so thank you thank you everybody for coming out uh this is an amazing day a day well overdue a day that we all have uh have been waiting for many of us waiting longer than others um the forecast didn't say rain until 5: but guess what we're going to celebrate and make it happen anyway today is such a special day not only because we're unveiling the uh the street signs for in honor of brother Ruben Hurricane Carter and John artist but today is actually Ruben Carter's birthday yes and because of that because of that we've uh we had to rush this thing through put it together very quickly because we wanted to make sure that we took the time today to celebrate and we have some amazing people with us today all of whom have also endured similar circumstances obviously we have the Carter family let's give the Carter family a great Round of Applause as I said during the evening when we approved this legislation I can't imagine the turmoil a family had to go through especially his young children uh over 19 years spent Behind Bars he has more than paid his price to society and we ow owe him a great debt um and the artist family is here as well let's give the artist family a round of applause as well there one thing I want to do I want to make sure we don't do uh through the years because of the greatness of Ruben Hurricane Carter the great hurricane um often we forget about the the the same trials that brother artist has suffered with him and and for that reason we have some great people here with us today I have Salam here with us today I want you guys to give her a good Round of Applause she is the mother of councilman Yousef Salam who has also experienced his trials uh with with the Central Park 5 and as he was Vindicated as well for being wrongly um uh incarcerated we also have brother Isaac Wright who is uh he's in route uh he was in he spent a good amount of time behind bars and vind ated himself he fought for his own freedom and after he came out he became an attorney and we also have some brothers right from here right from Patterson who spent 24 years behind bars uh brother Eric Kelly's here with us today and we have to make sure that the that these that their plights are not forgotten cuz I'm sure as they sat in those cells for those those many many years they felt as if they were forgotten and we we want to make sure that we acknowledge them today and make sure they know they are not forgotten just give me one moment please all right so apparently the podium is being held hostage someplace else we know we have a traveling Podium but apparently is not available um but that's not going to hinder what we have what we need to do but before we start we of course as we often do in our community we want to make sure we open up with prayer with none other than the the relative of Ruben Carter Miss darus Carter please give her a good Round of Applause as she come [Applause] forward yes Carter hello one and all my name is Reverend Doris harder amen amen let us pray Our Father who are in heaven on this day at this time we do thank you for everything you have put in our lives and for the things you have taken out now Lord at this moment and this time you have through your people in the city of patteron found it appropriate oh God to name the streets in memory of yesterday's Injustice for this we are most grateful May the street sign dedication when gazed upon be a Beacon of Hope as we recognize that every ending can be a new beginning may this sign become a beginning of a new way for this city of Patterson to handle many crisis of the day May the actions of those living and serving in the city of Patterson truly reflect that we can do better and not and become better thank you oh God for the councilman jackon for presenting the resolution thank you oh God for the city council who passed the resolution to make all of this possible Lord may all of us learn from our past mistakes and move on to a better future for the city of Patterson and I am reminded by scripture say seven Chronicles that if my people who are called by my name would humble themselves and turn from their Wicked Ways then will I hear from heaven and heal the land it's time for Patterson's land to be [Applause] healed than my apologies uh Reverend she'll beat me later I'm looking forward to it um so and I appreciate her acknowledging me bringing this resolution forward but it would not have been possible without the representation and the support from the rest of the council please give the rest of the the municipal Council a round of applause we have Dr Louisa Mims uh Miss Ruby cotton and the council president Alex Mendes all here with us today and although we do understand you know there are um differentials within the the the city streets and all this is a patteron street but is is taken care of by our County Commissioners and uh I have a person here today that's that's wearing a dual role uh the county commissioner Mr Orlando Cruz thank you for for the support he's going to come forward on behalf of himself and on behalf of uh assemblyman wimbley as well thank you thank you councilman thank you to the rest of the city council uh as we stand here on this what we consider Hollow grounds dating back to the historic impact that Ruben Hurricane Carter and the significance of what happened to him how it uh happened here in the city of Patterson happened on these Courthouse steps in these Courthouse Halls we uh we share in the remembrance of the impact that this has on our community and at the impact that it will have for generations to come come so we work with the city council to allow us to the opportunity to remember him to remember his family so that his family has a place to come to and spoiler alert the county is erecting a monument on behalf of uh the family for ruber Hurricane Carter that is in process it's going to be placed somewhere out here at this courthouse so that again generations to come have a place to come remember and understand cuz in order to know where we're going we have to know where we've been and it's 24 and we still see on the news and and right outside our windows we see the struggles of our community and our people and we want to continue to fight and advocate for those individuals so that everybody has a fair share so thank you very much and welcome to pay [Applause] County so we're going to move this thing right along very quickly because of the weather we're want to make sure we get those uh sign unveiled we do have a a list of people that reached out to us because they wanted to make sure they were present during this time and uh uh uh although the mayor from Nork is on his way