GARVEY LIVES!

MOSIAH LIVES!

In this season of Mosiah we not only marvel at the towering achievement of Marcus Garvey and the UNIA-ACL for galvanising millions of Afrikan people around the world, we acknowledge liberation Black Print he left for us based on some fundamental Afrikan principles: “Race First; Self-Reliance; Nationhood ; Afrikan Spiritual Orthodoxy” (1)

Yet since the heyday of the UNIA-ACL the organization amassed vehement opposition from within and without and some of these fault lines have continued up to the present.  Some of this manifested as direct opposition as demonstrated by the ‘Garvey Must Go’ campaign.  Others, like the Communist African Blood Brotherhood were more insidious in their approach.  Their leader Cyril Briggs:

“…appears repeatedly to have been ingratiating himself into Garvey and the UNIA, and simultaneously knifing Garvey in the back.” (2)

Whilst there has also been a faction in the community perennially opposed to nationalist Pan-Afrikanist organising (3), others have engaged with it for seemingly questionable motives.  One example of this was the paper circulated in the Afrikan community in the UK in 2007 called, ‘The UNIA Built Alliances with non-Afrikans’, which drew a response from the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement:

“Consequently, this response is entitled, ‘The Fake Debate (Marxism and the Infiltration of Garveyism)’, as we are not engaged in a genuine debate on perspectives of* Garveyism, but a defence against an attempted assault on the quintessential principles of Garveyism, by Marxists. It is as paradoxical as a staunch Muslim organizing bible classes or Christian conventions and radio broadcasts, in as much as The ‘Author’ has facilitated ‘Garvey’ community and radio workshops and writes extensively on ‘Garvey’ and ‘Garveyism’” (4)

More recently, the role of ‘Alllies’ has resurfaced in which the UNIA-ACL has been invoked perhaps with the motive that if it can be demonstrated that even Garvey had European allies then their role in the Movement  is permissible.

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

(2) Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement (2008) THE FAKE DEBATE: (Marxism and the Infiltration of Garveyism). A challenge to: ‘The UNIA Built Alliances with Non-Afrikans’. https://www.alkebulan.org/the-fake-debate-marxism-and-the-infiltration-of-garveyism/

(3) Desmond Hunt (1981) An interview with Linton Kwesi Johnson, The Other Side ‘zine, https://standupandspit.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/linton-kwesi-johnson-1981/

(4) Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement. Op. cit.

we ask the question:

Garvey’s RACE FIRST – What does it really mean?

1) Are Afrikan people opposed to the ‘Race First’ philosophy?

2) When have Afrikan established effective Allyships?

3) Do we need ‘Allies’ to attain liberation?

4) Is ‘Race First’ organising viable?

Our special Guest:

Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and an Afrikan-Centred Education Consultant.  Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of almost 40 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Approach To Excellence.