Expressing the sense of the Congress that the President should grant a pardon to Marcus Mosiah Garvey to clear his name and affirm his innocence of crimes for which he was unjustly prosecuted and convicted.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to enter into the record an article by Michael

D. Roberts published on February 27, 2007 in the Carib News, entitled: The Political Contributions of a Great Son of the Caribbean, Polemics of Garvey's Ideology Garveyism Is Black Action-Oriented and Just as Applicable, Today--An Analysis. The article reminds us of Marcus Mosiah Garvey's ideals of Black nationalism, the need to relinquish what he referred to as mental slavery and the importance of Black pride.

Marcus Mosiah Garvey was a pioneer and is credited with creating the biggest movement of people of African descent. In the 1920's, he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL), an international self-help organization with the goal of working for the general uplift of people of African ancestry. At its zenith, the UNIA had over a million members. This movement is said to have had more participation from people of African descent than the Civil Rights Movement, making it the largest Pan- African movement ever.

For the last several years I have sought to clear the name of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, which was tarnished by an unjust prosecution and conviction by the United States Government. I introduced H. Con. Res. 24, Expressing the sense of the Congress that the President should grant a pardon to Marcus Mosiah Garvey to clear his name and affirm his innocence of crimes for which he was unjustly prosecuted and convicted.

Marcus Garvey once exhorted, ``Up you mighty race, accomplish what you will.'' I have always believed that every Black child should know these words, and from whom they came. By passing this legislation we will be giving a gift to all people and acknowledge Garvey's teachings.

I urge my colleagues to recognize the contributions of Marcus Mosiah Garvey and support H. Con. Res. 24.

The Political Contributions of a Great Son of the Caribbean Polemics of Garvey's Ideology Garveyism Is ``Black Action-Oriented'' and Just as

Applicable Today--an Analysis

(By Michael D. Roberts)

For Marcus Mosiah Garvey, his ministry was clear--the

complete, total and never-ending redemption of the continent

of Africa by the people of African ancestry at home and

abroad. This was his strategic aim and objective. His ``Back

to Africa'' and ``Black is Beautiful'' were consciousness

building tools that hold relevance today though some scholars

will argue that the time for literally ``going back to

Africa'' has long gone.

But there is another school of thought that is relevant

today and that is that ``Back to Africa'' does not simply

mean hopping onto a plane and visiting Africa. It means

learning about Africa, embracing her culture and identifying

with African history. That is something that Blacks in the

Diaspora must do if, as the late great reggae superstar Bob

Marley says they must, ``liberate themselves from mental

slavery.''

I contend that an ideology is, at its most fundamental

stage, simply a collection of ideas. The word ideology was

coined by Count Destutt de Tracy in the late 18th century to

define a ``science of ideas.'' Thus, an ideology can be

thought of as a comprehensive vision; as a way of looking at

things in common sense with several philosophical tendencies.

Ideologies therefore differ depending on socio-economic and

political nuances and class relations in a society and the

dominance (or lack of it) by one class over another (dominant

ideology).

And while I'm at it let me try and define Garveyism so that

this analysis can take on the significance that such an

ideology deserves and exposes its essential lessons for 2007

and beyond. To more learned scholars on the subject and

definition experts I readily admit my shortcomings but will

try within the confines of this definition to set the stage

for my discourse on Garveyism.

The ideology of Garveyism is that detachment of Black

Nationalism which takes its core values and source from the

works, words and actions of The Universal Negro Improvement

Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) and

their founder Marcus Mosiah Garvey.

The basic tenet of Garveyism is its laser-like focus on the

complete, total and neverending redemption of the continent

of Africa by people of African ancestry, at home and abroad.

It is rooted in one basic idea: ``whatsoever things common to

man that man has done, man can do''. Therefore, according to

Garveyism, Africans in the Diaspora must have an

uncompromising and unwavering commitment to the universal

improvement of the Black race since its redemption will

restore Mother Africa to her former greatness.

But how did this potent mix of Black Nationalism, Pan-

Africanism, and African patriotism become so enmeshed in this

Black Liberation ideology that today is paid little attention

by Black leaders in America and the Caribbean who believe

that rabblerousing and posturing are the tools to advance the

Black race? Let us revisit history for these answers.

In 1916 Marcus Mosiah Garvey (1887-1940) brought his

budding Black Nationalist organization, the Universal Negro

Improvement Association (UNIA) to Harlem. He had formed this

organization two years before, in 1914, just as the big guns

were booming and wholesale slaughter was taking place during

the barbarism of the First World War in Europe.

UNIA itself was born out of Garvey's experience with

racism, discrimination, and injustice both in his homeland

Jamaica, and in other parts of the world where he traveled,

and where Blacks were always at the bottom rung of the

social, political and economic ladder. But Garveyism, as

his philosophy and principles are now known, remains

today, in 2007, an ideology largely underutilized and to

some extent shunned by those who would lead Blacks to

their promised land--wherever that may be. Nonetheless,

Garveyism is a most powerful weapon and preaches a Black

revolutionary path to achieving Black liberation.