I'm not sure if the mayor if our mayor is is is planning to attend but uh his Corporation Council is here and not only is he Corporation counsel of the city of newor but he's a born bred hardcore resident of the city of Patterson you guys help me welcome Mr Kenyatta Stewart to the to the microphone [Applause] good afternoon family good afternoon good afternoon come on now good afternoon we celebra now come on now come on now so as as C Jackson just said a few moments ago uh my name is Kenyata Stewart uh born and raised here in Patterson uh had the opportunity to go over to Nork to do some work with the mayor of Nork he's going to try to make it here uh councilman Jackson uh we have a bunch of things going on as you all can imagine and sometimes it just catch us is off hand uh so he and I are texting to see if he can make it over but of course he sends his blessings this um I will tell you that uh to stand in this place right here right now to understand that there's going to be a sign with uh Ruben Carter's name on it would be a reminder for all of us yes right it should be a reminder for all the folks who are in this building or in this building or you know so forth and soone across the state that this type of thing happens all the time and probably not at this High Lev family and I can appreciate the fact that you know you've heard the stories but there's somebody in this courtroom right now waiting to be heard praying that it goes well yes and unfortunately you know we have folks who are in a situation where Unfortunately they can't afford an attorney or they may not trust their attorney or they might not be on the same page as their attorney and they make decisions in the courtroom because they're thinking about their family so sometimes we may accept the plea knowing that we didn't do whatever it is they said we did but I need to get home to my child um and I and I will tell you that I took the opportunity councilman Jackson to speak to Ray Brown Jr uh I know members of this family know who Ray Brown Senor is Ray Brown Senor uh unfortunately uh was one of the best lawyers in this country his son Ray Brown Jr is still alive still kicking and still very very sharp uh and uh funny enough today is Ruben Carter's birthday today is Ray Brown senior's birthday and what the chances right so wow wow so uh Qui has kept Ray Brown Ray Brown senior representative Ruben Carter during this process at one point or another and it was uh often said that it was probably the most difficult case he had in the north and he used that term on purpose because you know unfortunately this was more common in the South right and uh folks who didn't know um death penalty was live and moving back then so the the the plan was to execute these two gentlemen y yep y you know so to to to be in a space where you go to trial two or three times uh is not the norm for attorneys like us right and what happens is when you win or if you lose and then you come back on the pill or something happens because unfortunately for the folks that were trying to you know cheat these two gentlemen uh they didn't know that there was going to be a law called The Carter rule state versus Carter speaks to the fact that you have to provide exculpatory evidence that's just a fancy way of saying give me all the information that you have about my case so that's how they end up on trial more than once is because unfortunately the folks who were doing the investigation tried to hide half of the information as you are going through the process of trying to defend yourself I will tell you that the good news is that we recognize and appreciate that the system was broken we also recognize that we're trying to fix the system that is still broken and it's not just lawyers it's not just you know officers not just Council folks all of us are trying to find a way to fix the system when you video record a person being disrespected on the street by unforunate Officer you're fixing the system you're addressing the system we have as you know pass a number of laws and rules and things of that nature that have helped us address the system for example as you all know x xcon x felons can now vote that's the way that we kind of fix the system you know there's a rule here that that now we use it's called Bell reform which we're still trying to work on it but again that's another example of before you were able to get out of jail because you had money so if you didn't have money you couldn't get out of jail so that was another example of how you try to fix the system I will tell you this as I said to you earlier and I'll say it again prayerfully we can walk past this sign and not just think of these two gentlemen here who went through this unfortunate process but think of all the people who are going through it right now and make it a part part of what pushes us to fix the system because unfortunately without us doing things like this and thank God the county isn't afraid to put a statute up to show that they agree that the system is broken the statute and the sign and us talking about it is not just for them but it's for every single person that has been a victim of the system thank you for the opportunity to speak C I thank the city council for having thecage to do this and I certainly pray with the family because as we know there's so many people are in this situation thank you so uh I asked the gentleman to change the photo for a brief moment and the significance of this photo right here where we stand that they came out of this building knowingly they never committed a crime falsely accused right on these very steps where Muhammad Ali traveled across the country to come here and support it speaks volumes of those moments so I'm I'm I'm happy to be here today so we're going to take a brief second just to have a few words of encouragement by our poet laua sister Queen yes let's give her a round of [Applause] applause peace and blessings family I'm Selena lelle queen I'm Paul Lau for the city of Patterson and today my voice is not strong and so I brought my brother friend sh Wright who is also he's been poet laurate for Jersey City and he's doing incredible writing here in this city and I thought it was appropriate to share this space with a a black man a black poet and and trust me this is a gift um hearing his voice so this poem is called this my poem is called 13 ways of looking at a black boy and and is based on it's influenced by a 1954 poem U from Wallace Stevens called 13 ways of looking at a black bird so I'm going to give you the numbers Rashad and his beautiful strongman voice will give you the words so that um it's all good we