News : Remembering Old Marcus Garvey
Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 3:54 pm
Throughout the course of history, no man has ever set out to become an icon. Simply, he tries to satisfy his own self need for actualization of some task, some mission that he feels truly passionate about, and in seeking an outcome, inspires the world.
**Marcus Garvey** was such as person.
Born to a poor Jamaican family, he identified from his youth that education was a vital ingredient to “self upliftment”. By his early years he acquired work as a printers apprentice and eagerly absorbed all the reading material that was available in the company’s library. This aptitude helped Garvey attain in his early adulthood a managerial position at the same company. During this stint, Garvey’s knowledge of “Maafa” and the early teachings of Pan-Africanism sunk in and took its own reflection in his social landscape; Marcus subconsciously took onto himself the role of “Protector”, “Educator of the disadvantage” as per the title granted unto him during the wage disputes at the Printing House where he garnered this knowledge.
He eventually lost his job after successful negotiations.
But this did not deter Garvey; it only empowered him as he recognized the strength and possibility of an intellectual revolution amongst people of his kind. This led him to ask the question “If I, then can how many?”. It was the fuel that flamed the Garveyian Era.
Exemplifying the role of a missionary, Garvey left his homeland to experience the social livelihood of the world outside of Jamaica circa 1910. During this journey he entered Panama, The “Miami” of the era and eventually crossed the Central American Pan Handle into South America. Along his journey he tried to use his skill as a printer, and moonshine “journalist”. His various short run publications earned him the reputation of “Radicalist”, equivalent to “terrorist” of these times.
After one too many evictions and a stint of social isolation, Garvey decided to pack up and visit his sister in England. While there, he met an Ethiopian Muslim, named Duse Mohammed Ali, whose publication “The African Times & Oriental Review” exposed Garvey not only to his Motherland, but also to the current social events in Africa.
This new enlightment thrilled Garvey, finally he was able to provide Jamaican People with credible information on what was Happening in Africa !!. Maybe this would awaken the people!
Garvey set home to Jamaica. With the works of Booker T Washington and W.E.B Dubios so deeply ingrained in young Garvey,s mind, it inspired him to write a letter to Booker T Washington, who replied, inviting him to America.
History it seems is nothing but a series of incidents.
By the time Garvey arrived in New York it was on the cusp of World War I. Black America it seemed, was ripe and ready for the injection of Garvey’s much honed “train of thought” and soon found a voice among impoverished urban Black Americans.
This public support gave Garvey the encouragement to start his United Negro Improvement Association, the UNIA. Marcus Garvey probably thought that this was his moment of self-actualization. He had left his homeland, educated himself and had become a social influence in a faraway country. For a St. Ann country boy that was it, he had made it. But History was not finished with him yet.
In 1920, two years after the idea bore fruit, the UNIA had hundreds of chapters spread throughout the US and the World. Always an aspiring journalist Garvey seized the opportunity to fulfill this need, and began publishing “The Negro World” which eventually expanded to include the French and Spanish speaking Chapters of his organization, reaching nearly 55,000 readers worldwide.
Marcus Garvey was now, the Black Superstar of his time. The popularity propelled his self confidence, and he took onto himself the core mantra of “Post Maafa” or the ultimate goal of Pan-Africanism… the Back To Africa Movement.
This mission ultimately changed the reflection of Marcus Garvey in the eye of the “Social Gate Keepers.” Such as the F.B.I whose head of operations, the “flamboyant” J. Edgar Hoover, decided that Garvey was trying to cause “massive social disruption” by uprooting the core workforce of the American society.
Who would wash the dishes if all the dishwashers were in Africa?
The relentless Bureau eventually forced Garvey’s publication “The Negro World” distribution system into array, by capturing papers routed to major chapters and hubs. Garvey tried to use a little ingenuity to create a bypass and this was what the F.B.I used to charge him for mail fraud in 1923.
For the next fours years Garvey and the operations of the UNIA were disrupted by various court appearances, fines and jail terms. A strategic move that worked for the F.B.I and when Garvey finally seceded and negotiated voluntary deportation in 1927, he was immediately exiled from the US States.
He returned to Jamaica, with great expectations forming his own political party which had minimal success, and he had no warm welcome from his local branch of the UNIA.
The years that followed proved no easy challenge for Garvey. The “fanatical” dread heads”, had supposedly misinterpreted his dissemination of some African current affairs news, taken it as gospel, and founded a new religion naming him “Chief Disciple”. Garvey tried to reject this premise many a times and wrote one deafening article against Selassie in a local publication of the “The Negro World” that he was almost banished again by his public.
Tired and rattled by various health problems mostly related to stress and depression, Garvey moved to England under advice from his sister in 1935. There he found a spurt of enthusiasm, even traveling one again, his most final destination being Canada, where he founded The School of African Philosophy.
Marcus was a man ahead of his time. His success was limited in his era but nearly seventy years after his death, the stone that this builder refused, has become the cornerstone of his philosophy so much it has created its own voice of sound, namely reggae music.
