Better, Not Bitter: Living on Purpose in the Pursuit of Racial Justice
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-19 05:19:03
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Yusef Salaam
- ISBN：1538705001
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Summary
This inspirational memoir serves as a call to action from prison reform activist Yusef Salaam， of the Exonerated Five， that will inspire us all to turn our stories into tools for change in the pursuit of racial justice。
They didn't know who they had。
So begins Yusef Salaam telling his story。 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 not only speaks to a moment in time or the rage-filled present， but reflects a 400-year history of a nation's inability to be held accountable for its sins。 Yusef Salaam's message is vital for our times， a motivating resource for enacting change。 Better， Not Bitter has the power to soothe， inspire and transform。 It is a galvanizing call to action。
They didn't know who they had。
So begins Yusef Salaam telling his story。 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 not only speaks to a moment in time or the rage-filled present， but reflects a 400-year history of a nation's inability to be held accountable for its sins。 Yusef Salaam's message is vital for our times， a motivating resource for enacting change。 Better， Not Bitter has the power to soothe， inspire and transform。 It is a galvanizing call to action。
Reviews
Morgan Marie
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“Knowing the collective narrative is important。 Knowing the story of the individual is transformative。” Thank you @grandcentralpub for this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review！ 📚💕An extremely impactful， powerful， and educational memoir written by Yusef Salaam， one of the Exonerated Five from the Central Park jogger case of 1989。 I was hooked right away， from the title of the introduction “Born on Purpose， with a Purpose” all the way to the very last word。His story is infuriating， and as “Knowing the collective narrative is important。 Knowing the story of the individual is transformative。” Thank you @grandcentralpub for this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review！ 📚💕An extremely impactful， powerful， and educational memoir written by Yusef Salaam， one of the Exonerated Five from the Central Park jogger case of 1989。 I was hooked right away， from the title of the introduction “Born on Purpose， with a Purpose” all the way to the very last word。His story is infuriating， and as discussed many times throughout the book， all too common。 Mass incarceration and disparities in the US justice system disproportionally affect men of color， shown in Yusef’s case and so many others。 Yusef Salaam not only shared his incredibly unjust， inhumane， and harrowing story to make it more well-known， but also to give people hope in their own lives。 He credits his feelings of forgiveness， hope， and lack of bitterness to his strong Islamic faith。 I cannot recommend this book enough！！！！ If you watched “When They See Us” on Netflix， which I absolutely recommend watching if you have not， definitely read this。 Yusef even focuses on the Netflix series in one of his chapters and explains how powerful it is for his story and healing。Synopsis:Yusef Salaam shares his story of being incarcerated for seven years for a crime he did not commit。 Yusef gives credit to his faith， art， mother， family， and friends for getting him through the most challenging and infuriating years of his life。 He exposes the unjust and racist parts of the criminal justice system， while offering hope for a better future。 。。。more
Cat G | _basicbookworm
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This is one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read and it will definitely stick with me for a long time。 If you aren’t familiar with Yusef Salaam， he is one of the exonerated five， five teenagers who were wrongfully accused and sentenced of a rape in Central Park in the 90s。 Here， Yusef shares his individual story of his experience and it is so powerful。 His faith and his motivation to use his experiences to teach others and advocate for change is inspiring。 His story will probably be eye-opening fo This is one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read and it will definitely stick with me for a long time。 If you aren’t familiar with Yusef Salaam， he is one of the exonerated five， five teenagers who were wrongfully accused and sentenced of a rape in Central Park in the 90s。 Here， Yusef shares his individual story of his experience and it is so powerful。 His faith and his motivation to use his experiences to teach others and advocate for change is inspiring。 His story will probably be eye-opening for many。 There is so much I want to say about this book， but I don’t have the words to properly express it。 All I can say is read it。This is a book that I can say with absolute certainty will be one of my top books of 2021， and one that I will be recommending to everyone。 Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for the advanced copy of this book。 Better， Not Bitter will be released on May 18。 。。。more
Leah （Jane Speare）
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This memoir from one of the Exonerated Five is centered on Yusef's serendipitous journey through the harsh prison system as a young teenager。 Here he deepened his understanding of Islam and became a spiritual leader。 This proved valuable for both his physical and mental well-being through those years of imprisonment and to this day。 His story of false accusation is not unique， but his perspective definitely is。 This memoir from one of the Exonerated Five is centered on Yusef's serendipitous journey through the harsh prison system as a young teenager。 Here he deepened his understanding of Islam and became a spiritual leader。 This proved valuable for both his physical and mental well-being through those years of imprisonment and to this day。 His story of false accusation is not unique， but his perspective definitely is。 。。。more
Dai Guerra
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Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review。 Thoughts and Themes: This is another book that I can’t review in the same way I tend to review others。 Honestly， I find memoirs so hard to review because you can’t really review someone’s life。 All I can really discuss with memoirs is the writing style and my feelings as I read through it。 This is one that I really hope you all pick up and I will be recommending this to the family which I rarely do Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review。 Thoughts and Themes: This is another book that I can’t review in the same way I tend to review others。 Honestly， I find memoirs so hard to review because you can’t really review someone’s life。 All I can really discuss with memoirs is the writing style and my feelings as I read through it。 This is one that I really hope you all pick up and I will be recommending this to the family which I rarely do。If you enjoyed watching When They See Us on Netflix then I guarantee that you will enjoy reading this story。 This not only gives you one of the exonerated five’s stories through the Central Park Five case but it shows you who Yusef was as a boy and who he is now as he is out of prison。This book includes many of Yusef’s raw emotions and thoughts as the whole thing happens。 I like that he mentions needing to get younger Yusef in order to really write this story。 I thought it was greatly written because you see how Yusef wants to feel about everything but how he struggles with it all。There is so much that I want to say about this book and how important it is but I don’t have the words to express myself。 I thought it was important that Yusef talked about how naïve he was and how he also played into the notion that racism was in the past。 I thought this was such an important part of the story and it resonated with me。 I also was someone who thought racism wasn’t a thing anymore and my dad would explain otherwise but I didn’t believe it until I went to a private university and saw what my dad had been talking about。I did put this book down several times because you can’t read this without pausing to take things in。 You need to pause in order to really listen to this story and what Yusef is saying， there is no breezing through a book like this。 I thought it was important that Yusef touches on the injustices that he faced and how these are injustices that all Black people have faced。 I thought it was important that he discusses the prison industrial system and the inherent racism of that system。 This book touches upon so many different subjects and I think it is important to learn about these things through non-fiction as we are given different and often times new perspectives。 。。。more
David
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An important book that deserves a wide readership。 Author， Yusef Salaam clearly demonstrates that despite being a victim of a racially biased judicial system how his faith， his love and the hope and love of others prevailed over what seemed impossible odds。
Nadia
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