5:08 PM
Global Justice
Yesterday, people around
the world celebrated "Marcus Garvey's" day. On August 17, 1887 a
great man was born. a man who restored the African pride to black people
around the world. one of the most influential figures in the history of the
black man, if not the most.
Usually when we think
about black equality and civil rights around the world, we think of people like
Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Nelson Mandela, but it was Marcus Garvey who
first promoted the issue significantly.
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At age 24, he had
already earned a reputation as a local journalist and political activist in
Jamaica. At 27 he started the 'UNIA' ( the united negro improvement association
), an international organization to help black people economically, to protect
their culture and help people with all kinds of racial discrimination.
He founded the first
black shipping company in history – the 'black star' and a "black"
newspaper that distributed all over the world.
He Led the largest black
movement in history, Which at its peak, has attracted millions of people
worldwide.
His work influenced many
black leaders in the 20th century, presidents and prime ministers Africans like
Patrice Lumumba (Congo), Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) and Nelson
Mandela (South Africa), and activist like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and
Elijah Muhammad. Schools, bridges and parks around the world are named after
him, and he is considered as a prophet among the Rastafarians.
Marcus garvey's beliefs
He reminded his
followers that the slave ships brought no Jamaicans or Trinidadians, Americans
or Belizeans - but Africans. Years of slavery and oppression displaced their African
culture and traditions.
That’s why he started
calling for counter-migration of black people from America, the Caribbean and
from all over the world back to Africa to establish an African empire – where the
blacks will benefit equal rights like the rest of the world.
"Where is the black man
government? Where is his king and his kingdom? Where is his president, his
country and his ambassador?? His army, his navy. His men of big affairs? I could
not find them and then I declared I will help to make them."
Garvey obviously failed
to realize many of his objectives : his 'black star' shipping company failed at
the end. migration of millions of American blacks to Africa was too ambitious
task and obviously was never implemented the way Garvey wanted. He was deported
from the United States, and despite millions of dollars passed through his
hands he did not die a wealthy man. But despite this, he made his mark in the
world - he led the largest international black movement in history, and
influenced similar struggles up till today - the civil rights movement in the
United States up other internal conflicts around the world. He was a man who brought
unification and strength to Black people throughout the world.
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What we as activists can
learn from this great man?
1.It is all about timing.
the west indies in the
late 19's and the early 20's was not an easy place for the
african people who formed the majority of the in those territories.
slavery had not long before ended in nearly all of the british islands and many
of the black adults alive during young garvey's childhood would therefore have
been slaves at some point of their lives.
The end of slavery had
meant some relief from the harsher aspects of life under the system but it did
not mean automatic equality with the white people - The situation was far from
it. .
The vast majority of
blacks were poor, most of them were farmers that worked in the fields and
plantations belong to white land owners in Tough Working conditions and for low
salaries - just like during the slavery time. 90 percent of the local
population did not possess the right to vote or other political rights - rights
that were reserved for whites only. Although governments have started providing
educational services to black children yet still only about 20 thousand blacks
out of quarter of a million blacks in Jamaica (where garvey was born) were
illiterate.
Inequality between
blacks and whites existed in all aspects of life, and the situation in Africa,
South and Central America was even worse.. africa was in the last throes of
european conquest and the black world was reeling from the murder of millions
of Africans and near total annihilation of its independence.
africa was in the last
throes of european conquest and the black world was reeling from the near total
annihilation of its independence
In the United States
there were segregation laws that separated blacks and whites in schools,
residential areas, and in public places. Black people generally received lower
wages than their white frien and violence by white people against blacks were most
of the time justified in the courts.
Out of This grim reality
Marcus Garvey we know today rose:
" i was determined
that the black man would not continue to be kicked about by all the outher
races and nations of the world, as I sew it in the west indies, south and
central America and as I read of it in America. I sew before me then even as I do now, a new world of black men, not peons, serfs, dogs and slaves but a
nation of sturdy men making their impress upon civilization and causing a new
light to dawn upon the human race."
The time was right, garvey
appeared on the scene when the need was greatest.
