This inspirational, yet emotional rollercoaster ride is the story of Yusef Salaam, one fifth of the Exonerated Five, formerly known as the Central Park Five. They were wrongfully accused of raping a Central Park jogger and sent to adult prison, as teenagers. He takes the readers on a journey that began with a spiritual foundation. It was that string foundation that sustained him during his imprisonment, being released and trying to acclimate back into society. He talks about being imprisoned at 16 and released at 23…still with the mind of a 16 year old. I learned about the effects of his conviction on his family, his personal relationships and later, reaching out and becoming a motivational speaker to young men who may endured some of the same.

an important and timely book which should be widely read. The subject is so important and the author writes so well.

Moving, positive, inspiring. A bit slow in some parts, but all in all a great read. The author assumes you know what happened (i.e the crime he was accused of) and does not include much detail about that. Assumed it was a conscious decision not to dwell on the crime and what he was wrongly accused of, and instead to focus on the positive and moving forward.

Better Not Bitter
By Dr.. Yusef Salaam
Published 5/18/2021 Grand Central Publishing

Best Memoir of 2021 5/5 *****
Thank you to #Netgalley and #Grand Central Pub for my ARC ! My thoughts are my own
Synopsis:
. No one's life is the sum of the worst things that happened to them, and during Yusef Salaam's seven years of wrongful incarceration as one of the Central Park Five, he grew from child to man, and gained a spiritual perspective on life. Yusef learned that we're all "born on purpose, with a purpose." Despite having confronted the racist heart of America while being "run over by the spiked wheels of injustice," Yusef channeled his energy and pain into something positive, not just for himself but for other marginalized people and communities.

Better Not Bitter is the first time that one of the now Exonerated Five is telling his individual story, in his own words. Yusef writes his narrative: growing up Black in central Harlem in the '80s, being raised by a strong, fierce mother and grandmother, his years of incarceration, his reentry, and exoneration. Yusef connects these stories to lessons and principles he learned that gave him the power to survive through the worst of life's experiences. He inspires readers to accept their own path, to understand their own sense of purpose. With his intimate personal insights, Yusef unpacks the systems built and designed for profit and the oppression of Black and Brown people. He inspires readers to channel their fury into action, and through the spiritual, to turn that anger and trauma into a constructive force that lives alongside accountability and mobilizes change.

This memoir is an inspiring story that grew out of one of the gravest miscarriages of justice, one that speaks to a moment in time in 1995 or the rage-filled present.

Review:
In 1989 Yusef Salaam was 15 years old.. At 15 he was arrested for a crime he didn't commit, was vilified in the press and on TV. The NY court system and American Justice system robbed him of his youth, a time when teens are going to prom, playing basketball and skateboarding in the park Yusef was robbed of these memories. Instead of sending the teens to juvenile detention, the state of NY sent the five to Riker's Island.
Dr. Salaam had every right to be angry, but the tone of this book is one of peaceful activism. To explain that our country needs a huge overhaul of not just judicial system, but the language of the Constitution that allows men and women to be enslaved under the 13th Amendment.. He explains past the point that " When They See Us" covers, he may have been released, he may have been exonerated of the crime, but the marks on the human spirit that was left was a battle , and his life did not just start over.
Dr. Yusef Salaam left prison his emotional spirit still that of a teen. This book outlines even though he was "free" it was a battle to survive, and thrive in a society that continues to punish men and women even after their debt is paid. There is no support system for those reentering society, and this account is a wake up call for all that will read, and take up the call of action. Without reform we are continuing to perpetuate the atrocities of our history, there must be change : from mental health services, job services, housing; without the essentials needed for coping to a new life , it will continue to be a vicious cycle. Dr. Salaam is using his story as Gods purpose for his life. , but we the reader must also take action, write your legislators about the need for change; so there is no more Central Park Five's, George Floyd, or Breonna Taylor's in this world. Change starts from policing practices, judicial overhaul, and no more prison's for profit. This book was published a year after the death of Ahmaud Arbery, and it was the same mentality that killed Maud that crucified Dr Salaam as a young man in the press. Let us consider all of this, why do we think it is more efficient use of funds to incarcerate a man for $200K a year when that same amount of funding could be put back into our impoverished communities? This book will bring you to tears , make you hug your children and call your legislative representative. It is 2021's must read memoir.

Yusef Salaam was only 15 years old in 1989 when he and four other children, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise, were falsely accused of the brutal rape of a Central Park jogger.

Salaam was incarcerated for seven years before being released and, even then, he returned to society as a parolee, not as someone deemed innocent. The Central Park Five did not become the Exonerated Five until their convictions were overturned in 2002, after Korey Wise encountered the actual rapist in prison and persuaded him to come forward.

Despite this horrific miscarriage of justice, Salaam's compelling memoir, Better, Not Bitter: Living on Purpose in the Pursuit of Racial Justice, is one of astounding warmth.

While Better, Not Bitter addresses the case and his time in prison, the story Salaam most wants to tell is "about the foundation laid by both [his] family and [his] faith, which ensured that [he] would not only survive this awful injustice but thrive in the midst of it." The cornerstone of that foundation is his "fierce mother who is incredibly loving and extremely protective of her children," he writes. The chapter he dedicates to her shows that she had been intent on "protect[ing] her family and her community" long before he was locked up. Her support is unending, and it's hard not to cheer at her ingenuity when she creates an organization that delivers periodic home-cooked meals to the young men in juvenile facilities.