And if for only this, we must, remember old Marcus Garvey……..
Selah
*source : [riddimjamaica.net](http://www.riddimjamaica.net)*
**Marcus Garvey** was such as person.
Born to a poor Jamaican family, he identified from his youth that education was a vital ingredient to “self upliftment”. By his early years he acquired work as a printers apprentice and eagerly absorbed all the reading material that was available in the company’s library. This aptitude helped Garvey attain in his early adulthood a managerial position at the same company. During this stint, Garvey’s knowledge of “Maafa” and the early teachings of Pan-Africanism sunk in and took its own reflection in his social landscape; Marcus subconsciously took onto himself the role of “Protector”, “Educator of the disadvantage” as per the title granted unto him during the wage disputes at the Printing House where he garnered this knowledge.
He eventually lost his job after successful negotiations.
But this did not deter Garvey; it only empowered him as he recognized the strength and possibility of an intellectual revolution amongst people of his kind. This led him to ask the question “If I, then can how many?”. It was the fuel that flamed the Garveyian Era.
Exemplifying the role of a missionary, Garvey left his homeland to experience the social livelihood of the world outside of Jamaica circa 1910. During this journey he entered Panama, The “Miami” of the era and eventually crossed the Central American Pan Handle into South America. Along his journey he tried to use his skill as a printer, and moonshine “journalist”. His various short run publications earned him the reputation of “Radicalist”, equivalent to “terrorist” of these times.
After one too many evictions and a stint of social isolation, Garvey decided to pack up and visit his sister in England. While there, he met an Ethiopian Muslim, named Duse Mohammed Ali, whose publication “The African Times & Oriental Review” exposed Garvey not only to his Motherland, but also to the current social events in Africa.
This new enlightment thrilled Garvey, finally he was able to provide Jamaican People with credible information on what was Happening in Africa !!. Maybe this would awaken the people!
Garvey set home to Jamaica. With the works of Booker T Washington and W.E.B Dubios so deeply ingrained in young Garvey,s mind, it inspired him to write a letter to Booker T Washington, who replied, inviting him to America.
History it seems is nothing but a series of incidents.
By the time Garvey arrived in New York it was on the cusp of World War I. Black America it seemed, was ripe and ready for the injection of Garvey’s much honed “train of thought” and soon found a voice among impoverished urban Black Americans.
This public support gave Garvey the encouragement to start his United Negro Improvement Association, the UNIA. Marcus Garvey probably thought that this was his moment of self-actualization. He had left his homeland, educated himself and had become a social influence in a faraway country. For a St. Ann country boy that was it, he had made it. But History was not finished with him yet.
In 1920, two years after the idea bore fruit, the UNIA had hundreds of chapters spread throughout the US and the World. Always an aspiring journalist Garvey seized the opportunity to fulfill this need, and began publishing “The Negro World” which eventually expanded to include the French and Spanish speaking Chapters of his organization, reaching nearly 55,000 readers worldwide.
Marcus Garvey was now, the Black Superstar of his time. The popularity propelled his self confidence, and he took onto himself the core mantra of “Post Maafa” or the ultimate goal of Pan-Africanism… the Back To Africa Movement.
This mission ultimately changed the reflection of Marcus Garvey in the eye of the “Social Gate Keepers.” Such as the F.B.I whose head of operations, the “flamboyant” J. Edgar Hoover, decided that Garvey was trying to cause “massive social disruption” by uprooting the core workforce of the American society.
Who would wash the dishes if all the dishwashers were in Africa?
The relentless Bureau eventually forced Garvey’s publication “The Negro World” distribution system into array, by capturing papers routed to major chapters and hubs. Garvey tried to use a little ingenuity to create a bypass and this was what the F.B.I used to charge him for mail fraud in 1923.
For the next fours years Garvey and the operations of the UNIA were disrupted by various court appearances, fines and jail terms. A strategic move that worked for the F.B.I and when Garvey finally seceded and negotiated voluntary deportation in 1927, he was immediately exiled from the US States.
He returned to Jamaica, with great expectations forming his own political party which had minimal success, and he had no warm welcome from his local branch of the UNIA.
The years that followed proved no easy challenge for Garvey. The “fanatical” dread heads”, had supposedly misinterpreted his dissemination of some African current affairs news, taken it as gospel, and founded a new religion naming him “Chief Disciple”. Garvey tried to reject this premise many a times and wrote one deafening article against Selassie in a local publication of the “The Negro World” that he was almost banished again by his public.
Tired and rattled by various health problems mostly related to stress and depression, Garvey moved to England under advice from his sister in 1935. There he found a spurt of enthusiasm, even traveling one again, his most final destination being Canada, where he founded The School of African Philosophy.
Marcus was a man ahead of his time. His success was limited in his era but nearly seventy years after his death, the stone that this builder refused, has become the cornerstone of his philosophy so much it has created its own voice of sound, namely reggae music.
And if for only this, we must, remember old Marcus Garvey……..
Selah
*source : [riddimjamaica.net](http://www.riddimjamaica.net)*