Lesra Martin (born April 11, 1963) is an American-Canadian lawyer, motivational speaker and writer. He is perhaps best known for helping to bring about the release of former boxer Rubin "The Hurricane" Carter.

Rubin "The Hurricane" Carter

Martin is notable for his involvement in the release of former boxer, Rubin "The Hurricane" Carter in 1985 after serving almost 20 years in prison for a 1966 murder for which Carter had nothing to do with (still he was twice convicted by juries with clear racial bias). Martin’s involvement began after he read Carter's autobiography ''The Sixteenth Round''. Martin wrote to Carter, in prison, in 1980 and met with him at the prison where he was incarcerated in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...

. This contact resulted in the involvement of the group that Martin lived with in Toronto, in the pursuit of Carter's release. Although Carter was convicted at a retrial in 1976 and lost his appeals from that further conviction, a further proceeding was commenced in February 1985 at a federal court which resulted in his release in November that year by Judge Haddon Lee Sarokin who ruled that the case was based on racism and the withholding of evidence that could have helped Carter. The story of Carter's release including Martin's involvement, is portrayed in the film '' The Hurricane'' starring

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...

although extensive portions of the account are fictionalized; Martin was portrayed in the film by Vicellous Reon Shannon.

Media appearances

Martin has appeared on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped i ...

'', ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' is an American television talk show broadcast by CNN from June 3, 1985 to December 16, 2010. Hosted by Larry King, it was the network's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Ma ...

'' on CNN, and has been the subject of a

National Film Board The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

production, ''The Journey of Lesra Martin'', directed by Cheryl Foggo.

Sources

Soundprint.org – The Homeboy and the Hurricane
Retrieved December 2, 2006.

Retrieved December 2, 2006.

External links

Lesra Martin web site

''The Journey of Lesra Martin'' at NFB, 2002

* ttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0406003/ Internet Movie Database, The Journey of Lesra Martin {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Lesra 1963 births African-American writers American emigrants to Canada American motivational speakers Black Canadian lawyers Canadian people of African-American descent Lawyers in British Columbia Living people Lawyers from Queens, New York Schulich School of Law alumni People from Bushwick, Brooklyn People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn 20th-century African-American lawyers