Firstly Garveyism sees the Black problem as having to do

with the cultural, economic and psychological degeneration of

the Black race by centuries of slavery and racial

stereotyping. Garvey himself believed that Blacks lacked

knowledge and pride in their African ancestry and therefore

were easy prey to the ravages and machinations of white

racism.

This philosophy gained immense popularity in the early

twenties when Garveyism was the most popular form of Pan-

Africanism (a movement of union and recognition of cultural

similarity and commonality of interests of all of the

countries of Africa and Africans in the Diaspora) among

Caribbean-Americans and African-Americans. It was an ideology

which would find wide acceptance among Black leaders in

Africa waging anti-colonialist struggles for independence and

freedom.

But central to the teachings of Garveyism is the issue of

race. Marcus Garvey felt that the Black man (and woman) was

universally oppressed at the hands of the white power

structure and that any program of emancipation would have to

be developed around the question of race first. By

establishing a clear perspective on the racial question

Garveyism outlined a comprehensive program of political,

social, and economic action aimed at the total liberation of

the Black race.

So that in 1916, the same year that he brought the UNIA to

Harlem, Garvey convened the First Black Parliament which had

an international flavor. In an historical context the

principles outlined by Garvey and which form the basis of

Garveyism today set the guidelines for all succeeding Pan-

Africanist organizations all over the world and throughout

the Black Diaspora.

Garveyism's cultural principles

Garvey used the UNIA newspaper ``The Negro World'' to

combat the negative propaganda of white supremacist groups

who held that the Black man was biologically inferior and

therefore should be happy to remain enslaved. He waged a

constant campaign against all forms of racism from whatever

quarter they came--white or Black.

Garvey debunked the commonly held white myth about Black

people being visited with a biblical Hamitic curse telling

Blacks that their history was one of greatness, achievement

and pride. UNIA (motto: `One God! One Aim! One Destiny!') and

the ``Negro World'' sponsored Black beauty contests and

published photographs of Black women, Garvey called them

``Black Queens of Beauty,'' and numerous cultural programs

aimed at uplifting the Black race and developing racial

consciousness.

To the critics who assailed Garvey over the fact that he

was placing too much emphasis on the issue of Blackness and

race, saying that his focus should have been on the broader

problem of humanity, Garvey, in his typical blunt fashion,

argued that it was not humanity which was being ``lynched,

burned, Jim Crowed and segregated'' but Black people.

So deep was the issue of race to Garvey that he has left us

with a major statement on the primacy of race in all things.

This is how he put it:

``In a world of wolves one should go armed, and one of the

most powerful defensive weapons within the reach of Negroes

is the practice of race first in all parts of the world.'' It

is a lesson which modern-day Black leaders would do well to

revisit.

Garveyism's economic program

Garveyism places economic emphasis on the development of

Black-owned businesses. That is because although Garvey

believed that the racial consciousness of Black people was

of paramount importance, he also understood that without

economic power Blacks would still be the targets of

exploitation, oppression and discrimination. Garveyism has

left a practical approach to the issue of Black economics

which is more than applicable in today's troubled times of

economic scarcity and uncertainty.

Marcus Garvey was not just an excellent orator. He was a

Pan-Africanist revolutionary who believed in positive action.

The Black Star lines (an international commercial and

passenger steamship line), the African Commercial league and

African Factories Corporation (formed in 1922) were economic

organizations developed by Garvey aimed at the economic

liberation of the Black race.

And although many reactionary scholars pushing a

Eurocentric line have tried to ridicule the idea of the Black

Star Line, the powerful example of a great visionary can

never be smeared. Garvey understood the importance of

international trade and Black self-reliance. It was this

self-reliance which led him and his followers to form Black-

owned laundries, Black-owned restaurants, and Black-owned

grocery stores. Garvey encouraged Blacks to buy from Black

businesses and even went so far as to have Black factories

manufacture Black dolls for Black children.

Undoubtedly these principles of Garveyism should be dusted

off by the leaders of Black America and the Caribbean today

and used as a guide to positive action in these days when the

Black Diaspora is coming under attack and the gains of past

years are being threatened with erosion.

Garveyism's education program

Garvey stressed the importance of education beginning from

the position that white educational values had completely

contaminated the Black mind. In this Garvey was right. For

one of the first and most lasting forms of slavery, is in

fact ``mental slavery.'' Garvey saw that it was fundamentally

important to re-educate the Black race using Black history

and African heritage as the building blocks. To this end

Garvey formed the Liberty University, a vocational training

school in Virginia which was modeled after Washington's

Tuskegee Institute. This school was part of a wider program

of ongoing education which the UNIA launched to combat the

years of white conditioning of Black minds.

