Punching the Air by Yusef Salaam Book Analysis

Yusef Salaam wrote punching the air because he wanted to show people what he experienced as a victim of racial discrimination and experienced a life changing moment that led him to a few years in prison. Salaam is known for being apart of the exonerated five, the exonerated five is made up of  Kevin Richardson, Antron Mccray, Raymond Santana Jr., Korey Wise and Yusef Salaam who were accused for assaulting a jogger and coerced into confessing rape. When Salaam was exonerated he was able to get a multi-million dollar settlement from New York and ended up inspiring millions by saying “One of the most powerful lessons I learned while being wrongfully incarcerated was that instead of going through something, I was going to grow through something,” he also said “Through ‘Better, Not Bitter,”. In my opinion I think that the second quote means to always look on the bright side and to never doubt yourself.

This book reminds me of the George Floyd incident. The George Floyd incident had the same type of discrimination as the book and had the same message as well. George Floyd was a 46 year old man who was accused of using a fake 20 dollar bill at a gas station store. There was video footage of a cop named Derek Chauvin kneeling into the neck of Floyds and essentially choking him. In the footage you can hear Mr. Floyd saying “I can’t breathe” (which ends up being a big part of the BLM movement). When the ambulance arrived to bring Mr. Floyd to the hospital, he started going into cardiac arrest, and later died in the hospital. When the footage of George Floyds murder was posted on the internet, it ended up going viral. Hundreds of people went to the streets of Minneapolis Minnesota, where Mr. Floyd had been killed. The “I can’t breathe” statement has a big role in the marches in Minnesota and across the country.

Another thing that reminds me of this book is, the ratio of innocent colored people who were wrongfully accused, and had to pay the price of what someone else did. In an article called the innocence project it tells us that Black people accused are 7 times more likely to wrongfully accused of murder than innocent white people. It also says that nearly half of the people currently on death row are black and half of the 2,725 people exonerated since 1989 are black. These ratios and pieces of info reminds me of a section in the book where Amal (the main character) is arrested and sentenced to juvenile detention. During the trial he pleaded not guilty but the jury, because the jury was to blind sighted to realize it wasn’t him. 

This book also reminds me of the protests that happened in 2020. 2020 was a good year for making a difference or putting a message out there that everyone should be respected and have the same advantages and opportunities as others. That said most of the Protest were peaceful but others caused a lot of businesses to go out of business because of the riots that broke out. These riots broke out because the police decided that it would be a good idea to shoot rubber bullets at innocent civilians that are trying to peacefully protest. In the words of Gandhi “violence is never the answer”.

The BLM also reminds me of this book because the book motivates us to stand up for what's right and stand up for what we believe in. It also helps stand up for the people who couldn’t, the people who were forced to pledge guilty, the people who died to try and make a difference in the world, and the innocent colored people who gave their life because of other white people who were to blind sight because of the shade of skin. It's unbelievable that we live in a society where people are treated poorly or treated like slaves. 

Punching The Air is a great reminder to the BLM, the events of George Floyd, Yusef Salaam, and etc. This book can open peoples eyes and shows what people go through just by the color of their skin. This book can further inspire people to support and try to make a difference towards making a suitable living environment for all.