Marcus Garvey influenced leaders like Malcolm X after being convicted of mail fraud in the 1920s. (AP: File)
In short:
Late civil rights leader Marcus Garvey is one of five people Joe Biden has pardoned the day before Donald Trump's inauguration.
Others pardoned include gun violence prevention advocate Darryl Chambers, immigration advocate Ravidath "Ravi" Ragbir, Don Scott and criminal justice advocate Kemba Smith Pradia.
Two people have also had their sentences commuted.
US President Joe Biden has pardoned five people, including the late civil rights leader Marcus Garvey, according to the White House, the day before Donald Trump's inauguration.
Garvey, who died in 1940, was a civil rights leader who was convicted of mail fraud in 1923 and sentenced to five years' imprisonment, a sentence that was commuted by president Calvin Coolidge in 1927.
Human rights organisations credit Garvey as the first man to organise a mass movement among African Americans.
The White House said he created Black Star Line shipping company and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association, which celebrated African history and culture.
Immigration activist Ravi Ragbir was convicted of non-violent offences in 2001. (AP: Bebeto Matthews)
The other people pardoned include Darryl Chambers, a gun violence prevention advocate who was convicted of a non-violent drug offence, immigration advocate Ravidath "Ravi" Ragbir, who was convicted of a non-violent offence in 2001, the White House said in a statement.
Mr Biden also pardoned Don Leonard Scott, who was convicted of a non-violent drug offence in 1994 and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Scott was elected to the Virginia state legislature in 2019 and became its first Black speaker last year, the White House said.
Don Scott was among those pardonned. (AP: Steve Helber)
Kemba Smith Pradia, a criminal justice advocate who was previously convicted of a non-violent drug offence in 1994, also was pardoned.
Mr Biden commuted the sentences of two others who were sentenced in the 1990s and whom he credited with remarkable rehabilitation: Robin Peoples and Michelle West.
Reuters