Marcus Mosiah Garvey was a giant of his time. No Black

leader has so completely dominated the Black liberation

struggle since his ministry. The sad thing is that the

ideology and philosophy which bear his name is not used as a

major tool today by present day Black leaders. But history is

full of the successes of Garveyism.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) party of South

Africa began as a Garveyite organization and many of its

guiding principles today have been developed using the tenets

of Garveyism. Malcolm X's father was a Garveyite who was

killed by the Ku Klux Klan and the famous African and Ghanian

anti-colonialist and pro-independence leader Kwame Nkrumah

was also a Garveyite. They understood the necessity to ``go

armed in a world of wolves.''

Today, Garvey's contribution to Black history stands out as

a monumental work of sacrifice and dedication. It is a pity

that as the Black Diaspora suffers at the hands of

international reaction in the form of white supremacists here

in the United States and neo-Nazi skinheads in Europe. Black

leaders are still failing to go armed among the wolves.

For the world of wolves have become much more

sophisticated, but the same problems which confronted Garvey

more than half a century ago, still plague the Black

community and race today.

The wolves have become more sophisticated, more organized,

and have traded in their white hoods, masks and sheets for

Armani business suits.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the life and contributions of the late Marcus Mosiah Garvey and to acknowledge the 120th anniversary of the day of his birth, August 17, 1887, a day which will be celebrated later this month in the United States, the Caribbean, and throughout the diaspora.

One hundred and twenty years ago, on August 17, the revolutionary, Marcus Mosiah Garvey was born in Saint Ann Bay, Jamaica. His father was a mason and his mother was a farmer. Although his dad used his hands to make a living, he loved literature and created a large library. The library became the initial information source that cultivated young Marcus's love of reading and hunger for knowledge.

At approximately the age of 14, he left Saint Ann's Bay and became an apprentice. He held the positions of Master Printer and Foreman at P.A. Benjamin Printery. In a short time, he was elected to serve as vice president of the Kingston Union, participated in a printers strike, was fired from his job, created The Watchman newspaper and found a new job at the Government Printing Office. All of this advocacy on behalf of the rights of workers prepared him for becoming an outspoken leader against oppression and an advocate for freedom and self determination.

From 1910 to 1913, he traveled throughout Central America and London. During this time, he attended Birkbeck College and held jobs as a timekeeper and newspaper editor. While in London, he spoke at Hyde's Park Speaker's Corner, where his public speaking skills, developed in Jamaica, were honed before ever larger audiences.

He returned to Jamaica in 1914 and founded the Universal Negro Improvement and Conservation Association and African Communities League. The mission of the organization was to ``unite all people of African ancestry of the world to one great body to establish a country and absolute government of their own.''

He came to the United States and established himself in Harlem, New York, to share the mission of the organization in 1916. Initially he spoke out on the street corners of New York and later went on a nationwide speaking tour. The late Adam Clayton Powell declared that Garvey ``awakened a race consciousness that made Harlem felt around the world.'' Through speaking and the newspaper he created, the Negro World, membership in the organization grew to an amazing two million plus. To further support the ideas of the organization's mission, he incorporated a shipping line, Black Star Lines to transport goods and people of African descent back to Africa. An investigation of the organization and Black Star Lines led to a wrongful indictment and arrest of Mr. Garvey. This investigation marked the beginning of an effort to destroy him and the organization.

In 1919, he was shot by a man who committed suicide immediately after the shooting. In that same year, he and others were unjustly investigated by the FBI and charged with mail fraud in connection with Black Star Lines. Only Mr. Garvey was found guilty and received a sentence of five years. He adamantly proclaimed his innocence and many believed then and now that he was set up for political reasons. He served time in Atlanta and his sentence was commuted by President Calvin Coolidge in 1927. Upon his release, he was deported to Jamaica.

He continued to serve as a revolutionary and political activist by establishing Jamaica's first political party, the People's Political Party, serving as the Councillor for the Allman Town Division of the Capitol City, Kingston. In 1935, he moved to London and worked on issues that involved Ethiopia and set up a school to train leaders for the organization he founded. In 1940, he passed away from a stroke after reading a false obituary of himself published in the Chicago Defender.

Mr. Garvey was a bold visionary. His idea and commitment to move people of African descent back to Africa and establish a government of self-determination are still inspiring today. Since he was investigated and convicted, his vision and efforts to mobilize people of African descent to return to Africa did not materialize. President Coolidge's action could be interpreted as an admission of wrongdoing by the U.S. government. However, his name has not been formally cleared.

On August 17, 2007, people will celebrate the birth and life of Mr. Garvey. I applaud and encourage people all over the world to celebrate the life of such a great man. I also urge my colleagues to support my bill, H. Con. Res. 24, which calls for expressing the sense of the Congress that the President should grant a pardon to Marcus Mosiah Garvey to clear his name and affirm his innocence of crimes for which he was unjustly prosecuted and convicted.