by Sarah Burns (2011)
An in-depth account of one of New York City's most notorious crimes. On April 20, 1989, the body of a woman is discovered in Central Park, her skull badly smashed. Within days, five black and Latino teenagers confess to her rape and beating. The ensuing media frenzy and hysterical public reaction is extraordinary. The young men are tried and convicted as adults, despite the fact that the teens quickly recant their inconsistent and inaccurate confessions and that no tests or eyewitness accounts tie any of them to the victim. They serve their complete sentences before another man, serial rapist Matias Reyes, confesses to the crime and is connected to it by DNA testing. Intertwining the stories of these five young men, the police officers, the district attorneys, the victim, and Reyes, author Burns unravels the forces that made both the crime and its prosecution possible.--From publisher description.
H. Nigel Thomas
Lives: Whole and Otherwise is an essential work by H. Nigel Thomas (2010), examining critical themes of civil rights, racial justice, and human resilience. A cornerstone selection on the acclaimed #BlackLivesMatter reading list, it offers profound social commentary, historical resonance, and transformative insight.