WASHINGTON, D.C., – To mark June as Caribbean Heritage Month in the United States, CARICOM Ambassadors participated in the Caribbean Interfaith service at Peoples Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, June 25.
Guest speaker for the occasion was Dr. Julius Garvey, son of Pan-Africanist and global leader the late Marcus Mosiah Garvey.
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Dr. Garvey was introduced by His Excellency Wendall Jones, Bahamas Ambassador to the United States, who is Chairman of the Caucus of Caribbean Ambassadors.
In his introductory remarks, Ambassador Jones said, “In every epoch, God provides a man for His work.He has in times past used His servants to release His people from bondage, to set them free- calling on them to use head, heart and hands.”
Ambassador Jones added, “In 1937 in a speech in Canada, He used a Caribbean man named Marcus Garvey from Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, to utter these words: ‘We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind.’ That phrase resonates around the world, even today in (Bob) Marley’s ‘Redemption Song.’ ”
Ambassador Jones noted that Dr. Garvey is a practicing cardiovascular surgeon and an offspring of a man who is not just a national hero of Jamaica, but the son of one who with a potent and captivating vision played a pivotal role in the liberation of the people of Africa in the Americas and beyond.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Marcus Garvey had a huge following of his church in New Providence.