2. Not to act, speak or write about topics we are not mastered in
Garvey understood that
when one deals with a subject he is not properly versed in it there will always
be an ideological opponent that could embarrass him and reject his claims. He
was also wise enough to realize that the personal experience of a person was
not enough to give him the knowledge he needs so he must acquire his knowledge
from the experience of others as well
.
Garvey did not stop
reading. He read and studied the depth of the history of the black man, he
studied disciplines of social sciences, humanities and industry. He learned about struggles and ideas already forgotten
from the world and drew relevant conclusions that led to the modern struggle.
He was not afraid to read texts of white intellectuals or intellectuals that he
opposed to their ideas.he did it when he remembers that they were for their own
interests - the text is not sacred.
3.Give hope
Garvey knew his people –
the black people. He taught and inspired them.
He gave his people hope
and provided them with a goal to achieve – a free and redeemed Africa. A world
of black men and women proudly and fiercely equal to the rest of humankind. And
he earned the right to criticize them.
He criticized them for
being too weak and for begging for equal rights from those that suppress them instead
Instead of demanding it.
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"Babylon did it. Assyria
did. France under Napoleon did it. Germany under Prince Von Bismarck did it. America under George Washington did it. AFRICA
WITH 400 MILLION BLACK PEOPLE CAN DO IT".
Garvy teaches us that
hope is the power that motivates people to rise up and bring the change they
want to bring to the world. "There is a light at the end of the tunnel"
he shouts. But we must not afraid of criticize ourselves and our partners in
order to improve and move forward towards the light.
4. Never despair. Never give up.
Each individual who seek
revolution and trying to change the existing system or the ideas that dominates
the world will always encounter opposition from the ruling powers of that time.
This law existed from the dawn of history, and probably will continue to exist
forever: the prophets in the biblical period, Jesus, Maimonides, Galileo, the
leaders of the French Revolution, the Northern forces in the American Civil
War, Marcus Garvey, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Fidel Castro, Nelson Mandela
and many others – they all fought for revolution and they all were suppressed
by those who opposed the change
Common to all these
mentioned above and the difference between them and the people we are not
familiar with their names, is that they did not give up. despite many attempts
by the authorities to suppress them, they continued their struggle no matter
what - some of them stopped only when murdered.
Marcus Garvey, was
criticized from within and without, he was charged with false charges by the
United States government and expelled from the country, he received death
threats demanding him to give up his ambitions. He never stopped.
Unlike leaders like
Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela who died after the victory of
their struggle. He died in the midst of the struggle - so when he died the
governments still tried to erase his ideas and the legacy he left behind after his death.
Everything was done to
wipe out the record of garvey's phenomenal career. A whole generation of
schoolchildren grew up in the West Indies, afro-America and Africa who never
saw the name of marcus garvey mentioned in their history books.
The man who had led the
largest international political movement among Africans in history, disappeared
from the pages of history. Where he was mentioned it was
usually in a very few sentences suggesting that he was probably a crock,
criminal and a fool.
In 1964, two years after
Jamaica became independent – the jamaician government proclaimed him the
country's first national hero.
He didn't give up. he
didn't stop. his ideas didn't come fulfilled in his lifetime, , but due to his
devotion to the task, some of them were fulfilled after his death.
I believe that we as
modern social and political activists can learn a lot more from Marcus Garvey.
Even during his lifetime the ideas he promoted was heavily criticized from
within and without and today most of them are seen as irrelevant at all. But his
ideas is not the main lesson. It is his influence that evident to this day - he
gave hope to millions of blacks and gave them a reason to stand up and claim
their rights, to demand a better life. He gave pride and self-esteem to those
who looked in the mirror and found it difficult to love themselves.
Marcus Mosiah Garvey was
a man that lived a life with a mission. Although his journey may have seemed
impossible, his never-ending strength and dedication caused many people’s dreams
and wishes to become realities
He was responsible for
putting forward ideas that helped to advance the political consciousness of
blacks worldwide and influenced social movements around the world. He changed the life of millions.