okay with that if you okay with that say word say word word all right okay 13 ways of looking at a black boy one among 20 armed officers the only moving thing was the falling body of the black boy two the root and the branches of a family a tree in which there are love and Legacy and memories of lynched black boys three the black boy is the greatest and the greatest endure of unnecessary historical pain four a man and a woman are one a man and a woman and a black boy are one five I do not know which to prefer the beauty of a black boy's eyes or the beauty of his creative mind the black boy's potential sure is bliss or the black boy's tendency to love six bars filled the long hallways with barbaric enclosures the body of the black boy crossed it to and fro his mind uncontainable his Spirit still free seven old men of theology why do you imagine golden hair do you not see how the wallhead black boy walks around on feet of polished bronze around you eighty I know valuable places in possessions and complicated intricate Creations ways of knowing but I know too that the black boy is involved in what I know nine when the black boy emerged in the Western Hemisphere it marked the edge of many improvements to modern society 10 at the sight of black boys gathered under street lights even the asphalt beneath their sneakers are blessed by their existence 11 she rides around the country in an impossible glass coach each time a fear pierces her she mistakes her fragility and insecurity and false vulnerability for a black boy 12 the Earth is spinning the black boy is her axes 13 it was a merma it was black boys Gathering to show black boy solidarity in spite of the many obstacles we appreciate you thank [Applause] you that was amazing yes so thank you sometimes I get I take heat for the things that I do and the manner in which I do them and to follow that up is just uh it's it's it's exceptional because these are the things that we live every day I have a young son who I'm fearful of every time he leaves my home and it's not just a young black boys but the young Latino boys the young minorities it happens well too often come come up front for me for one second brother as I ride around in our city they feel comfortable in stopping me and letting me know what's happening as this young brother just pulled me over as I was on my way here State Police just stopped me mikee they said I had a warrant which I know I don't they made false claims which I know is not true they took me in their possession arrested me took and costed him took him in and then let him go on his own recognizes without returning his phone without information without proper due process this thing is happening to us every single day as Ruben Carter and John artist suffered through this many many years ago our young black boys and Spanish boys on the streets of Patterson are dealing with this today as we speak so for that I make no apologies for what I do I do what I do because of people like this young brother here because of what Ruben Carter endured to allow me the privilege to be able to stand here if I turn my back on people like this what good am I in this position so listen we will make make sure things are right but let's give this young brother some acknowledgement please because every day we're going through these [Applause] circumstances stay strong I want to take another opportunity just to acknowledge our fire chief uh our newly ented Fire Chief and our a deputy fire chief as well two Young Black and Hispanic boys from the city of patteron who understood endured and realized the dream that they can make sure they they Excel to those Heights I'm going to give both of those gentlemen a good Round of Applause please and chief thank you for coming out and supporting us thank you Chief next we're going to have a representative for Miss uh assembly woman Su Miss Hana McCoy please give her a round of applause please hello everyone one on behalf of assembly woman Suter in our office we are grateful to be here in support of this momentous occasion as a young girl who has grown up in Patterson and was the only girl in a house full of Brothers I understand what moments like this mean because it could have been my brother it could have been my father it could have been my uncle and this street renaming shall be a reminder to the Future children that I will have my nieces my nephews of who we are and how strong we can be what we can endure when we stand strong in our purpose and who we are not to deter not to go left not to go right but to just stay true to who we are so I'm grateful to be here to represent the assembly woman Shanda Sumpter and I look forward to continue to celebrate all the moments and all the momentous occasions that the council come and put forth in front of us to be remembered thank you so much for having us and understanding everybody's busy so I appreciate everyone that took time out their day to come and celebrate this moment um our next uh uh speaker he's family to the late uh uh brother artist and we have both Ron I'm sorry we have both Robert and John artist with us today if you Brothers could come up to the microphone please brother artist was he had the he's in Trent and doing work but he made sure he made the track back to spend this moment with us so we appreciate you brother thank you uh thanks Mike I want to thank uh everyone for coming out today I want to thank Mike especially Mike Jackson for making this happen I know that at one point it was initially talked about just being for for Ruben Carter but Mike made sure that John arst was included so I thank you for that I want to thank the council also for greenlighting this to make sure it happens I'm a councilman myself so I know it doesn't happen without you guys being a part of it so thank you for that I got the opportunity to meet John actually uh many years after he was uh in prisoned I moved to pison from Virginia in 1966 the year that this issue happened and that year actually I did not know but my dad talked about who he was and when um he got out of jail I happened to be a boxer and he was sort of you know watching what I did and uh we got together we hooked up got uh mutual love and respect for one another so I know that he and and Ruben are smiling down celebrating right now this is a great occasion and I thank you so much for it John right yeah Ron first of all I like to give an honor to God yes glory be to God I'd like to say thank you Jesus for this moment and this event at this time I'm sorry to speak with you all with a face mask on and I can hardly walked just got out of surgery 30 days ago for face and neck but