Hurricane

[H2O Man]

"Only he who attempts the ridiculous can ever hope to achieve the impossible.”
Rubin “Hurricane” Carter

Over the past few days, I've had several good grass roots Democrats tell me that they are tired, not by the future, but by the current social-economic-political reality. It is as if we are hostages in a bank, where the lowest of mob thugs are robbing everyone. I'd be lying if I said it doesn't tire me out, too.

Yet as everyone who is familiar with my rants on this forum knows, I will talk about current events in the context of boxing and boxers. For the boxing ring was where I felt safest in my youth. I knew that tough fights involved cycles. I didn't expect to win every minute of every round. I would do good, then he would do good, and then I would inflict the damage needed to knock him out. Some bouts had more than one cycle.

A couple of good friends noted that, despite not supporting republicans as a rule, they were upset by the recent primary loses of Rep. Thomas Massie and Senator Bill Cassidy. In my opinion, those loses showed how much certain interests will invest to defeat the truth from coming out on issues such as the Epstein scandal. Yet both will finish out this cycle, until after we have the opportunity to take out the individuals who beat them in the primaries. Now back to boxing.

I, for one, did not like getting hit. I preferred punching the opponent. Like boxing, politics has cycles. Some are much larger than others, and some are more positive or negative than others. The Constitution and democracy are being viciously attacked. And the more tired one is, either in the boxing ring or the political ring, the more the opponents' punches hurt. So much in the manner of Muhammad Ali, we have to take advantage of the minute between rounds. Ali did just that in his fights in the ring, and against Uncle Sam in the courts.

Back when all of our ancestor's ancestors lived in tribes, during harsh and dangerous times, the Elders – both female and male – would tell stories from the past in similar times of trouble. These stories might involve the group, or an individual, and how they dealt with serious conflict. Now if I were discussing theology, I'd be quoting from Isaiah chapter 51. Yet boxing will do for now.

Long ago, as a young teenage amateur boxer, I wrote to Rubin and said I planned to get him out of prison for two reasons – first, I knew he was innocent, and second, so he could guide my future boxing career. And here some of you thought I was obnoxiously arrogant these days! This was the beginning of a 40+ year friendship. In time, we would be communicating through letters and cassette tapes. In time, my high school English class was communicating with Carter.

But then, in one letter, he wrote, “..... but, man, I kid you not – things are really uptight in this jail, and about to explode in death and destruction.” Cassettes were out of the question, and restrictions on mail coming in or going out was going to limit communications. Now, I knew that previously, a couple weeks after Attica, Rubin had been credited with saving the lives of the warden and two guards during a riot in Trenton State Prison. So, with my teenage ability to know everything, I told Rubin to step up and prevent another riot.

Son of a gun, that was exactly what Rubin did. He had maintained a hermit status in prison, but decided to run for the president of the Rahway Prisoner's Council. He approached the leaders of the various leaders of the gangs and got their support. He won the election, but for a week, the prison administration ruled the loser actually won – kind of like the Supreme Court selecting Bush. But even the guy who came in second said that Rubin had won.

In a letter, Rubin told my brother, “Since I've been writing to Pat, and he asked me not to let this prison explode, I stepped forward and took control of the jail. Something I never wanted to do in the past – and which could be very dangerous to me. And now I am the director of the Rahway Prisoners Council on Penal Reform. So if you and Pat and perhaps Russell P. really want to come into this prison and see what it is like …. we can arrange a day for the near future. What the hell? If I can't go to you. You come to me.”

A week later, in a letter to me, “ …..since I've become the Director of the Rahwat Peoples Council, I've been busy beyond relief. Man! I'm just waiting until you can send me the date that you will be here, to see me in person – that's really going to be a day for me to remember. (smile) I really love you, little buddy – I think you are one of the best things that ever happened to me. You are a real friend. Thank you.”

This was at a time when the public took an interest in prison reform. Almost immediately, university professors and political aides to state officials started to visit Rubin, and listen to his ideas on reform. I have a pile of communications between Rubin and the warden. My impression was that the warden wasn't very interested in what Rubin was advocating. Then things changed quickly – Muhammad Ali visited Rubin, and they planned to box in an exhibition in the prison. This got the attention of more than ABC's Wide World of Sports (they broadcast fights from Rahway), and that was apparently too much.

In 1958, in a study by Princeton University professor Gresham Sykes titled “The Society of Captives,” he wrote: “Centers of opposition in inmate populations – in the form of men recognized as leaders in the inmate population –can be neutralized through the use of solitary confinement to exile to other state institutions. Just as the Deep South served as a dumping ground for particularly troublesome slaves before the Civil War, so too can the mental hospital serve as a dumping ground for the maximum security prison.

Thus, Rubin was taken to the Vroom Building, the state prison's psychiatric wing of Trenton State Prison. He was kept in solitary confinement for the next 90 days, before a hearing in federal court. The judge ruled in hearing that there was absolutely no evidence that Rubin posed a danger by planning an inmate uprising or riot – which I think from this essay alone one can see was the exact opposite of what he was doing.

Eventually, Rubin sued for being placed in the Vroom Building's isolation unit. He was awarded $2000 in damages, which went to hire a former detective, now private investigator, who had been among the police that recognized Rubin was being framed. And this investigator, now trusted by the community, soon was uncovering the extent of the police corruption. They knew the identity of the two NOI gunmen, but would never admit to their purposeful framing of Rubin and John Artis.

Note: If you like or dislike this, the story was something that popped into my fat head as I read a post from my good friend Frank, also known as Kid Berwyn.