Bunker Hill Community College Will Host Civil Rights Activist Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter

BOSTON, March 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The civil rights activist and former champion boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter will speak at Bunker Hill Community College at 1 p.m., Thursday, March 24, 2011, as part of the Compelling Conversations Speaker Series.  In 1966, after Carter had won the European Light Welterweight Championship for two years in a row, he was accused of murdering three white people in a New Jersey bar.  Carter received a triple life-sentence, but always maintained his innocence.  Only after 19 years, including retrials, reconvictions and incarceration did federal courts free Carter in 1985.

As a boxer, Carter won many early-round knockouts, an accomplishment that earned him the nickname "Hurricane."  Singer Bob Dylan immortalized Carter's story in a song, and Denzel Washington played Carter in the feature film, The Hurricane.  Carter has chronicled his own life story in two books, The Sixteenth Round and the recently released Eye of the Hurricane: My Path from Darkness to Freedom.  He will sign copies of his books at a reception following his talk.  

The recipient of two honorary Doctor of Laws degrees, Carter lives in Toronto, Canada, and speaks frequently on issues of education, literacy, wrongful convictions and the death penalty.  He has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on the need to preserve federal review of state court convictions.  

The Compelling Conversations Speaker Series brings to the College individuals with diverse perspectives, profound insights and challenging opinions.  Prior speakers have included women's rights' advocate Gloria Steinem, CNN medical reporter Sanjay Gupta, author and New York Times columnist Gail Collins, historian and filmmaker Ken Burns, and AIDS activist and actress Rosie Perez. The Compelling Conversations Speaker Series is free and open to the public.  Reservations may be made at www.bhcc.mass.edu/speakers-reservations.  

Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts. The College enrolls more than 12, 500 students on two campuses and at four satellite locations. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Six in ten students are people of color and more than half of BHCC's students are women. The College also enrolls more than 700 international students who come from more than 90 countries and speak 75 different languages.

SOURCE Bunker Hill Community College