Martin Sostre
{{Short description|American activist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Martin Sostre
| image = Martin Sostre Portrait.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Painting of Martin Sostre by Jerry Ross as an older man;{{cite web |title=Portrait of Martin Sostre |first1=Jerry |last1=Ross |author-link1=Jerry Ross (painter) |date=May 5, 2020 |publisher=Burchfield Penney Art Center |url=https://burchfieldpenney.org/art-and-artists/artwork/object:2020-024-000-portrait-of-martin-sostre/ }} compare photographs in Ebony{{cite magazine |first1=William |last1=Worthy |author-link1=William Worthy |magazine=Ebony |title=The Anguish of Martin Sostre |date=October 1970 |volume=25 |number=12 |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oqubl8stulAC&pg=PA122 |pages=122-126, 128-129, 132}}
| birth_name =
| birth_date = March 20, 1923
| birth_place = Harlem, New York, U.S.
| death_date = August 12, 2015 (aged 92)
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| other_names =
| known_for = Activism, being falsely imprisoned
| occupation =
}}
Martin Ramirez Sostre (March 20, 1923 – August 12, 2015) was an American activist known for his role in the prisoners' rights movement. He was recognized as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.{{cite web |title=Amnesty International Annual Report 1974-1975 |year=1975 |publisher=Amnesty International |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/pol10/001/1975/en/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111181850/https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/POL100011975ENGLISH.pdf |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |quote=Much attention has been given throughout the year to the case of Martin Sostre, sentenced to a possible 40 years' imprisonment in 1968 for the alleged sale of narcotics. The only witness of the alleged sale has since recanted his testimony, and AI believes that Mr Sostre was falsely implicated because of his political activities. He was one of the prisoners featured during Prisoner of Conscience Week in October 1974. |access-date=February 21, 2023 |url-status=live }}
Biography
Sostre served time in Attica prison during the early 1960s, where he was ideologically influenced by Black Islam, Black nationalism, internationalism, and later anarchism. In 1966, he opened the first Afro-Asian Bookstore at 1412 Jefferson in Buffalo, New York.Frame Up, at 10:30. The first was at 1412 and a half Jefferson Ave. A second was at 289 High[http://www.buffalonian.com/history/articles/1951-now/1960santiwar/powellbuff1965sostre.html The Alternative Community in Buffalo, 1965-76 B. Martin Sostre Bookseller Turned Black Revolutionary (1967).] The Buffalonian, 2001. Retrieved July 7, 2011. The store became a center for radical thought and education in Buffalo's Black community. As Sostre details:
{{quote|I taught continually - giving out pamphlets free to those who had no money. I let them sit and read for hours in the store. Some would come back every day and read the same book until they finished it. This was the opportunity I had dreamed about - to be able to help my people by increasing the political awareness of the youth.{{cite web|last=Powell|first=Elwin|title=B. Martin Sostre Bookseller Turned Black Revolutionary (1967)|url=http://www.buffalonian.com/history/articles/1951-now/1960santiwar/powellbuff1965sostre.html|work=The Alternative Community in Buffalo, 1965-76|publisher=The Buffalonian|access-date=December 20, 2011}}}}
Sostre and his coworker, Geraldine Robinson, were arrested at his bookstore on July 14, 1967, for "narcotics, riot, arson, and assault", charges later proven to be fabricated as part of a COINTELPRO program.{{Cite news |last=Shapiro |first=Joseph |date=April 14, 2017 |title=How One Inmate Changed The Prison System From The Inside |work=National Public Radio |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/14/507297469/how-one-inmate-changed-the-prison-system-from-the-inside |access-date=April 21, 2023}}{{cite book|last1=Churchill|first1=Ward|last2=Wall|first2=Jim Vander|title=Agents of Repression: The FBI's Secret Wars Against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uP8YRoyyNVwC&pg=PA61|year=2002|publisher=South End Press|isbn=978-0-89608-646-3|page=61}} He was convicted and sentenced to serve forty-one years and thirty days. Sostre became a jailhouse lawyer, regularly acting as legal counsel to other inmates and winning two landmark legal cases involving prisoner rights: Sostre v. Rockefeller and Sostre v. Otis. According to Sostre, these decisions constituted "a resounding defeat for the establishment who will now find it exceedingly difficult to torture with impunity the thousands of captive black (and white) political prisoners illegally held in their concentration camps."{{cite magazine|last=Gross|first=Gerald J.|title= Letter to the Editor: The Case of Martin Sostre|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1972/mar/23/the-case-of-martin-sostre/|magazine= New York Review of Books|access-date=September 3, 2015|date=March 23, 1972}}
