On June 10 1940, the Most Eminent Prophet and King – His Excellency Marcus Mosiah Garvey passed into the Ancestral Realm.  His life will be acknowledged at the 6th annual Marcus Garvey Memorial Lecture organised by the PASCF around the theme “Garveyite Narratives Along the Journey” to be delivered by veteran activist and publisher Baba Eric Huntley  at 530pm on 10/06/15 at Birkbeck University, Main Building, Torrington Square WC1E 7HX. Although the physical life was extinguished, his status as Prophet and the most effective liberation leader  in history was secured.  The organisation he founded in Jamaica on July 20th 1914 grew to a membership of 11-13 million across the seven continents and with an “evangelical sphere” estimated at around 100 million.  Thus in spite of white supremacist attempts to eradicate his  name from the annuls of the history, the Garveyite Asili (what Mama Marimba Ani defines as the central seed or “germinating matrix”
of a culture) had already begun to sprout.  As legendary UNIA-ACL scholar Baba Tony Martin, noted in his seminal work, Race First: Ideological and Organizational Struggles of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association:

“Garvey bestrode the black world like no one else and all those in power there, or aspiring to influence therein, were forced to deal with him. In a way his legacy continues to bestride the black world. An impressive array of tendencies within the black revolution of the 1960s and 1970s have identified him as a formative influence.  Whether it is the Muslims, with Elijjah Muhammad’s Garveyite origins, or Afro-American mainstream electoral politics, or Malcolm X, whose father was a UNIA organizer, or Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta in Africa, or the Rastafarians in Jamaica –  it seems that there is a Garveyite lurking in the past of many a contemporary black political activist or organization.”

Today there is a resurgent UNIA-ACL under the stewardship of dynamic President General Baba Senghor Jawara Baye that is plugged into some of the most vibrant social movements of the time.  Locally, with the appointment of Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka as UNIA-ACL Ambassador for the UK the potential for a proliferation of UNIA chapters on the shores of Britain is an encouraging prospect as it will complement existing initiatives like the legal inroads of the Deaths in Custody campaigns (i.e. Sean Rigg, Azelle Rodney, Kingsley Burrell, et al) Organisation of Black Unity, Afrikan Co-operative Union, Got Kush TV, Black Fist Black Power, Moor Lionz & Lionesses, C4 ENT and of course the overarching interim National Afrikan People’s Parliament  as well as the power media institution that is Galaxy Radio. The number of young people at the forefront of many of these initiatives is portentous.  However, a cautionary tale, massive strides were made towards liberation in the
1950s/60s (e.g. Afrika, Caribbean, USA) and 1970s/80s (U.K.) that for one reason or another did not fulfil their potential.

One of things that made Papa Garvey at once both loved and reviled was his principled, uncompromising commitment to Afrikan Liberation and this is perhaps the greatest challenge for his heirs – to create viable liberation movements rather than mere study groups, social clubs, or family businesses (although they have their part to play)  where friendship and comfort are prioritised over principles and values.

So we ask the question:

What must be done to complete the Garveyite vision?

1.    Will you be attending the Marcus Garvey Memorial Lecture?
2.    How can we identify the legacy of Marcus Mosiah Garvey?
3.    Is the time ripe for a resurgence of Garveyism?
4.    Would you join an UNIA-ACL Chapter in the UK?
5.    Is it really necessary to be as uncompromising as Papa Garvey to achieve liberation?

Our special guests are:

Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and UNIA-ACL Ambassador for the UK.  A veteran activist of over 30 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An Africentric Guide To Excellence

Baba President General Senghor Jawara Baye: is the 10th President General of the UNIA-ACL and 9th successor to , the Most Eminent Prophet and King – His Excellency Marcus Mosiah Garvey.  Baba Senghor has served in the UNIA-ACL, since 1980. He served as the 3rd Assistant President General between 1996 and 2008 and as the District 3 Commissioner of DC, VA and MD between 1989 to 2008. In Mosiah 2008 he was elected to the office of President General. Baba Senghor has worked with many Pan African Nationalist and Community Based Charitable formations over 40 years.

Baba Eric Huntley: is a veteran activist and publisher of international renown.  Along with his wife Mama Jessica, who passed way in 2013, he established the Bogle-L’Ouverture publishing  and bookshop company that released books by a bevvy of celebrated authors from Walter Rodney (How Europe Underdeveloped Africa)  to Robin Walker (Classical Splendour – The Roots Of Black History).  The Huntley’s among others also assisted  John La Rose International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books.  An account of the lives of Baba Eric and Mama Jessica, Doing Nothing Is Not an Option: The Radical Lives of Eric and Jessica Huntley, authored by Margaret Andrews was published last year.  Baba Eric will be delivering the keynote address at this this year’s Marcus Garvey Memorial Lecture organised by the Pan-African Society Community Forum.

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