I had to be here today I'm old school so I wrote down a few things on a piece of paper my name is Minister Ron artist I'm the first cousin of John artist and Robert I just like to say very quickly to the Carter family and to my family have faith in knowing that Reuben and John are witnessing from Heaven this event and they're witnessing this event with gladness and praise I'd also like to thank Mr Jackson of our city council for his hard work yes and Miss Theodore Carter daughter of Reuben for connecting with Mr Jackson to get this event and I would also like to thank my cousin Robert artist who is the head of Prospect Park City Council and his hard work in love and Deborah artist who is in Virginia even now she just could not make it today that is John artist's sister I'd like to thank all of you today for recognizing what our families went through what you see here behind you is my cousin John artist and Ruben Carter cuffed together but they were not the only ones cuffed it was our families we were cuffed together all those years but spirit spiritually even now we're free yes thank you all for attending today I'd also like to thank the Ali family Muhammad Ali for coming to fight for our families yes thank you once twice and three times God bless you all [Applause] our next speaker is a very special person as well um and I do apologize because I've been addressing her by her surname of the entire time and and and kind of following up because it's very important that people understand who she is and what she has actually gone through so we talked about the family The Carter family what they've experienced and we we can only imagine as we know the children and the siblings but how about a parent how about a parent when you have a 15-year-old child wrongfully uh held then charged wrongfully um you know uh uh many of us understand we've seen the story of the Central Park 5 and uh I'm I'm delighted to to to know the work that he's doing now that brother uh Yousef Salam is now serving as a councilman in the city of New York New York so and and that speaks it speaks values because it's commitment to the same commitment and which I have here which we have that we make sure that those who come after us don't have to experience the same things that we have had have have gone through so uh Miss Salam if you can help bless us with your presence please so I can't imagine that just as I could not imagine imag what a young daughter had gone through but just understanding what a mom had to experience please give a warm R thank you all you know I am blessed to be here today and I rest I shouldn't say it that way because I'm here because my son councilman Yousef Salam was unable to make it because they're doing uh that I understand it's called budgets so so he said you go so here I am and let me just say I want to make it clear because I know for the families who have gone through this in the past you understand what I'm going to say next people ask me often how did we make it how did we get through and I want to say for me I was walking down 125th Street in Harlem and I passed this record store and in the record store song was playing and the song said one day at a time and that's how I made it I didn't try to make it by the month I didn't try to make it by the year I just took it one day at a time and if you move that way it doesn't matter what religion you're in or what religion you're out because that one day is going to carry you through and I want to say thank God for that it's been a hard journey most people don't really understand what we as family members go through when these types of things happen some say the whole family is incarcerated with the loved one and that's true that's right we are paying the bills we going back and forth we're paying for the high cost of food in the commissary we trying to send packages we wondering how we going to pay our rent and we are still paying in some cases for the racketeering that they have us pay for the telephone calls I know you all have been through it's getting Higher and Higher by the minute all that racketeering it's the only place where you can go in the United States other than foster care where racketeering is legal yes where the experimental equipment on our young people is legal where they can try medical therapies on you and is legal and they don't need your in permission we need to change the system one of the things we need to do is to make Those who commit these types of atrocities be able to pay for their crimes one of the things that I have found out is even though our sons in the Central Park five came out and was exonerated over time over time [Music] mind we all whether we got welfare or we got a check we all paid that bill that's right the only ones that Got Away Scot free was the ones that committed the crime that's right we need to change the laws so that they also have to pay that's right we are tired of paying for people who do something and the innocent pay the bill nurses doctors C people who have cars they have liability insurance they have to pay when they do something wrong that's right they also in the police department need to be able to pay they have to carry insurance they have to be on the couch so that they know that there is a cause and effect for what happens to us that's right I know I know some of you here in the room are sitting there and say well why didn't youf come she don't sound as nice and sweet and gentle as you say he has a little thing to say but I'm the mother I'm still angry that this happened to me I can't calm down I want to let it go but God has me surrounded by this pain and what they say we need therapy no we don't need therapy we need justice justice is our therapy and when we get it we will be killed completely [Applause] 100% I don't know Mr L I think we got the better end of the deal today especially from my perspective cuz I love that fight she got my hair standing up Kat might have to take this jacket off M Salam let me say this we just met this morning but I love you and I not only because of the words that you've been still but but what you have done the labor that you have gone through and the work that the excellent work that you put into your young man that through all these challenges he didn't submit he never submitted and he still to this day hasn't submit because he's out doing this work fighting on behalf of all the other people so my hat goes off to you sister and I love you for the work that you have done the work that you've done thank you thank you thank you very [Applause] much come on back up here come on up let let me just say I'm thankful for the