Sostre was placed in solitary confinement for more than 5 years. In earlier legal activity, Sostre secured religious rights for Black Muslim prisoners and also eliminated (in the words of Federal Judge Constance Motley) some of the more "outrageously inhuman aspects of solitary confinement in some of the state prisons." He was responsible for de-legitimatizing censorship of inmates' mail, invasive bodily exams, and penal solitary confinement.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/obituaries/martin-sostre-overlooked.html|title=Overlooked No More: Martin Sostre, Who Reformed America's Prisons From His Cell|date=2019-04-24|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-03-23|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
In December 1973 Amnesty International put Sostre on its "prisoner of conscience" list, stating: "We became convinced that Martin Sostre has been the victim of an international miscarriage of justice because of his political beliefs ... not for his crimes ."{{cite web|url=http://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/Black%20Liberation%20Disk/Black%20Power!/SugahData/Essays/Schaich.S.pdf|title=The Prison Letters of Martin Sostre: Documents of Resistance|last=Schaich|first=Warren L.|date=March 1977|publisher=Journal of Black Studies|access-date=June 25, 2015}} In addition to numerous defense committees in New York State, a Committee to Free Martin Sostre, made up of prominent citizens, joined in an effort to publicize Sostre's case and petition the New York Governor Hugh Carey for his release. On December 7, 1975, Russian Nobel Peace Laureate Andrei Sakharov added his name to the clemency appeal. Governor Carey granted Sostre clemency on Christmas Eve of 1975;{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/14/507297469/how-one-inmate-changed-the-prison-system-from-the-inside|title=How One Inmate Changed The Prison System From The Inside|publisher =NPR|access-date=April 15, 2017|language=en}} Sostre was released from prison in February 1976.
Legacy
Black anarchist writer and activist Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin attributes his initial interest in anarchism to Sostre.{{Cite web |last1=Ervin |first1=Lorenzo Kom'boa |author-link=Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin |date=2020-02-25 |title=Martin Sostre: Prison Revolutionary |url=https://blackrosefed.org/martin-sostre-prison-revolutionary-komboa/ |access-date=2023-03-31 |work=Black Rose/Rosa Negra Anarchist Federation |language=en-US |quote=I became an Anarchist, a jailhouse lawyer, and a prison activist during the 1970s because of Martin Sostre. |df=mdy-all}}
In 1974, Pacific Street Films debuted a short documentary film on Sostre called Frame-up! The Imprisonment of Martin Sostre detailing Sostre's case with in-prison interviews.{{Cite web |title=Frame Up! + Torture of Mothers: Case of Harlem 6 |url=http://www.bam.org/film/2022/torture-of-mothers-frame-up |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=BAM |language=en |date=5 November 2022|quote=Frame Up! shines a light on politically motivated abuses within the American justice system as well as Sostre's remarkable and enduring campaign for human rights.}}Sucher, J. (1974). Frame-up! the imprisonment of Martin Sostre. Pacific Street Films.
In 2012, activist Mariame Kaba lamented the lack of biographies on Sostre.{{Cite web |last=Kaba |first=Mariame |author-link=Mariame Kaba |date=12 June 2012 |title=Martin Sostre Was a Legal Advocate, Prisoner, and a Revolutionary |url=https://offshootjournal.org/a-legal-advocate-prisoner-and-revolutionary/ |website=Offshoot}} His death in 2015 prompted greater biographical attention.
In November 2017, the Frank E. Merriweather Jr. Library hosted To and From 1967: A Rebellion with Martin Sostre, an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Black rebellion on Buffalo's East side.{{Cite web|url=http://squeaky.org/event/to-and-from-1967-a-rebellion-with-martin-sostre/|title=To and From 1967: A Rebellion with Martin Sostre|date=September 9, 2017|website=Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center|language=en-US|access-date=February 13, 2019}} The event included an installation created by a local eastside artist called Reviving Sostre.{{Cite web|url=https://ppgbuffalo.org/news-and-events/news/article:11-10-2017-12-00am-ppg-partner-squeaky-wheel-offers-two-day-series-of-screenings-and-discussions-inspired-by-prison-justice-activist-martin-sostre/|title=PPG Partner Squeaky Wheel Offers Two Day Series Of Screenings And Discussions Inspired By Prison Justice Activist Martin Sostre > News > News > Partnership for the Public Good (PPG) - Buffalo, NY|website=ppgbuffalo.org|access-date=February 13, 2019}} The installation consisted of three bookshelves painted by the artists and placed in the lobby of the Merriweather Library, which was built on the same location one of Sostre's bookstores used to stand.{{Cite web|url=https://www.justbuffalo.org/event/1967-rebellion-martin-sostre-20171118/|title=To & From 1967: A Rebellion with Martin Sostre|website=Just Buffalo Literary Center {{!}} Buffalo, NY|language=en-US|access-date=February 13, 2019}}
