Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter Delivers Inspirational Message to Ohio University Audience

ATHENS, Ohio (January 21, 2001) -- Living up to his nickname, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter made a whirlwind of a speech to a large audience at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on Saturday night. His lecture concluded Martin Luther King, Jr. Week at Ohio University.

Carter's message was based around his belief that "substance is always more powerful than form." He encouraged everyone to develop personal worth and realize that everything you need to be successful is within you.

The former professional boxer was imprisoned for nearly 20 years in New Jersey for a crime he didn't commit before being released and exonerated.

He said that most of his prison time was spent in the darkness of solitary confinement and that is when he came to the realization that there is only one race -- the human race.

"Strange things happen to you in solitary confinement," said Carter. "Darkness, bitterness and hate set in or you see things as they really are and see things that you have never seen before. This is where I found peace and reconciliation. I found that all of us can transcend racism by embracing our differences and reaching for a higher level of understanding."

While alone in darkness, Carter discovered that he was in two prisons, a physical one made out of bricks and mortar and a universal one in his mind. He believes that most of us are under the hypnosis of our minds and that racism doesn't really exist, it's a man-made thing supported by society. Carter acknowledged that it is innate for everyone to like being around people who think, act and look like them, but many people are dying from the cold within their heart.

"We have to find our common humanity beyond our differences to overcome the myth of racism," he said. "This includes knowing thyself."

Carter proclaimed that it's a miracle he escaped death in the electric chair after being convicted of the murder of two white people and no one gave him a chance of ever being released from prison after being sentenced to three life terms.

"Hate put me in prison, but love busted me out," Carter said. "Just because a jury found me guilty, that didn't make me guilty."

Carter said the feeling of powerlessness makes us feel helpless and fearful and prohibits us from finding peace within ourselves.

"Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond belief and that power scares us because we have no self-confidence," he said. "Dare to dream. Access to opportunity is the key to success."

Carter feels that prison proved to be a blessing in the long run, because it allowed him to become the person that he is today instead of a punch-drunk boxer who didn't know when to quit the barbaric sport.

"I want to introduce new ideas to young people before their minds calcify into hatred," he said. "You can change your life if you dare to dream. We live in a magical world and everything we need to change is within us. Keep on fighting and do all things with love."