EXONERATION FOR MARCUS MOZIAH GARVEY

Dear Members and Friends:

In recognition of Black History Month, February 2022, we feature the Honorable MARCUS MOZIAH GARVEY, and encourage you to explore his work and to sign the petition to exonerate him.

Marcus Garvey: “A people without knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots:”

MARCUS MOZIAH GARVEY, Jamaica’s first National Hero, was born in St Ann’s Bay, on August 17, 1887.  He died on June 10, 1940.  Garvey was recognized as a political activist, journalist, entrepreneur, and distinguished orator.  His ideas for the improvement and upliftment of African people garnered worldwide support, particularly in New York, London and the Caribbean.  He promoted Black Nationalism and was the designer of the popular Red, Black and Green Flag.  He is generally recognized as the father of Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism.

MARCUS GARVEY is best remembered for his founding of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in 1914.  The UNIA espoused black pride, self-reliance, economic independence, and Black unity.  Garvey’s movement, also known as Garveyism, garnered support around the world, and at one time claimed a following of two million supporters.  Among the projects initiated by Garvey was the shipping line called “The Black Star Line” which was intended as an economic enterprise to engage in commerce between America, the Caribbean and Africa.

Garvey raised funds for The Black Star Line by selling stock in the shipping line.  However, complaints about the fundraising and accounting led to the United States Government bringing charges of fraud against him with regard to the fundraising and operation of the enterprise.  In 1923, Garvey was convicted of mail fraud in connection with his operation of The Black Star Line and was imprisoned in Atlanta.  He served part of a five-year sentence and was deported to his home country, Jamaica.  Consequently, his global movement for racial and economic justice never regained its footing.

To learn more about his life and work and to sign the petition, please visit http://justice4garvey.org/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcus-Garvey

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5121

Nigel Scott

President, TTADC