Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter, the famous professional boxer who was wrongly convicted of murder by an all-white jury in 1967 but later exonerated, has died in Toronto at the age of 76.

“If I find a heaven after this life, I’ll be quite surprised. In my own years on this planet, though, I lived in hell for the first 49 years, and have been in heaven for the past 28 years… To live in a world where truth matters and justice, however late, really happens, that world would be heaven enough for us all.” —Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter (1937-2014)

His death was confirmed by family friends close to the man whose journey of racially-charged imprisonment helped fuel the prisoner rights movement while becoming the subject of books, a famous Bob Dylan 70’s protest song, and a feature Hollywood film.

According to the Associated Press:

Following his ultimate and final release from prison, Carter dedicated much of his life to helping other prisoners, working with the Canada-based Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted for which he served as executive director from 1999 to 2005.

In a statement, the AIDWYC expressed being “deeply saddened” by Carter’s passing but celebrated his commitment to the cause of justice: