Yusef Salaam

In 1989, five boys who would come to be known as "The Central Park Five" were accused of rape, imprisoned and incarcerated until a serial rapist confessed to the assault years later. Yusef Salaam was one of those five boys. Nearly seven years passed before he was exonerated, but he was left to live with the weight of an accusation that cost him his childhood and left him to figure out how to move forward. For Salaam, that included going to school, becoming an author, and, as of November's elections, becoming a New York City councilmember. His story is one of redemption, survival and justice -- paralleling his activism, criminal justice reform work and rehabilitation efforts for the formerly incarcerated.