The White House said in a statement that outgoing US President Biden granted pardons to five individuals on Sunday, including the late civil rights leader Marcus Garvey. Additionally, he also commuted the sentences of two individuals.
According to Reuters, Garvey was a civil rights leader who passed away in 1940. In 1923, he was convicted of mail fraud and sentenced to five years in prison. In 1927, former US President Calvin Coolidge commuted his sentence.
Human rights organizations consider Garvey to be the first person to organize a mass movement among African Americans. The White House stated that he founded the shipping company “Black Star Line” and established the “Universal Negro Improvement Association” to promote African history and culture.
The statement from the White House further mentioned that among those pardoned by Biden are Darryl Chambers, an advocate for gun violence prevention who was convicted of a non-violent drug offense, and Ravidath “Ravi” Ragbir, an immigration advocate convicted of a non-violent crime in 2001.
Biden also granted a pardon to Don Leonard Scott, who was sentenced to ten years in prison in 1994 for a non-violent drug crime. The White House noted that Scott was elected as a state legislator in Virginia in 2019 and became the state’s first African American Speaker last year.
Criminal justice advocate Kemba Smith Pradia was also among those granted clemency. Smith Pradia was convicted of a non-violent drug crime in 1994.
Biden also commuted the sentences of Robin Peoples and Michelle West, both convicted in the 1990s. Biden believed that these individuals have demonstrated significant rehabilitation.