GARVEY LIVES!

MOSIAH LIVES!

We give the eighth month of the year over to commemoration of the life and legacy of The Most Eminent Prophet and King – His Excellency Marcus Mosiah Garvey because none have manifested his extent of magnamimous force in our liberation history. In fact as Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka, Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and UNIA-ACL Ambassador for the UK, outlines:

“Papa Garvey’s vision was expressly to unite the 400 million Afrikans of the world in a universal confraternity, towards establishing a binding racial hierarchy, within a United States of Afrika; hence he commanded: “Look to Afrika… Let Afrika be your guiding Star, your star of destiny.” The basic operational principles underlying this vision are:

Race First: Papa Garvey affirmed that race was primary to the historical oppression of our people (the Maafa) by the forces of global white supremacy and thus the solution required a separatist (Race First) approach; thus he said: “In a world of wolves one should go armed; and the most powerful defensive weapon within reach of Afrikan people is the practice of Race first… Put your race first like all other races do.”

Self-Reliance: Papa Garvey strongly advocated for economic self-sufficiency and empowerment, by owning and controlling our labour, our land and its resources as well as the means of production, exchange and distribution of our own goods and services; thus he said: “Except the individual, the nation, the race has power that is exclusive that individual, nation or race will be bound by the will of others… the Afrikan must get power… Power in science, power in industry, power in politics… that kind of power that will stand out so that other races and nations will see – if not feel!”

Nationhood: Papa Garvey urged us to build our own nations, communities and institutions based upon our own value system as a prerequisite to self governance and mastery of our own destiny; thus he said: “No race is free until it has a nation of its own: its own system of government and its own order of society… Never be satisfied to always live under the government of other people because you will always be at their mercy.”

Afrikan Spiritual Orthodoxy: Papa Garvey commanded us to see our God in our own image and sought to guide us to an African-centred spiritual consciousness with a liberation thrust. “If the white man has the ideal of a white God, let him worship his God as he desires. If the yellow man’s God is of his race, let him worship his God as he sees fit… We believe in the God of Ethiopia (Afrika)… and we shall worship Him (Her) through the spectacles of Ethiopia (Afrika).” (1)

He added:

“The ‘Garvey plan’ aimed toward fulfilling his magnanimous vision was steeped in the programmes of the UNIA-ACL, based on the motto “Unite organise now or perish”. More than an organisation, the UNIA-ACL was an international movement as well as a government/nation in exile, with such powerful institutions as: the Negro World newspaper (propaganda), the Black Star Line Steam Ship Corporation (International Trade, Transport and Communication), the Negro Factories Corporation (Economics), Universal Afrikan Legion (Defence and Security), Black Cross Nurses (Health and Social Welfare), Schools (Education), the Afrikan Orthodox Church (Spirituality).” (2)

History determined that it was up to Garvey’s children (future generations) to fulfill his mission. For all intents and purposed we have fallen far short of this goal. To be sure there have been movements and eruptions that give voice to Papa Garvey’s prophetic intent such as Rastafari, the Afrikan independence movement, various strands of Black Nationalism, Black Studies and even the civil rights movement, but none have managed to replicate the global scope and impact of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association and Afrikan Communities League (UNIA-ACL). (3)

One of the factors in our inability to effectively take up the reigns of the Garvey Movement is the the degree to which it has been misrepresented. In the current climate, social media has proved to quite effective. So it is lamentable that one of the most accessible sources of ‘information’ on the Garvey Movement available is the 2001 documentary Marcus Garvey: Look For Me in the Whirlwind, directed by Stanley Nelson, produced for the USA’s Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

However, the production is fraught with misrepresentations. As the late Warrior Scholar and official historian of the UNIA-ACL, Baba Tony Martin opined:

“There were several falsifications and fabrications in that particular documentary. It’s very hard to resist the temptation to suggest that that documentary was deliberately designed to try to belittle and Marcus Garvey.

