Paterson renames street outside Passaic County Courthouse for Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter

PATERSON — Rubin “Hurricane” Carter — the boxer who spent 19 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of a triple murder in Paterson — became a national icon for people who see racism in the criminal justice system.

Bob Dylan wrote a song about Carter while he was in prison. Denzel Washington starred as Carter in a movie after the Hurricane’s release. There have been numerous other books and films about Carter.

But in Paterson — where Carter grew up and lived until his arrest — there’s little evidence of his legacy.

“We have done a poor job acknowledging his very existence,” said Paterson Councilman Michael Jackson.

But that’s going to be changing soon. The City Council on Tuesday night voted to name a street after Carter. Not just any street. Carter’s name will be added to the portion of Hamilton Street that includes the Passaic County Courthouse — the building where his trial took place in 1967.

'We paid our dues here'

The late boxer’s daughter, Theodora Carter, attended the council meeting.

“The Carter family has a rich history in the city of Paterson,” she said. “We paid our dues here.”

Jackson, who sponsored the street-naming resolution, noted that he has lived for many years across the street from Carter’s daughter.

“This city owes you so much more,” Jackson said to Carter’s daughter before casting his vote. “A sign on a street, it’s OK, but 19 years of his life, 19 years of your life that he spent behind bars, wrongly accused.”

“When you talk about the lack of consideration for Black lives,” Jackson added, “it’s been a part of our history and lineage for so long.”

Councilman Al Abdelaziz — often an adversary of Jackson — embraced his colleague’s street-naming resolution and suggested that the city team up with Passaic County officials to do something more to pay tribute to Carter. Abdelaziz mentioned the possibility of a statue in the plaza outside the courthouse and a plague telling Carter’s story.

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Carter's social justice work is noted

Family members at the event noted that Carter — after his prison release — founded a group that worked to free people who were wrongly convicted. Jackson said that in doing research for writing the street-naming resolution he learned that the day after Carter died in 2014, one of the men who Carter tried to exonerate gained his freedom.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Carter’s daughter read a quotation by South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela: “For to be free is not only to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

She then spoke directly to the council.

“That’s why I came here,” Carter said. “Let’s finally free my father.”

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ: Street renamed for Rubin Hurricane Carter