The Hurricane
Bob Dylan: The Hurricane
Quiz by Sharon Michiko Yoneda
Hurricane Ruben Carter (May 6, 1937 – April 20, 2014) was an American-Canadian middleweight boxer.
"Number one contender for the middleweight crown." "Rubin could take a man out with just one punch. But he never did like to talk about it all that much It's my work, he'd say, and I do it for pay. And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way." "he could-a been a champion of the world."
In 1966, Carter and co-accused was arrested for a triple homicide by New Jersey Police.
"Four in the mornin' and they haul Rubin in."
In 1967, Hurricane and his partner were convicted of all three murders, and given life sentences, to be served in a New Jersey State Prison.
"The D.A. said he was the one who did the deed. And the all-white jury agreed. Rubin Carter was falsely tried. The crime was murder "one."
Detroit blacks protested his imprisonment because they knew the charges were false.
"Four months later, the ghettos are in flame."
The Hurricane spent 20 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit.
"While Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten-foot cell--an innocent man in a living hell."
Singer-songwriter, Bob Dylan visited The Hurricane in prison and vowed to support him in getting released.
"How can the life of such a man be in the palm of some fool's hand? To see him obviously framed; couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land where justice is a game."
He was ultimately released from prison in 1985 when a federal judge overturned his convictions.
The Hurricane married Canadian, Lisa Peters, after which he became a Canadian citizen.
The Hurricane met Nelson Mandela, who spent 33 years in a South African prison.
Famous supporters like boxer Muhammed Ali came to visit him.
Canadian director, Norman Jewison, made a film about the life of The Hurricane starring Denzel Washington (on left). On the right is boxer, Evander Holyfield.
The Hurricane met Canadian Stephen Truscott, another prisoner who was also wrongly accused.
The Hurricane passed away in 1976 in Toronto, Canada.
artist: Bob Dylan
songwriter: Bob Dylan
date released: 1976 by Bob Dylan
Rubin Carter, also known as "The Hurricane,” was a Canadian middleweight boxer. He was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent almost 20 years in jail, before being released after a petition of “habeas corpus.”
Born in New Jersey, US, he became a juvenile offender for stabbing a man at 11 years of age. He was sent to a reformatory, but he escaped and joined the ‘United States Army,’ where he trained to be a boxer. Later, he became a professional boxer. His aggressive boxing style could have made him a champion. However, he was wrongly convicted of a triple murder. Carter’s case was tried twice, and he was given life sentences for each murder. Many campaigns were arranged in his support. Finally, a federal judge overturned the convictions, and Carter was released. He was married to Mae Thelma, but they divorced later. After his release, he lived in Toronto for a while, became a Canadian citizen, and married a supporter, Lisa Peters. Carter and Lisa separated later. He worked for the wrongly convicted. He died due to prostate cancer at the age of 76.