work that I have done also but we all have done the same work we do it in our own ways some people are in the situation where they are crying and they're crying for all of us some are praying and they are praying for all of us and some of us are out there hell raising and they raising hell for the ones that pray and the cry and we moving forward in one vein together we all on the same page and pray for us all because we want this to end we are tired of people going to jail for things they didn't do we are tired it's not an anomaly it's how this system works and this system has to be [Applause] changed and don't think this is by chance you know as as I stand Here falsely accused as well those words resonate greatly with me so I appreciate that but um next the next gentleman right from here from the city of Patterson as well um he came alone he didn't come with his uh his fellow uh cohorts if you will I I refuse to say the word uh codefendants any longer that's that's because it's unfortunate that we have to defend ourselves for the truth but this this gentleman spent 24 years behind bars and I definitely want him to have an opportunity to reflect on his circumstances as well let's put our hands together for brother Eric [Applause] Kelly wow extraordinary peace it's an honor uh to be in your presence on a glorious day to celebrate the late F Hurricane Carter and renaming the street after him you know he was a freedom fighter and a champion of Justice um I'm here to pay homage and respect to a great man who C fors Freedom outside the ring for Social Justice Reform I heard so much about his story and how the University of Toronto uh law professors and law schoolers from Canada helped him seek his freedom this made a tremendous impact on my life um uh just as hard um I was determined if he can do it so can I um this what led uh to my ultimate Freedom you know November 8th 2017 after 24 years being wrongfully convicted what's most important what's most important we both broke the chains of mental and physical slavery and became a voice for the people and never gave up and made it home free a sign of bravery and all we endure to show the city of patteron that I can come from nothing to something um a icon and to be proud of the accomplishments I have made so this is a legacy that should never be forgotten Mr cter was not just a mortal man but Immortal in the hearts and the minds of the people um rest assure thank you casy and Mike Jackson for allowing me to speak on behalf of a great man the world famous Ruben hurri Kane Carter you will always be sadly missed I can sum this up with one word Grateful um I just want to give a shout out to KY also the culture nation and Gods of Earth which I'm a part of my honorable name is Eric Kelly but also it's now Nation or end the the end that never ends um so I leave you as I greet you with peace peace to the gods we got to heavy job you know power equality Allah sees everything in closing I want to thank you and all for having me to speak rest in peace and rest in power Mr Ruben Carter I salute you all [Applause] right I'm doing great World brother Kelly first of all let me say this um 24 years man listen I commend you for being so positive much like uh M Salam I don't know if I could have could have endured 24 years and and and have such a positive in outlook on things you know um I'll be enraged I'll be angry and uh you know I can't even imagine as you know uh each and every day we watch YouTube videos and it comes up frequently on my my my feed this person encounters with that person and we watch officers even though we've all become the kinata stewards of our neighborhoods right we've done our law uh studies without the bar of course but we understand that there's certain constitutional rights that we have and yet every single day we watch on these YouTube videos how these rights are violated we watch how young uh uh black people Hispanic people young minorities are often pulled over and told that they have to turn over their ID identification when in the passenger side they're told they must exit the vehicle although they did not commit a crime we've watched countless times where our young people were were slaughtered so we all we all have to have to now come together to make sure that Ruben Carter's circumstances wasn't in vain that people like brother kelly didn't spend 24 years of his life behind bars for nothing that's right you know I was having a discussion with uh the Hurricane's daughter and she she is a a a I don't want to say quiet storm cuz she's in enormous storm as well but uh you know just her sentiments on what the family had gone through during those times of the ins and outs and we'll have an opportunity to hear from her shortly as well but even today even today as people use their political platforms to take arm against our communities and it has to stop it has to stop today right we cannot continue to sit here and allow for these conditions to continue right um with without further Ado brother Isaac Wright is pulling up right now he just reached out to us um there's a lot of people who are who had to participate in today's event to make sure it happen um I want to give a special shout out and appreciative Round of Applause to the brothers the hardworking Brothers of DPW let's give them a round of applause over [Applause] there I mean these brothers are working endless endlessly count on countless hours endless days they have to do all of the street sign change changes they have to uh you know come to ceremonies like this and and make sure that we're service well that the Community does does a good job and they're often you know truly underappreciated we know they're underpaid but they're underappreciated as well and it's not a coincidence that these departments happen to to house a majority of minority employees and they're treated this way when you look at the even in this department here even in the county out of 3 to 400 officers when there's only 21 black officers in a in a community like like this it speaks volumes with how we are regarded exactly we made tremendous contributions to this community but yet when it's time to to reap the same rewards as everyone else we're often left to the side yes yes and I'm standing on again I I would I would I would never I make no apologies for the things that I do I do what I do for a reason now I need the rest of you all of you to help me let's join together in making sure our voices ReSound as one that this is unacceptable this kinds of treatment is [Applause] unacceptable give me one moment let me find out if he if he found a park so as brother wri comes up he's