[BwayDems] Martin Sostre, 1923-2015

[Paula Diamond Roman]

MartinSostre(March20, 1923 - August 12, 2015) Today we lost a specialperson, my neighbor, civil-rights and community activist,Martin Sostre. Martin was born in Harlemto parents who had migrated from Puerto Rico. A high school dropout, he spent four years in the Army, before returningto New York.  From 1952 to 1964, heserved a 12-year sentence on a drug conviction at the infamous Attica StatePrison; he spent five of those years in solitary confinement as punishment forpracticing law without a license, as well as having contraband books andreligious materials.  During thisoriginal incarceration, he was introduced to and embraced radical politicalthought, including the teachings of Malcolm X. When Martin was released,he opened a bookstore selling radical literature “to help [his] people byincreasing the political awareness of the youth” by learning about theirhistory and themselves.  He also becamean outspoken about the injustices of racial and class oppression and aboutindependence for Puerto Rico.  In 1967,he was arrested as part of one of many illegal COunter INTELligence PROgram(COINTELPRO) actions and sentenced to 31 to 41 years for "narcotics, riot,arson, and assault".  Martin wasconvicted almost entirely on the testimony of an acquaintance facing drugcharges of his own; despite this witness recanting six years later, Martin wasrepeatedly denied a new trial.  Duringthis illegitimate incarceration, Martin continued as a “jailhouse lawyer,” providinglegal counsel to other inmates and winning two landmark legal cases, Sostre v. Rockefeller and Sostrev. Otis, establishing inmates' rights to practice religion, receiveuncensored mail and obtain certain minimum conditions in solitary confinement. As a result of the actionsof The Committee to Free Martin Sostre, made up of prominent citizens,including Russian Nobel Peace Laureate Andrei Sakharov, the Soviet physicistand dissident; Jean-Paul Sartre, and a number of figures in the civil rightsmovement; and Amnesty International, Martin was freed in 1975.  Once he was out, he fought against landlordswho tried to deny services to their poor and seemingly powerless tenants.  He married fellow activist Lizabeth RobertsSostre and raised two sons, Mark and Vincent. He never stopped hoping and working for change. Martin’s secondincarceration was the subject of a book, ''The Crime of Martin Sostre,'' (1970)by Vincent Copeland, and a film documentary, ''Frame-Up! The Imprisonment ofMartin Sostre'' (1974) by Pacific Street Films. His prison letters were collected in Lettersfrom Prison: A compilation of Martin Sostre's correspondence (1968). When I first moved into mycurrent building, next to Martin’s building, it was clear that a number of ourneighbors were scared of him.  I thoughtthat was silly.  Martin was simplyauthentic.  Experience taught him not tobe concerned with the extraneous and to remain focused on the essential.  Martin reminded me a little of my father anda little of a hero out of a movie or a comic book about a social justice league.  Martin was a force of nature and I’ll misshim.
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