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Campaign for Garvey Pardon Gains Ground

By Nelson A. King

WASHINGTON, CMC – As the campaign heightens in the United States to exonerate Jamaica’s first national hero, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, an effort is underway here requesting that United States President Barack Obama exculpate Garvey before he demits office.

To assist in this effort, supporters are being urged to visit justice4garvey.org to sign the petition by Tuesday.

Born on August 17, 1887, in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, Garvey was an orator for the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and African Communities League.

A letter circulated by the Jamaica Embassy in the United States informed members of the Caribbean Diaspora that “there have been several efforts over the years” seeking Garvey’s exoneration.

The letter states that the petition is “currently also being led by the Garvey family, spearheaded by New York surgeon Dr. Julius Garvey, son of the late National Hero, aimed at securing 100,000 signatures.

“It will complement efforts also being taken by political and community leaders, CARICOM (Caribbean Community) Diplomatic Missions in Washington, D.C. and other community activists, etc., for exoneration by President Obama before he demits office,” the letter states, adding “we would be grateful if you could support this important cause by signing the petition.

“Please also encourage as many people as possible to sign by the targeted date.”

The letter further states that the signature is not limited to persons in the United States, “but may be done by anyone who has access to the website.”

On September 6, Dr. Garvey presented his case for justice for his father to the CARICOM Caucus of Ambassadors and embassy staff here.

The meeting, arranged by Dr. Goulda Downer, chair of the Washington-based Caribbean-American Political Action (C-PAC), was held at the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS).

During the meeting, Dr. Garvey said the group learned first-hand about the Garvey family’s campaign to seek justice for their father “through a posthumous presidential pardon and how the Caribbean, through our shared history as a region, can play a critical leadership role in this effort.

“The appeal for this pardon is on the grounds that Marcus Garvey was unjustly prosecuted,” Dr. Garvey said. “Garvey’s charges and conviction effectively ended his political movement and eventually led to his deportation to Jamaica, his country of birth. The family, 93 years later, now seeks justice for Marcus Garvey with their campaign to have his charges exonerated.”

Dr. Garvey said the Garvey’s legal team is asserting that Marcus Garvey’s conviction was “motivated by a desire on the part of the [U.S.] federal government to discredit, disrupt and destroy Garvey’s civil rights movement.”

The legal team, according to Dr. Garvey, said Garvey’s conviction was “executed through court surveillance and deception, with undercover agents posing as Garvey supporters,” and Garvey’s conviction was “aided by judicial proceedings that have been condemned as factually unsound and politically, and racially motivated.

“Caribbean leaders are asked to encourage citizens in all countries to sign the time-sensitive White House petition link at https://wh.gov/iLvaQ by Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016,” Dr. Garvey said.

“The immediate goal is to collect the 100,000 signatures by that day and present them to the White House and in so doing insure a response from President Obama on this request.”

In addressing the pre-carnival breakfast of the Brooklyn-based West Indian American Day Carnival Association (WIADCA) on September 5, Brooklyn Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke urged patrons to add their signature to the initiative.

“The evidence is clear that he was ahead of his time,” said Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, referring to Garvey, “because, due to some folks we know who did not have the moral compass, he was deported, but he built a movement.

“I hope you’ll join me and go on line and sign this gesture,” added Clarke, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn.

Last month, a number of Caribbean organizations in the U.S. joined the campaign to exonerate Garvey.

According to the Washington-based Institute of Caribbean Studies (ICS), Caribbean Diaspora organizations signing on the campaign included Caribbean Georgia; Caribbean American Advancement Foundation; Caribbean Political Action Committee; Foundation for the Exoneration of Marcus Garvey; Jamaica Association of Maryland; Jamaica Nationals Association; and Rebuild Dominica.

“The campaign offers an unprecedented opportunity for engagement among civil rights actors, research and education institutions, and the Caribbean Diaspora community,” said Jamaican Dr. Claire Nelson, ICS founder and president.
During the 100-day campaign, Nelson said Caribbean Diaspora organizations will, among other things, organize cultural expositions, fora and lectures “to shed light on the legacy of Garvey and provide support for this effort to right a wrong.”

Dr. Nelson said this “wrong” has “long been a thorn in the side of people of African descent and especially Caribbean Americans, whose ancestors immigrated to the US through Ellis Island [in New York] almost 100 years ago.”

Nelson said the campaign builds on activities, over the past two decades, organized by the Universal Negro Improvement Association that was founded by Garvey; the Foundation for the Exoneration of Marcus Garvey; the National Association of Jamaican and Supportive Organizations; and ICS, among others.

In mid-August Garvey’s family held a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington “to formally announce their petition to the White House for a posthumous Presidential Pardon.”
Nelson said the press conference, which was attended by leaders of the Caribbean Diaspora and several U.S. Congressional Black Caucus members, called for “Garvey’s name to be cleared of the 1923 charges with a Presidential Pardon.”

On June 24, Dr. Garvey, Harvard University Law Professor Charles Ogletree, Harvard University Democracy Project Fellow Justin Hansford, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld “submitted a petition requesting a presidential pardon be granted to Marcus Mosiah Garvey to exonerate his 1923 mail fraud charge.”

“A pardon is being called for on the grounds that Marcus Garvey was targeted by the U.S. government and J. Edgar Hoover [the late, former U.S. Attorney General] for his political activity as a leader of the Pan-African movement,” Nelson said.

“His charges and conviction effectively ended his political movement and eventually led to his deportation back to Jamaica,” she added. “The family, 93 years later, is now seeking justice for Marcus Garvey with their campaign to have his charges exonerated.”

Garvey was a proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, inspiring the Nation of Islam and the Rastafarian movement.

According toBiography.com, Garvey advanced a Pan-African philosophy, which inspired a global mass movement, known as Garveyism. It said Garveyism would eventually inspire others, from the Nation of Islam, to the Rastafari movement.

Social activist Garvey was self-educated, and was dedicated to promoting African-Americans and resettlement in Africa. Garvey is also reported to have launched several businesses in the United States to promote a separate black nation.

After he was convicted of mail fraud and deported back to Jamaica, he continued his work for Black repatriation to Africa.

1 Comment

  1. Next after Toussaint, Marcus Garvey is my hero. Forward looking. His ideas were way beyond most in the Black Power movement. Like Toussaint and still today, Black advancement ideas like political and economic independence are frightening to most non-Blacks around the world.

    Some fear retribution much more than reparation and even diversity. I present WWIII’s “Fifth Columnist”, “Third Reich” Trump.

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