Several of us, when the documentary came out put together a special issue of a Caribbean news paper in New York and it was a tabloid sized supplement and the whole issue was devoted to this documentary. Marcus Garvey Junior, Garvey’s older son had an article, Garvey’s younger son, Julius Garvey, Dr. Julius Garvey. Elombe Brath and old Garveyitie from Harlem and one of the most active and effective Pan-Africanist in the world today and Dr. Molefi Asante, the man who popularised Afrocentricity have an articles in there as well.” (4)

In fact, Dr. Julius Garvey also wrote to the Jamaica Gleaner in 2001 to expose the film’s “factual inaccuracies and slanderous statements.. and [lack of] in-depth analysis.” (5)

Some the key falsehoods he exposes include:

“Marcus Garvey grossly mismanaged the funds of the organization and used them for his own purposes.

Marcus Garvey is portrayed as being awed by the bright lights, richness and tall buildings of Harlem.

Garvey is said to have been authoritarian, antidemocratic, naming himself and others with fancy titles, etc.

Finally, the last scene that was dramatized showing Garvey, ‘the failure, who had come down, in the world’, being stoned by children and walking toward a hovel, presumably his home.” (6)

Julius Garvey goes into great details exposing these and many more despicable defamation of the man and the movement. He concludes:

“To end a documentary on Our 1st National Hero, Hero of the Americas and a Hero to millions of Africans, those at home and those abroad, climaxes the many distortions of fact, lies and character assassinations that are so numerous that I cannot include them all here.

One can only ask, Why?

Perhaps it is a situation of ‘who pays the piper calls the tune’.

I prefer to be charitable and say, ‘My father forgive them for they know not what they do’. ” (7)

Except the liklihood is that they knew exactly what they were doing.

As noted above, one of the key principles of Garveyism is ‘Race First’, instilling a sense of pride in one’s heritage and agency. Yet in the social sphere, the very concept of this has been under attack. Thus in the USA, pundits pose questions like: What’s behind the rise of interracial marriage in the US? The data supporting such inquries includes the fact that “interracial and interethnic marriages in America has increased fivefold, from 3% of all weddings in 1967 to 17% in 2015,” although the figure for white-black couples is 8%. However, 22% of black male newlyweds chose partners of another race, compared to just 9% of black female newlyweds and 72% of black respondents said it would be fine with them if a family member chose to marry someone of another racial or ethnic group (compared to 61% of whites). (8)

In the UK, according to official statistics from the 2011 census, the rate of interracial relationships for Afrikans as a whole is 42% (“African” – 22%; “Caribbean” – 43%; “Other Black” – 62%). The “Black Caribbean” rises to 65% amoung 16-24 year-olds. This is compared to just 4% of White British, 7% of Bangladeshis, 9% of Pakistanis and 12% of Indian. Similar to the USA, Afrikan women are less likely to be in interracial relationships than Afrikan men. (9)

So bearing in mind these figures are almost a decade old, it remains to be seen if, in the imterim we have moved closer to, or further away from Garveyite principles.

(1) Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka(2008) Will The Real Garveyite Please Stand Up! The Whirlwind, Edition 6. p. 3

(2) Ibid

(3) Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka(2007) The Protegés Of Garvey.The Whirlwind, Edition 5. P. 10

(4) Omowale Kwaw (28/09/18) Prof. Tony Martin: The Pan-Afrikan Connector.The Whirlwind, Edition 5. p. 8

(5) Julius Garvey (26/02/01) Letter 1: To the Editor of the Jamaica Gleaner . https://web.archive.org/web/20010406093451/http://www.themajoritypress.com/pr01.htm

(6) Ibid

(7) Ibid

(8) Mona Chalabi (21/02/18) What’s behind the rise of interracial marriage in the US? https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/21/whats-behind-the-rise-of-interracial-marriage-in-the-us

(9) Office for National Statistics (03/07/14) 2011 Census analysis: What does the 2011 Census tell us about Inter-ethnic Relationships? https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/marriagecohabitationandcivilpartnerships/articles/whatdoesthe2011censustellusaboutinterethnicrelationships/2014-07-03

we ask the question:

How well have we defended Marcus Garvey’s legacy?

1) Where can we go to get accurate information about the Garvey Movement?

2) What is the greatest hinderance to us fulfilling Papa Garvey’s mission?

3) Is ‘Race first’ still a viable concept?

4) Why do Black women engage in fewer interracial relationships?

5) Are we moving closer to, or further away from Garvey’s principles?