by Representative Yvette D. Clarke and Dr. Julius Garvey
“If, to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair. The event is in the hands of God.” – George Washington
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America must reassess its position on Marcus Garvey, including its role in dismantling the greatest Black movement of the 20th century. And the world will finally come to terms with the enormous contributions and deep significance of the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey. Marcus Garvey came into this world with a holy mission to change the lives of Black people. He completed his mission. And he didn’t just turn African Americans wishbones into backbones, he ushered in an era of Black consciousness, self-identity, Black pride and strength in the inhumane faces of their oppressors. He gave Black people the courage to stand tall, to love ourselves, to pursue excellence and to dream of Africa, our Mother Land and the cradle of mankind.
It is time to reverse the wrong committed against The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey.
When Black people were written out of history, Marcus Garvey wrote us back in, reminding us of our contributions to civilization and rightful place under the sun. When Black people were miseducated, Marcus Garvey taught us the truth of our history as a surrogate for the whole Black community, empowering us along the way. When Black people found themselves bound by racism and horrendous treatment of subjugation and lynching, Marcus Garvey freed us from the mental slavery that replaced our physical bondage. He was fierce and loyal in his love for his people. He made Black people believe in their own salvation during unimaginable times. He never abandoned his mission to lift us to higher grounds, and we will never abandon him or this mission to reinstate his good name and rightful place in history. And as such, not reversing the blatant and outrageous wrong committed against a Black leader, amounts to an on-going onslaught on Black conscientiousness.
It is time to reverse the wrong committed against The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey.
Marcus Garvey was born with a sense of pride and freedom still unmatched in this world. He reminded the world that Africa was for Africans, like Ireland is for the Irish and Japan for the Japanese. He unchained the Black mind from the global European perspective that elevated one group over all others, worked tirelessly to reject European domination, and recalibrated the world for the good of all people. When the world told Black people they were inferior, Marcus Garvey shined a bright light on the actual truth of the matter, reminding us of our unique humanism and that we are all God’s children, equally deserving of the love and peace Africans have given the world. And so, this is another appeal for the awakening of the soul of America. This is another call on behalf of the Black agitator for peace who loved us beyond measure. This is another call for justice. Make no mistake, Black people and all those rooted in this cause, will keep calling for the exoneration of Marcus Garvey until that day arrives. We will never give up on Garvey because he never gave up on us.
It is time to reverse the wrong committed against The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey.
“Be cool. Let no trouble worry you, keep cool, keep cool,” Marcus Garvey wrote in song to his followers as he languished unjustly in a filthy prison cell after being railroaded by America’s vicious terrorizer of Black people and bona-fide menace to humanity, J. Edgar Hoover. Threatened by the Garvey movement bravely and unapologetically marching toward a Black nation in the making, the Department of Justice (DOJ) created the General Intelligence Division that empowered Hoover to kill the Black revolution for liberation spurred by Marcus Garvey. He had rejected the terror this nation inflicted on Black people and Hoover, deputized by our government, led a national vendetta against the great humanitarian he called, “The Negro Moses.” Hoover’s hatred ran so deep, it led him to hire the first full-time Black FBI agent to spy on Marcus Garvey. But even “Agent 800” couldn’t stop the message of hope and freedom he brought to Black people all over the world. And so, America must reevaluate and reverse his unjust conviction, which stands as a heinous symbolism of Black oppression.
It is time to reverse the wrong committed against The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey.
Marcus Garvey fought for Black people to have a place under the sun. He wanted Black people to unify and go back to Africa physically, and mentally. He stood at the head of the largest Black movement in America and was persecuted for it. His newspaper, The Negro World, was one of the most popular newspapers in the United States at the time and was even translated to Spanish and French, as his Black revolutionary movement crossed the ocean, rippling fear that broke the shores of Europe. His rising influence made him a target of our government. And when he declared, “Africa for Africans” Europe joined the war to end the global Black liberation movement taking shape. Our government deliberately derailed the salvation Marcus Garvey promised his people. Similar to Black soldiers coming home from war, his movement was not welcomed despite its value and importance. And his unjust conviction, including the symbolism of it, speaks the truth of America’s role in dehumanizing Black people.
It is time to reverse the wrong committed against The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey.
Every effort was made to sabotage Marcus Garvey. To destroy his just movement on behalf of his people. He was wrongfully accused of mail and wire fraud in 1923, a case that Hoover hung on a blatant lie that he connected to one piece of evidence: a letter from Benny Dancy of 34 W 131st in New York. Today, symbolized with this letter, we are calling for his exoneration. His body may have departed this earth, but his soul, still full of boundless energy, is alive in everything he touched with his love. And so, to deny this call for justice is akin to denying the will of God.
It is time to reverse the wrong committed against The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey.
Marcus Garvey changed the world. His message was revolutionary because he asked Black people to unite and honor their roots. He almost single-handedly changed the image and the souls of Black people because he stood as an equal next to his oppressors. He said the pen is mightier than the sword, but the tongue is mightier than both of them put together. His contributions to our humanity paved the way for leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana. And he uplifted Black women to feel worthwhile during a time when it was difficult to do. He celebrated
their beauty and highlighted their contributions to society, including their views, in his newspaper. Shamefully, his psychological influence was dangerous to Hoover’s America, making him a prime target for sabotage and wrongful persecution.
It is time to reverse the wrong committed against The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey.
Marcus Garvey’s vision for Black people still lives, just like the love his people have for him. Look for him all around us. He is here spiritually, still encouraging us to claim our, “I am”, without apology. Marcus Garvey erected our spine to claim our humanity and rightful place in mother’s earths bosom, and beside God. He enlarged our vision of self and gave us the spiritual embodiment of Africa, our ancestral home. “I want no mercy. Only justice, justice, justice. I would not betray my struggling race. If I did, I shall be thrown into the nethermost parts of hell,” he boldly declared during his trial. Marcus Garvey gave us Black pride and his legacy, despite it being tarnished by the worst of mankind, deserves a course correction in the pages of our American history. Although this is not the first petition calling for the exoneration of Marcus Garvey, it is the loudest because the time to do the right thing is always now. A great and shameful wrong, in the name of America, was committed against one of the greatest human-beings the world has ever known. And it’s time to break the symbolic chain made in America to finally bring justice to the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey.
“The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy the gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people; then shall we both deserve and enjoy it. While, on the other hand, if we are universally vicious and debauched in our manners, though the form of our Constitution carries the face of the most exalted freedom, we shall in reality be the most abject slaves.” – Samuel Adams