he's looking for a parking space we know it's difficult to park here we're going to bring our sister Miss Carter to the to the to the microphone please help me welcome the daughter of Ruben Hurricane Carter greetings y greetings thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come and celebrate with me and my family give yourselves a round of [Applause] applause before I even begin I just want to give God the glory first thank you Lord for this day and I also want to greet my Muslim brothers and sister I Salam malink I want to say I had a conversation with my Aunt Beverly she's in the audience my father's sister let's give her a a round of applause I was having a conversation with my aunt bever one day and she told me she ran into a friend of Edward Eddie Ross and on his deathbed he confessed that he was the one who committed those murders at the Lafayette bar in Grim so this is a period for Ruben Hurricane Carter and John artist okay the P the the patteron the the Patterson Police Officer questioned this man and let him go so today the truth is being told Ruben Hurricane Carter and John artist are innocent men let's give it up today they are truly exonerated so oh as we know and I'm not going to continue to repeat it the Patterson Police Department was corrupt okay so we already know they're still corrupt okay they're still imprisoning our black and brown people okay so we got a lot of work to do this is not just it this is the beginning of the work we need to do as people as people so this street naming does not totally compensate my family of the trauma we experienced but it's a start of 58 and a half years yes I thank everyone who believed in the innocence of Ruben Hurricane Carter and my big brother John artist cuz John artist was my big brother that was truly Ruben Hurricane Carter's son y'all better believe that and understand that cuz he was loyal to the very end that's why I call him my big brother I just want to say this is a great honor for my family but this is just bigger this is way bigger than just the Carter family this is bigger this is for all people who was falsely accused this is for you guys this is Hope that if you continue to keep the faith and you believe in God it's going to happen trust hope believe and stand firm and don't never commit to something that you know you didn't do don't do it don't do it I want to especially thank my angel my angel who's been an angel for me in this season councilman Jackson Let's crap it up for him this brother is standing against all Liv cuz you know R the Ruben Hurricane Carter and John AR story it's controversy everybody can't walk through that door you heard right I get a little on everybody don't have the guts they don't have the wherewithal to walk through this store but counsilman Jackson did yes he did he did so councilman Jackson I want to thank you for your wisdom to hear what you had to do and remember it's all in God's timing God is the infinite timer of all things so 58 and A2 years it was God's timing and thank you for that councilman Jackson and you already got your gift in your hand I didn't tell you to take it but that ask for you can you bring that back up here so I can present it to you thank you it's not much Council Jackson but I wanted to give this to you token of my appreciation and I want you to always look at this as this grow y'all grow together [Applause] this I'm not going to be up here long cuz I can talk you know who said that but I want to give God all the Praises I want to give him all the honor and and I thank everybody the council people I thank you guys because y'all didn't have to do this for the Carter family and I thank you so I salute you guys I want to thank my family I want to thank my riter di I just want y'all to know the best is yet to come this is just the beginning this is just the the beginning higher Heights deeper depths God bless you all thank [Applause] you well I appreciate you so much sis thank you very much and uh in putting this program together I thought it was very important that we had certain people here it's very important because we understand that these these conditions are are frequent but sometimes we need to be reminded of that so my next guest you guys know uh him as well uh 50 Cent created a movie about this brother and and and my hair is standing up again another brother that I'm greatly proud of spent many many years behind bars put the work in had to defend his own case to exonerate himself free himself after that he put himself through law school took the bar EX am and now he's currently defending other people as a licensed attorney in the state of New Jersey without further Ado brother Isaac Wright please the stage is yours [Applause] sir good afternoon everyone I take um I take a unique pride in being here today specifically because the experience that Mr Carter went through was an experience not only shared by many but an experience shared by myself in going through the process of incarceration and going through the process of being wrongly convicted and going through the process of seeing numerous hundreds thousands over the years of your people being pushed through a system arbitrarily at times and under circumstances where when the one Falls the family falls behind him and to continue to see the devastation on our communities because of this kind of mass incarceration this kind of arbitrariness this kind of loath for a particular group of people it becomes a mission for us as a group and for us individually to do everything that we can to stop it that's right I in 1991 I want up in the same place that Mr Carter wound up I wound up in Triton state prison with a life sentence for a crime that I did not commit I wound up there because the system was set up to not provide the proper checks and balances Over Law Enforcement over prosecutors over the system in general that will allow us to be able to at least get the benefit of the doubt even if we wasn't treated fairly but we got the benefit of the doubt things will be different in my case one of the reasons why this day Rings really true to me is because I saw myself in a fight alone okay and I'm not talking about family my family was always there with me but the system is set up that when you move through it they force you to move through it alone alone yeah and the only thing that a family can do is try to raise money for lawyers and send food packages and pay you a visit from time to time when they can right but many times it is the n nucleus of our family that has taken away from us and what that causes that causes a ripple effect where even you can't afford to go see your