Rubin Carter was born May 6, 1937, in Clifton, New Jersey. He was a boxing champion and had the courage to
overcome the struggles of being in jail brought on by racial tension. He was an inspiration to many americans and
faught for his freedom.
At the age of 12 he was sent to Jamesburg State Home for Boys for attacking a man with a knife, claiming the man
was trying to molest one of his friends. Carterentenced for six yeats but escaped in 1954 to join the army. He
trained for boxing while in the army. He won two European light-weight championships. In 1956 he returned to
Paterson New Jersey where he grew up. When he returned he was immediately arrested by the police forced to serve
the rest of his 10 month term in a state reformatory.
In October of 1966 Carter, along with John Artis, was convicted of the June 17th triple murder at Lafayette Bar &
Grill in Paterson. They fit an eye witness decription of the killers. The two were sentenced to three life sentences.
While in prison he refused to wear the inmates uniform.
He wrote and autobiagraphy,The 16th Round: From Number 1 Contender to Number 45472.
His book attracted supporters like Bob Dylan, who wrote a song called, The Hurricane. In 1980 Carter developed a
friendship with a young teenager, Lesra Martin, from the Bronx who lived with three Canadians for educational
reasons. He became familiar with Carter from his book leading Martin to pay short visits to Rubin in jail. Martin and
his companions decided to try and free Rubin.
They continued to work on his release and finally Judge Sarokin decided that Carter should be free because he was
wrongly accused because of racism. Carter than moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada with the group that help freed
him. He made another book with them called, Lazarus and the Hurricane: The Untold Story of the Freeing of Rubin
⌠Hurricane■ Carter. He married one of the Canadians, Lisa Peters. Carter continued to boxing and now is the director
of Association in Defense of the Wrongfully Convicted.
Rubin Carter was a courageous man who influenced many people to fight for what they believe in. He he gave to the community by
seperating racial differences and showing that the innocent should not be convicted over false accusations because of the color of
someones skin.