Biden left out five others, including civil rights leader Marcus Garvey

President Biden on Sunday pardoned five activists and government officials, including granting clemency after the death of civil rights leader Marcus Garvey, who mobilized the black nationalist movement and was convicted of fraud on of the post office in 1923.

Mr. Biden also commuted the sentences of two other people serving sentences for crimes committed in the 1990s to life in prison. The two people, whose petition has huge support from human rights activists, will be released next month, Mr. Biden said.

Mr. Biden, who has issued more pardons and extraditions than any other president, said the pardons “have shown remorse, rehabilitation and redemption,” and “all have made significant contributions to the betterment of our communities.” them”.

Mr. Garvey’s posthumous pardon was among the most famous of the last round. Civil rights leaders and lawmakers have long called his conviction unjust and argued that he was targeted as a civil rights leader.

In a statement, the White House highlighted his contributions, including the creation of the Black Star Line, the first black-owned cruise line and international cruise line, and the founding of Universal Negro Improvement Association, which celebrated African history and culture.

The White House also cited Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who will celebrate his birthday on Monday, which describes Mr. Garvey, who died in 1940, as “the first colored man in the history of the United States to lead and shape the mass movement.”

Among those to receive the pardon, which clears his record of convictions, is Darryl Chambers, a gun violence prevention advocate who previously was convicted of a nonviolent offense and was sentenced to 17 years in prison. years in prison in 1998; Ravi Ragbir, a prominent attorney for immigrants who were convicted of non-violent crimes in 2001; and Don Scott, an attorney who served time for a non-violent offense and was elected to the Virginia House of Representatives in 2019, becoming the first black speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates that year – gone.