loved ones because that person that you're struggling to go see y was the backbone of the Family Y brother these are the core the core members of black men that are pushed inside a prison system those guys that go out there and do everything that they possibly can to feed their families those guys that serve as a role model those guys that sometimes may or may not engaged in misjudgment engaged in some bad decisions but for one reason or another is not even given a second chance that when they've moved through the system it's almost forever it's numbers that really turn into letters and so when I went through the system and I wound up in Trenton State Prison right Carter was one of the names that rang strong because he had fought for over a decade or more before I even got there in the organization that I wind up working for prison legal services was one of the organizations that helped Mr Carter with some of his cases as he move through the system one of the things that is important to understand about his fight is that it proves a very very significant issue and that is that the system fights harder when it's wrong right that's right this is this is the epitome this this is the epitome of why so many of us including Mr Carter spent decades decades trying to find our freedom amongst obvious Innocents and every time there's a paper pushed in front of them there's a piece of evidence there's witness testimony saying No this guy didn't do it the system reaches out and searches for the opposite they don't scrutinize research and investigate your innocence they do everything to try to prove that you're not even when you are it is a culture of when it all cost and for me that was a culture that I had to fight against yes when I was arrested I interviewed several attorneys several and every attorney that I interviewed asked me to plead guilty to 20 years for something I didn't do the more I said I didn't do it the more they were telling me you can't win you need to plead guilty I found myself the first time ever being in prison the first time ever being incarcerated have having to fight for myself not knowing anything about the law one thing that I did know that if I was going down if I was going to spend the rest of my life in prison and everything around me sent me that message that it was going to be me that's right that I was going to be the one to send myself to prison okay I was not going to hire an attorney wow that did not believe in my innocence that's right that's right that could not convince a jury right that I was innocent because he didn't believe it that's right so it was up to me an individual that had never been incarcerated before knew nothing about the law to not only learn the law but to learn it well enough to defend myself and ultimately to get myself released while I got the release of about 20 other individuals God hurricane Carter's fight his fight was all of our fight it was my fight it was a fight that continues today it's a fight that's going to be here tomorrow it's a fight that I understood I had a responsibility to take on I was supposed to die in prison and all the chips were against me I wasn't just prosecuted by an assistant prosecutor I was prosecuted by the head prosecutor of the county an administrator a person that doesn't go into court that doesn't try cases but he took mine personally my fight was not only just against that prosecutor my fight was against the entire system system systemic it was systemic mhm and when you have that kind of fight when if you if you look at what Hurricane Carter went through reversal they took him back to trial reversal they took him back to trial it took a federal judge to say enough is enough it took a federal judge outside the jurisdiction to say right this is enough right your Supreme Court is sending you a message that they don't believe in the Integrity of what you're doing they've sent you that message over and over again and you keep bringing this man back in the court this is enough enough and so when you when you see that that experience changes nothing after the fact when you see that everything Hurricane Carter went through did not help us as a people within the system then you start stepping back and you try to figure out why right why after Injustice After Injustice After Injustice why are we continuing to go through the same thing why are we continuing to get 20 30 40 years as children why are we continuing to be sent to prison for the rest of our lives as babies why is there billions and billions of do set up for mass incarceration and very little money set up just prop our children up Point them in the right direction why is that the sad truth is that like any bully if you don't bloody his nose he's not going to pay attention come on that is a s [Applause] and that is the truth behind the reason why I decided that my ordination was to be an attorney all right thank you I didn't go through what I went through for no reason that's right I didn't come after Mr Carter facing the same fight for no reason right I didn't get good enough as an IND individual with a high school diploma all right to be able to force a police officer to confess on the stand and secure my release while sending himself to prison that gift had a purpose and that purpose was for me to dedicate my entire life right to fight for others there's a saying and I believe I was in law school when I first said it my professor asked me why did I go to law school and just impromptu he just started picking us out he came to me and he asked me and I said I went to law school to slay Giants for a price I and if the cause is big enough and the reward is significant enough I'll do it for free especially when it involves helping others that cannot help themselves this is a feat that we all have responsibility to take on because none of us can do it alone amen I'm in a courtroom almost every day thank you one of the first major cases major trials that I had I represented another black man was before and in the same court that sentenced me to life in prison I found myself back there fighting them again as an attorney as a licensed attorney they lost [Applause] and they will continue to lose and and I want to I want to make sure that I qualify that yes so that we all could be on the same page this is not about being against the system this is not about being against the police I could never be an attorney in a system that I didn't believe in but I want you guys to understand something because you hear these these phrases the system is broken and the system doesn't work but let me give you an example of the reality of the system and I