On King national holiday, Salaam tells audience of 'comeback power'

Yusef Salaam had already been in prison for five years when he was asked a question he didn't expect: Who are you?

Salaam replied that he was one of five teens accused and convicted of raping a woman. "But I didn't do it," he said. That prompted another exchange Salaam didn't expect. "He said, 'I know that. I've been watching you,'" Salaam recalled.

Salaam would spend several more years in prison before DNA evidence and a confession from a convicted rapist were introduced and the sentences of the Central Park Five were exonerated. 

Salaam's speech highlighted events on campus January 20, the first day of Grand Valley's Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Week. His presentation in the Fieldhouse drew a packed audience.

He talked about having "comeback power," and told the audience everyone is born with a purpose.

"I went to jail and came out with a college degree. I was in the belly of the beast and I still made something of myself," he said. "Now is the time for us to realize our greatness. I know that we were born with a purpose."

Like King, Salaam encouraged audience members to be active in their communities and speak up when injustice is at the forefront.

"Our task isn't necessarily to complete everything that we need to do. But our task is to participate in the process," he said.

Events on campus to commemorate the legacy of King continue Wednesday, January 22, with a workshop and presentation by Cedric Taylor, associate professor of sociology at Central Michigan University. View details at gvsu.edu/mlk.