His tragic circumstances notwithstanding, Salaam frequently writes of the many things he had to be grateful for, not the least of which was having "village of support surrounding [him] and infusing in [him] a confidence that would greatly serve [him] later." In addition to his mother, this village includes a sister who is his best friend and a brother who tries to physically restrain him when he makes the fateful decision to go to the police station and clear up the confusion about his involvement. It includes an aunt, uncle, and cousins who lived in the same building while he was growing up. It includes his adored brother from the Big Brothers program, whose job as a district attorney meant he could offer insight to the family during Salaam's arrest. The letters his grandmother mailed during his incarceration even served a kind of double duty. They were always addressed to "Master Yusef Salaam" to, he suspects, remind him who he was and because she "wanted the correctional officers to know who they were holding.... that there were people outside of the facility who loved and cherished" him.

Salaam's other unwavering source of support was his faith. From his earliest days of imprisonment, he sees indications of divine intervention. One corrections officer, after expressing his belief that Salaam doesn't belong there, asks him a question that leads Salaam on a journey to learn more about his faith, which ultimately results in his becoming an imam. Another corrections officer also perceives his innocence and leaves gifts of Tropicana orange juice and Entenmann's cookies on his bed to "make [his] time as easy and as sweet as possible." When he is moved into an adult facility, Muslim members of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army tell him "You are a political prisoner. You are safe." Such incidents lead Salaam to conclude these experiences are meant to help him grow into the person he is supposed to become.

At no point does he suggest his experience was easy, though. Soon after learning to play basketball and developing some skill in the sport, envious players target him, leading him to stop playing the fourth time his shoulder is pulled out of its socket. He was part of a group that had been turned into "poster children for Black deviance." A man who would later become the 45th president has his first foray into politics when he responds to the case with a full-page ad in The New York Times calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty. Pat Buchanan's political commentary at the time suggested, "If ... the eldest of that wolf pack were tried, convicted and hanged in Central Park by June 1; and the 13- and 14-year-olds were stripped, horse-whipped, and sent to prison, the park might soon be safe again for women." Even today, nearly two decades after his exoneration, Salaam finds himself telling his story in the third person as a way to detach from the pain.

Throughout, however, Salaam focuses on controlling the one thing in his power — his thoughts. That he would later go on to become a motivational speaker seems a natural outcome for someone who spent years mentally escaping his physical confinement and planning for a better future, believing that "just like a modern-day vision board, your mind becomes a place of liberation." Similar inspiration and encouragement are peppered throughout the memoir. He advises readers "to trust the journey" when they're in the midst of hardship and "to act as if your prayers have been answered." He encourages people to meditate and to find a way to document their desires.

Salaam is also clear in his belief that we must attend to the broader systemic story, as well. He posits that "linking the individual narrative with the collective one paints a clearer picture of what is actually happening to Black and Brown people in this country." He doesn't ignore the role of white supremacy in shaping the Black and Brown experience and makes it clear that "you can't talk about crime without talking about poverty, health disparities, and redlining."

This book should be read by anyone who wants to hear the story of the Exonerated Five directly from one of its members. Just as Ava Duvernay's renowned series about their story, When They See Us, serves as a powerful counter to the more than 400 articles written vilifying the teens in 1989, so does this book continue to illuminate just how wrong the American justice system can go. Salaam notes that the media "screamed about our guilt and whispered about our innocence." The better we know this story and stories like it, the better able we'll be to prevent them from recurring.

Stunning book that covers the complicated dynamic of race and the United States criminal justice system.

Review: Better, Not Bitter

This is such a powerful memoir.  As one of the Exonerated Five, Yusef Salaam points out that his life story doesn't begin with his imprisonment, nor does it end with his exoneration. He speaks eloquently about the many challenges he faced in society and the many barriers for men who have been convicted to be able to work and maintain families.

The memoir incorporates passages from the Bible and Qur'an as well as Yusef's original poetry. The writing shifts seamlessly between these verses, individual history, and broad discussion of the societal implications of our "criminal system of injustice." Yusef's photographs further add to the power of his story.

I found the most moving chapter to be the one he wrote for his mother. I can't possibly do it justice. His words deserve to be read in their entirety. So I will stop here by simply saying I highly recommend this book.

“Don’t promote yourself as a country of constitutionality and compassion if you honestly believe that putting people in prison and treating them like animals is justified. Stop all the hype that will live in a free democratic society. I used to ramble on about the same stuff. But now-are we really a country that believes in fairness and compassion? Are we really a country that treats people fairly?” -Bernard Kerik, From Jailer to Jailed

In 1989, Antron McCray, 15; Kevin Richardson, 14; Yusef Salaam, 15; Raymond Santana, 14; and Korey Wise, 16, were tried as adults under New York’s law— and convicted, for brutally attacking and rapping a female jogger in Central Park, despite inconsistent and coerced confessions, DNA evidence that excluded them, and no eyewitness accounts that connected them to the victim. In 2012, Matias Reyes, a convicted murderer and rapist, admitted that he alone was responsible for the attack on the Central Park jogger.

In his memoir, Yusef Salaam, of the Exonerated Five, tells his story of growing up Black in central Harlem in the '80s, being raised by a strong, fierce mother and grandmother, his years of incarceration, his reentry, and exoneration. This book is uplifting and inspiring, Salaam shares lessons and principles he learned that gave him the power to survive through the worst of life's experiences. When Netflix released, When They See Us, I refused to watch it because I know me and there was no way I could handle it, but I after reading this book feel that I’m better equipped to take on the emotional journey. Thank you Grand Central Publishing, for this gifted copy.