want to use something that's unrelated if I blew the engine in my car that car is no longer going to crank it is not going to work no matter how many times I turn the key the car is not going to cut on if I give you the key and you go into that car it shouldn't crank if it does then the engine was never blown right right A system that works for one but doesn't work for another is not broken because a system that's broken works for nobody that's right that's right good that's good out it works for nobody so when you see a system working for one and doesn't work for the others it's designed to do that there's nothing wrong with our system I think we have the greatest system in the world but I think we all have a responsibility to make sure that there's accountability that's right to make sure that we make that system work the way it's supposed to work for us if I didn't believe in what I did if I didn't believe in a system I couldn't be an attorney because I'd be a fake so I want you guys to understand that that I went through hell my family went through hell and you your family went through hell and everybody that's has family or even themselves that has gone through the system has gone through hell yes yes make no doubt about it I am well aware of the devastation and the effects for Generations that the system has on us I'm well aware of that so when I get up here and I say to you that we have the greatest system in the world I'm saying it from a person on the inside understanding how it's supposed to work okay understanding that we don't get the benefit of that understanding that there's a day and time for us there's a day and time for us us but that day and time will never come if we all sit on our hands right it's not going to come so I'm here to pay tribute to Mr Carter thank you for all he's been through for the way he paved for me for the inspiration that I had to fight because of him I came in behind him there are others that are going to be coming in that have come in behind me yes and in closing I say this we are all brothers in arms in this fight we need each other [Applause] thank the feeling of being alone should never be tolerated the feeling of being at the hands and under the thumb of the system alone should never be tolerated and we have the power and the influence to make a difference thank you I salute Mr Carter I salute the family and I appreciate you guys for giving me the opportunity to be here and speak with you thank you thank you [Applause] wow that that uh we couldn't have finalize this any better and it it's it's not by chance it's not by chance we know how the system works we know how our young people are often targeted accused of a crime and then what do they do they send them back out into the streets expecting them to commit another crime CRI only to pile it on as I stand here myself accused and indicted so it's it's very personal for me and I and I I thank everyone for coming out and uh uh I think the Carter family the entire family thank you sis for allowing me to be the caveat for this to happen through the artist family I want to give all of you guys a great Round of Applause again brother I salute you as well I knew I knew brother Wright had to be here I knew it we had to make every provision and you know it's it's reflective so let me just say this last these last few words and please pay pay attention my good people look around look around we know that this city does press conferences every day but yet I mean do you guys feel today was just some senseless uh uh normal everyday at the meal this was powerful yes so for those who had chose not to be here it speaks volumes the mayor the podium I put in a request for a tent and chairs the mayor sent the sent denied the request and said no I had to pay for it out of my pocket we had to get the vendor that's why we started late uh brother Salam was going to uh television in and and speak live if it was a possibility but we had some technical difficulties but these people they need to their their stories even though they have their fight isn't over because I can only imagine what they go through every night they lay their heads down on a pillow thinking about those days you know and and we're not isolated as this predominantly black people right here it's not happening only to black people on Highland Street when we witness that cop take a elbow to that young Spanish kid's face these are the kinds of things that happen in Community to Black and Hispanic kids but yet those who are in power choose to be absent on a day like today that speaks volumes but we'll rest it there because as many of you said we we'll have our time we'll have our time and before we go over to the sign because I want everybody to be able to depart from there I want to bring Pastor seevilla up so he can give us a closing prayer closing remarks and he's another champ I in our community that fights for all of our community I want to also shout out you know everybody else Queen thank you again and the young man that gave us a phenomenal uh poem today brother Stewart thank you for for blessing us with your presence brother Abed tataa thank you candidate in the sixth world thank you for coming out and supporting us not t is robbery to be out here to support us and all of you thank you thank everybody for coming out thank you brother Wright once again thank you I appreciate you uh councilman commissioner thank you as well Pastor seia thank you thank you Council Michael Jackson for this great opportunity what a nice event really I salute councilman Michael Jackson I salute to car family what a nice event this is the event we need more like the councilman Sayes speak Valu and before I do the prayer I wanted to say that I saw someone walking around with the T-shirt say that say that Ruben carton has 19 Knockouts and that number need to be changed and make it 21 today it's not okay stay to 20 today they make it 21 give him a round of applause let's pray father in the name of Jesus thank you for this wonderful event allow us to go to our home with good take care of of or from E of the name of Jesus amen amen God bless [Applause] [Applause] all happy birthday on behalf of the patteron municipal Council the city of patteron to the both and both families you will get a copy of the uh the the sign to the Carter family to the artist family we present you with an honorary uh token of this sign that you guys can post in your home and we really appreciate everything you thank you not going to cry come on get in there get in there oh my bad I was coming my I'm Out Sisters get behind and take that is your other sisters I'm okay okay