In 2019, four years after his death, the New York Times published an obituary of Sostre in their "Overlooked No More" series, "obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths ... went unreported in The Times" and intended to include people from marginalized backgrounds whose profiles had not been included.{{Cite news |last=Symonds |first=Alexandria |date=April 24, 2019 |title=Overlooked No More: Martin Sostre, Who Reformed America's Prisons From His Cell |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/obituaries/martin-sostre-overlooked.html |work=New York Times}}
The Martin Sostre Institute maintains a website that includes an archive of Sostre's writings, photos and films about Sostre, and information about court cases in which he was involved.{{Cite web |title=HOME |url=https://www.martinsostre.com/ |access-date=2023-07-04 |website=Martin Sostre |language=en}} In March 2023, the Institute co-hosted a birthday centennial celebration for Sostre alongside the New York Public Library's Jail & Prison Services team, the NYPL's Harry Belafonte Library, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.{{Cite web |last=Pollock |first=Robert |date=2023-04-19 |title=The Legacy of Martin Sostre (1923-2015) |url=https://pen.org/martin-sostre-legacy/ |access-date=2023-07-04 |website=PEN America |language=en}}
See also
References and sources
;References
{{reflist}}
;Sources
- {{cite book | title =The Crime of Martin Sostre | url =https://archive.org/details/crimeofmartinsos00cope | url-access =registration | first = Vincent |last=Copeland |publisher= McGraw-Hill | edition = 1st |date=1970}}
- {{cite news | title=Iron of Martin Sostre |first=Tom |last=Wicker | work=New York Times |date= December 8, 1974 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/12/08/archives/irony-of-martin-sostre-in-the-nation.html}}
- {{cite journal | first =Malcolm |last=McLaughlin |date=2014 |title= Storefront revolutionary: Martin Sostre's Afro-Asian Bookshop, black liberation culture, and the New Left, 1964–75 | journal = The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics and Culture |volume=7 |pages=1–27 |doi= 10.1080/17541328.2014.930265 |s2cid=146674495 |url=https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/48540/1/Storefront_Final_Copy_Final_Edits.docx }}
- {{cite journal |first=Garrett |last=Felber |date=2018 |title='Shades of Mississippi': The Nation of Islam's Prison Organizing, the Carceral State, and the Black Freedom Struggle |journal=The Journal of American History |volume=105 |pages=71–95 |doi=10.1093/jahist/jay008}}
- {{cite journal |title=The Prison Letters of Martin Sostre: Documents of Resistance |first1=Warren L. |last1=Schaich |first2=Diane S. |last2=Hope |journal=Journal of Black Studies |volume=7 |issue=3 |date=March 1977 |pages=281–300 |url=http://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/Black%20Liberation%20Disk/Black%20Power!/SugahData/Essays/Schaich.S.pdf |doi=10.1177/002193477700700303 |s2cid=143383200}}
- {{cite web| title =Martin Sostre and the Fight Against Solitary Confinement |date= May 16, 2016 | first = Garrett |last=Felber |url= http://www.aaihs.org/martin-sostre-and-the-fight-against-solitary-confinement/ | website = Black Perspectives | publisher= AAIHS}}
- {{cite news
| last = Symonds
| first = Alexandria
| title = Overlooked No More: Martin Sostre, Who Reformed America's Prisons From His Cell
| newspaper = The New York Times
| pages = 11
| date = April 24, 2019
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/obituaries/martin-sostre-overlooked.html
| access-date = 2019-04-24 }}
- {{cite web | title = Remembering Martin Sostre |date = August 13, 2020 | first = Julius | last = Gavroche | url = https://autonomies.org/2020/08/remembering-martin-sostre/ | website = autonomies }}
- {{cite web |title=The unforgettable life of prison rebel Martin Sostre |date=August 12, 2020 |first=William |last=Anderson |url=https://roarmag.org/essays/martin-sostre-prison-activist/ |website=ROAR Magazine}}
- {{cite web | title = Buffalo Street Art |date = January 6, 2009 | first = Alec | last = Dunn | url = https://justseeds.org/street-art-in-buffalo/| website = Justseeds }}
External links
- [https://www.martinsostre.com/ Martin Sostre Institute (official website)]
- [https://archive.org/details/martin-sostre-in-court-watermark Martin Sostre in Court], courtesy of The Buffalo History Museum
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxf8rvaPUok&ab_channel=TheNewYorkPublicLibrary "Sostre at 100: A Revolutionary Life"] hosted by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
{{Anarchism}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:20th-century African-American people
Category:Activists from Buffalo, New York
Category:African-American anarchists
Category:American prisoners and detainees
Category:Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by the United States
Category:American people convicted of arson
Category:American people convicted of assault
Category:American people convicted of drug offenses
Category:Prisoners and detainees of New York (state)