As a prelude to our Mosiah in The Motherland session taking place on 19/08 as part of the Mosiah Season, where we will be engaging with UNIA-ACL chapters across the Afrikan continent, tonight we are putting Marcus Garvey’s influence in historical context.
As President General of the UNIA-ACL Marcus Mosiah Garvey aimed at nothing less than to:
“Unite into one solid body, the 400 million {Afrikans} of the world for the purpose of bettering our industrial, commercial, educational, social and political condition.” (1)
Afrika was central to this programme and with the advent of the Liberia programme there were plans to move the oganisation’s headquarters there. The intrigue, treachery and subtefuge by a cast of characters including WEB DuBois, Liberian president CDB King, Cyril Crichlow, the USA Government and the Firestone rubber company ultimately defeated the programme and the land initially promised to the UNIA was given to Firestone, who have exploited the nation and its people ever since. (2)
But it wasn’t just in Liberia that Garveyism made in roads. Azania (South Africa) had more branches than any other on the continent, while Lesotho had one of the biggest branches with up to 600 attending meetings. The Afrikan Orthodox church was well established in Kenya in the east and Mfumu Kimbangu established a Garveyite revolutionary spiritual movement in the Congo. There was also significant UNIA (or UNIA inspired) activity in places like Uganda, Namibia, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Sierra Leone. (3) Later on Biafra took inspiration from the Garvey Movement. (4)
Afrika certainly remains in need of the kind of sovereignty and self-determination that Marcus Garvey proscribed. Recent events, particularly in the west of the continent, have indicated to some that this spirit is still alive. (5)
(1) Askia Muhammad (16/08/87) A Mistreated Black Pioneer. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1987/08/16/a-mistreated-black-pioneer/f32d2785-446b-4e89-a88a-68cd76668811/
(2) Olatunji Heru (21/08/12) Garvey’s Liberia Project: Sabotage and The Enduring Curse on Afrika and Afrikans . Mosiah Community meeting presefrika ntation
(3) Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka (27/08/08) The Impact of Garvey and Garveyism on the Afrikan Continent. Mosiah Community meeting presentation; Stephen G. Hall (23/11/15) The Age of Garvey and the Reconstruction of the Global Garveyist Frontier. https://www.aaihs.org/the-age-of-garvey/
(4) Tobenna Okwuosa (2022) “From Historical Facts to Poetic Truths”: The Nigerian Civil War and Other Subjects: An Exploration of Texts and Images in Painting. Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies, 43(1). https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7533w2xq
(5) Richard Atimniraye (07/08/23) Africa reimagined: Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traoré advocates for resilience, recognition, and resistance.
we ask the question:
How did MOSIAH impact the Motherland?
1) How did the Garveyite message get into Afrika?
2) How widespread was it?
3) Had the Liberia programme worked where would Afrika be today?
4) To what extent does Garveyism still exist in Afrika?
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 over 40 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Approach To Excellence.
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