[BwayDems] Martin Sostre, 1923-2015

[Joe Paradise]

Thank you, Paula, for these words.
  I never had the honor of meeting Martin but I have heard an enormous
about about him.  He really made a difference in this world.  He was a man
of great courage and perseverance in the cause of justice. My heart is very
full for Liz and the rest of the family. We love you, Liz.  We really,
really do.
Joe


On Fri, Aug 14, 2015 at 3:41 PM, Angelita Sanabria <as6 at columbia.edu> wrote:

> Pa*ula,*
>
>
>
>
>
> *I’m very sorry to hear of the passing of Martins Sostre.  He was a great
> man who stood up for the many injustices and prejudice**  in our
> society.  I would like to extend my condolences to the Soste family. *
>
>
>
>
>
> *Angie Sanabria*
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* bwdupdates [mailto:bwdupdates-bounces at broadwaydemocrats.org] *On
> Behalf Of *Paula Diamond Roman
> *Sent:* Thursday, August 13, 2015 11:04 PM
> *To:* Listserv
> *Subject:* [BwayDems] Martin Sostre, 1923-2015
>
>
>
> Martin Sostre
>
> (March 20, 1923 - August 12, 2015)
>
>
>
> Today we lost a special person, my neighbor, civil-rights and community
> activist, Martin Sostre.
>
>
>
> Martin was born in Harlem to parents who had migrated from Puerto Rico.  A
> high school dropout, he spent four years in the Army, before returning to
> New York.  From 1952 to 1964, he served a 12-year sentence on a drug
> conviction at the infamous Attica State Prison; he spent five of those
> years in solitary confinement as punishment for practicing law without a
> license, as well as having contraband books and religious materials.
> During this original incarceration, he was introduced to and embraced
> radical political thought, including the teachings of Malcolm X.
>
>
>
> When Martin was released, he opened a bookstore selling radical literature
> “to help [his] people by increasing the political awareness of the youth”
> by learning about their history and themselves.  He also became an
> outspoken about the injustices of racial and class oppression and about
> independence 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 was convicted almost entirely on the testimony of an acquaintance
> facing drug charges of his own; despite this witness recanting six years
> later, Martin was repeatedly denied a new trial.  During this illegitimate
> incarceration, Martin continued as a “jailhouse lawyer,” providing legal
> counsel to other inmates and winning two landmark legal cases, *Sostre v.
> **Rockefeller* and *Sostre v. Otis*, establishing inmates' rights to
> practice religion, receive uncensored mail and obtain certain minimum
> conditions in solitary confinement.
>
>
>
> As a result of the actions of The Committee to Free Martin Sostre, made up
> of prominent citizens, including Russian Nobel Peace Laureate Andrei
> Sakharov, the Soviet physicist and dissident; Jean-Paul Sartre, and a
> number of figures in the civil rights movement; and Amnesty International,
> Martin was freed in 1975.  Once he was out, he fought against landlords who
> tried to deny services to their poor and seemingly powerless tenants.  He
> married fellow activist Lizabeth Roberts Sostre and raised two sons, Mark
> and Vincent.  He never stopped hoping and working for change.
>
>
>
> Martin’s second incarceration was the subject of a book, ''The Crime of
> Martin Sostre,'' (1970) by Vincent Copeland, and a film documentary,
> ''Frame-Up! The Imprisonment of Martin Sostre'' (1974) by Pacific Street
> Films <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Street_Films>.  His prison
> letters were collected in *Letters from Prison: A compilation of Martin
> Sostre's correspondence* (1968).
>
>
>
> When I first moved into my current building, next to Martin’s building, it
> was clear that a number of our neighbors were scared of him.  I thought
> that was silly.  Martin was simply authentic.  Experience taught him not to
> be concerned with the extraneous and to remain focused on the essential.
> Martin reminded me a little of my father and a 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 miss him.
>
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>


-- 
*Joe Paradise*
King Lear Enterprise LLC


*Whatever you work on - you need to fall in love with the process andthe
outcome will come.*

jpfound at gmail.com
www.joeparadisestudio.com

☎ ny +1 212 316 2963

✂-----------------------------------------


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