The Central Park Five

On April 20th, 1989, two passersby discovered the body of the "Central Park jogger" crumpled in a ravine. She'd been raped and severely beaten. Within days five black and Latino teenagers were apprehended, all five confessing to the crime. The staggering torrent of media coverage that ensued, coupled with fierce public outcry, exposed the deep-seated race and class divisions in New York City at the time. The minors were tried and convicted as adults despite no evidence linking them to the victim. Over a decade later, when DNA tests connected serial rapist Matias Reyes to the crime, the government, law enforcement, social institutions and media of New York were exposed as having undermined the individuals they were designed to protect. Here, Sarah Burns recounts this historic case for the first time since the young men's convictions were overturned, telling, at last, the full story of one of New York's most legendary crimes. The events surrounding the Central Park Five are soon to be dramatised in When They See Us - a Netflix series directed by Ava Duvernay.

A patient, righteous documentary.

Préface
The Central Park Five holds a reflective mirror up to our present day, going back to another period of rampant race-baiting, racially motivated police misconduct and the point at which Donald Trump made his first foray into US politics. This book will make you question whether much has really changed in the past thirty years.

Auteur
Sarah Burns is a writer and documentary filmmaker who first wrote about the Central Park Five as an undergraduate at Yale University. Her films include The Central Park Five, which received many awards and honours, including a Peabody Award, Jackie Robinson, East Lake Meadows: A Public Housing Story, and an upcoming biography of Muhammad Ali for PBS. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Texte du rabat

The Central Park Five holds a reflective mirror up to our present day, going back to another period of rampant race-baiting, racially motivated police misconduct and the point at which Donald Trump made his first foray into US politics. This book will make you question whether much has really changed in the past thirty years.