President Biden has granted pardons to five individuals, including the renowned civil rights leader Marcus Garvey
Washington: So, President Biden just pardoned five folks, and one of them is Marcus Garvey, a big name in civil rights. It’s pretty cool, right? Garvey, who passed away in 1940, was actually convicted of mail fraud back in 1923 and did some time for it. But hey, his sentence got cut short by President Coolidge in 1927.
Garvey is often hailed as the guy who really got the ball rolling for African-American movements. He started the Black Star Line shipping company and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association, which was all about celebrating Black history and culture.
Along with Garvey, Biden also pardoned a few others. There’s Darryl Chambers, who’s been working to prevent gun violence and had a non-violent drug conviction. Then there’s Ravidath “Ravi” Ragbir, an immigration advocate who faced a non-violent charge back in 2001.
Don Leonard Scott got a pardon too. He was convicted of a non-violent drug offense in 1994 and spent ten years in prison. Fast forward to 2019, and he became the first Black speaker of the Virginia state legislature. Pretty impressive, right?
And let’s not forget Kemba Smith Pradia, another advocate for criminal justice reform, who also had a non-violent drug conviction from 1994. Biden also commuted the sentences of two others, Robin Peoples and Michelle West, who he said have shown remarkable rehabilitation since their sentences in the 90s.
