The day before he left office, President Joe Biden posthumously pardoned Marcus Garvey.

Garvey, convicted of mail fraud in the 1920s, was widely believed to be a victim of politically motivated charges. Biden also pardoned advocates for immigrant rights, criminal justice reform, and gun violence prevention, as well as a Virginia lawmaker.

Biden framed the clemency as reflecting America’s “sacred covenant” of unity and redemption, emphasizing that Americans “lean into each other” when mistakes are made.

Notably, he also commuted nearly 2,500 sentences for nonviolent drug offenses, setting a record for presidential clemency.

Garvey’s legacy remains powerful, with Martin Luther King Jr. calling him the first to give millions of Black people “a sense of dignity and destiny.”

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