Inaugural Nebraska Justice and Disparities Summit held in Omaha

Dr. Yusef Salaam, a member of the Central Park Five and current New York City councilman, spoke at the inaugural Nebraska Summit on Justice and Disparities Friday.

Salaam told the crowd of more than 100 people at Creighton University about the importance of working for prison reform and lamented that many young people today do not understand basic civics.

“No one in here, I believe, is here to figure out how to move the needle further to the left," he said. "We are trying to figure out how we participate in what I call righteous collaboration.”

He said the behavior of young people is often a result of having their "backs against the wall."

“Many of them have been forced into the margins of life, and so it's not about a thriving life, but a surviving life that causes you to do all kinds of things that you wouldn't do if you would thrive,” he said.

The summit included workshops on the juvenile justice system, voting rights for felons and lessons from the 10-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson.

Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer, Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson and State Sen. Terrell McKinney also spoke at the summit.