost as much as 13 years of their life and so much more emotionally and personally. Family relationships were destroyed, parents endured sickness, even death and one of these boys was tried as an adult and sent to Riker's Island at the tender age of 16. One can only imagine the horror he endured. 

The documentary, which I am careful not to reference as a "movie", so not to suggest in any way that any part of the travesty depicted in the film is a fantasy, untrue or is not a reflection of what happens daily in court rooms and police interrogation rooms across America. Defendants, many of whom are minority, are coerced or intimidated into taking a plea for a crime they may not have committed or at least a crime for which there is insufficient evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Defendants lack the knowledge, the resources and/or the will to fight what has become a very broken legal system that seems less concerned with advancing fairness and justice as it is with advancing careers, personal agendas, notoriety, public opinion and media sound bites. 

These young and innocent boys were demonized in the press, accused of committing "the crime of the century". Their families were destroyed and they were robbed of youth, innocence and life experiences never to be restored. The documentary clearly identifies the cast of characters who orchestrated this atrocity against these boys, the gravity of which by the way, cumulatively is far worse than the crime for which they were accused, as none other than key members of public trust, the NYPD to include minority officers, members of the press for admittedly not doing their job, and Manhattan District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau and his two female assistants, Linda Fairstein and Elizabeth Lederer. That women and minorities can play roles in such atrocities is hurtful and deeply disturbing...

The documentary is highly emotional. In the dark theater one can hear the gasps and expressions of horror and disbelief or name calling at persons on the screen as the story unfolds, a few women even cried. The audience was so moved by the film that at its conclusion, they just sat there. Stoic. Only two persons exited the theater before the credits rolled. I was so moved and emotionally spent by the film and what I know to be true of the legal system that I made an impromptu plea to the other movie goers to not just walk out the theater as though they had just watched a film with an ending but instead to be moved to do something about what they just saw and realize that what happened to these boys is not an isolated incident but a daily occurrence for far too many in our society. A Friend shared that persons who make impromptu speeches in crowded theaters are either passionate or crazy. At times I am guilty of both. For this occasion however, I claim the former. Although unintentional, to unwind and to release my passion and overwhelming sense of helplessness on this evening, following the film I walked more than 40 blocks to catch the bus back to NJ, from the IFC Center on West 3^rd Street in Greenwich Village to the Port Authority at West 42^nd Street. Getting lost in thought, taking in fresh air and enjoying the splendor of Christmas sites and last minute shoppers along the way changed my mood and helped to relax me.

The film is playing in limited theaters around the country. During this holiday season, I strongly recommend that you not only go see the film but get involved and demand reform of our justice system and over crowded prisons that disproportionately affect minority and poor communities. If you are a New Yorker demand of Mayor Bloomberg and the courts that these young men be compensated for the blatant and irretrievable theft of their youth and their innocence.

Yours is the voice that can lead the change. Believe It…