Marcus Mosiah Garvey - Man of Nobility

Every year in the month of October, Jamaicans celebrate National Heroes Day. How many of the National Heroes have criminal convictions on their record? Should the Government of Jamaica make high level representation to the US Government to exonerate Marcus Garvey? My article will provide some insights on Jamaica’s 1st National Hero, The Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey. “History is the land-mark by which we are directed into the true course of life.” As West Indians and Jamaicans in particular it is important to appreciate our forefathers and the legacy they have left behind. ‘Legacy’ is a much used word in Jamaica today. Garvey’s legacy is undeniable; it is our responsibility to honour and celebrate him. “What you do today that is worthwhile, inspires others to act at some future time.” We note Garvey’s influence on the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Bob Marley. Garvey was born in St.Ann’s Bay on August 18, 1887 to Marcus Garvey Snr. and Sarah Richards – later Garvey. He attended infant and elementary school in the said community, plus he got some private tutoring until the age of 14. Garvey worked firstly as a printer’s apprentice with his godfather after which he did odd jobs mostly in the print industry. Garvey moved to Kingston around 1906 were his political interest was sparked. Garvey wrote letters to various newspapers in the island about issues affecting the poor in the country. These letters marked Garvey’s “entrance” unto the political scene in Jamaica. He also travelled to Central America in search of work, where the racism and exploitation meted out to blacks outraged him. In 1912 Garvey left Jamaica for England. During his stay in England he worked on the docks in London and Liverpool with other West Indians and Africans. He also worked on the African Times and Orient Review, 2 monthly journals, owned by Duse Mohamed Ali. Colin Grant, posited that it was during this period that Garvey discovered the book that would be the most influential of his life "Up From Slavery". I read "Up From Slavery", Garvey was later to write, "and then I my doom - if I may call it - of being a race leader dawned on me". What he saw and experienced in London in 1914, transformed him, “my brain was on fire and there was a world of thought to conquer. I could not remain in London anymore”. He left for Jamaica he days later. Immediately upon his return to Jamaica in 1914 he formed the Universal Negro Improvement Association (U.N.I.A.) and the African Communities League to pursue his vision of “Africa for the Africans those at home and those abroad.” Colin Granted argued that "Garvey was a man in a hurry". During his brief sojourn in Jamaica he met Amy Ashwood, a seventeen year past student of Westwood High School for Girls. In 1916, he went to the United States of America, he was joined sometimes after by Amy Ashwood. He married Amy Ashwood later in 1916. Few years later he separated from Amy Ashwood and married her close friend, Amy Jacques. Rupert Lewis noted that this journey to the USA was to be the decisive factor in Garvey’s political career. To further enhance his “Back to Africa” vision he opened UNIA offices in Harlem and other cities. Garvey started other projects such as The Negro World newspaper and most notably The Black Star Shipping Line to promote trade between blacks on both side of the Atlantic. It is important to note that in the early 1920’s the U.N.I.A. was the single most powerful black organization in the U.S.A. Marcus Garvey was the first black man to mobilized African-Americans in America not Martin Luther King Jr.! Garvey's movement pre-dated Martin Luther King Jr., etc and the Montgomery Bus boycott in 1955. In America Garvey recognised the influence of the Ku Klux Klan, and in early 1922, he went to Atlanta, Georgia, for a conference with KKK imperial giant Edward Young Clarke. Garvey had many run-ins with prominent Afro-Americans, most notable, W. E. B. Du Bois. In his book, " Negro With A Hat", Colin Grant noted that Du Bois wrote that "Garvey was an extraordinary leader of men...who with singular success has capitalised and made vocal the great and long suffering grievances and spirit of protest among the West Indian pesantry". Du Bois would later write that "Marcus Garvey is, without doubt, the most dangerous enemy of the Negro race in America and in the world. He is either a lunatic or a traitor." While in the U.S.A. Garvey came to the attention of the FBI Director, J.Edgar Hoover who sought to have him deported. In 1923 Garvey was indicted for mail fraud, tried and convicted. He appealed but his appeal was dismissed. In 1925 he was sent to Federal Prison in Atlanta for 5 years. During his incarceration his new wife, Amy Jacques came up with the idea to put together a collection of his speech and epigrams. "The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey" emerged. Amy Jacques wrote a constant stream of letters to the US President and US Attorney General seeking a commutation of his sentence. In 1927, US Attorney General John Sargent complied a detail brief for then US President Coolidge. "Garvey's case was un-usual", Sargent opined, "the prosecution was designed for the protection of colored people whom it had charged Garvey had defrauded...none of these apparently believed they had been defrauded, and maintained steadfastly their confidence in Garvey". President Coolidge drew one conclusion from this brief, Garvey's sentence must be commuted to expire at once. There was one important caveat:Garvey must be set free on the understanding that he would be deported immediately. His sentence was commuted and on December 03, 1927 he was released and immediately deported to Jamaica. (A long time dem a deport Jamaicans from America!!). Thousands of his supporters gathered to see Garvey go, journalists from numerous newspapers where also on hand to witness his departure. In his farewell speech, Garvey proclaimed, " I will leave America fully happy as when I came, in that my relationship with the Negro people was most pleasant and aspiring. My entire life will be devoted to the support of that cause." Garvey's return to Jamaica was triumphant. The Daily Gleaner reported that " from morning...a mass crowded the thoroughfare Garvey was likely to pass." At Liberty Hall, the UNIA Headquarters Garvey made this emotional speech "They dragged me through the streets of Harlem like a common thief, but thou oh God of Ethiopia, who when the Assyrians spat upon thee and Jews jeered thee...it was a Negro who helped you to bear your cross. Can you forget the Negro now?". In 1929 Garvey launched the People’s Political Party, Jamaica's first modern political party. He contested the local elections in 1929, which he won. Garvey had numerous run-ins with the authorises in Jamaica. On one occasion he was jailed for contempt. Garvey was involved in many ventures, he started the Blackman newspaper and the Black Man magazine to provide a voice for the powerless. Garvey was sidetracked by his finance woes, his headquarters, Edelweiss Park foreclosed on its mortgage and was sold in a public auction. Garvey was disilussioned, Jamaica, he noted "was a place next to hell". He could not take it any longer and left for England later in 1935. London, was entirely different from his earlier visits. The UNIA was in disarray and did not have the sway over the Negroes it once had. Colin Grant noted, that to Amy Bailey, he confessed "I left Jamaica a broken man, broken in spirit, broken in health and broken in health...and I will never, never, never go back". He never returned, alive, Garvey died on June 10, 1940 a broken man. In 1964, his remains were exhumed and taken to Jamaica. On 15 November 1964, the Government of Jamaica, having proclaimed him Jamaica's first national hero, re-interred him at a shrine in National Heroes Park. Martin Luther King Jr., in a speech in while visiting Jamaica in 1965 he told the audience that Garvey "was the first man of colour to lead and develop a mass movement. He was the first man on a mass scale and level to give millions of Negroes a sense of dignity and destiny. And make the Negro feel he was somebody." The ends you serve that are selfish will take you no further than yourself but the ends you serve that are for all, in common, will take you into eternity. Men who are in earnest are not afraid of consequences. References 1. Wikipedia Marcus Garvey profile. Retrieved 12 October 2008. 2. Garvey, Marcus; Jacques-Garvey, Amy (ed.) (1986). The philosophy and opinions of Marcus Garvey or Africa for the Africans. Dover (Massachusetts): Majority Press. 3. Grant, Colin (2009). Negro with a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey. London: Random House. 4. Lewis, Rupert. Marcus Garvey: Anti-Colonial Champion. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 1988