It’s time to mainstream Marcus Garvey

Cover of Ken Jones edited "Marcus Garvey Said ..." 

by Jean Lowrie-Chin

Observer column published MON 20 August 2018

My son with his bust of Marcus Garvey and
the precious book

Born in Jamaica on August 17, 1887, our first National Hero, Marcus Mosiah Garvey took the world stage by storm with an estimated membership of over four million worldwide in his UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) which he had launched in Jamaica in 1914. There was a groundswell of plaudits on his birthday, stirring my memory of that very special day at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In a previous column I wrote: “I remember August 17, 2008 when my husband Hubie and I were there for the Olympics.  I remember saying on our way to the Bird’s Nest, “We have to get a Gold for Marcus Garvey’s birthday,” a bit ambitious as we had already scored two Golds and there were rumours that young Shelly-Ann Fraser was not at her fittest. This was her big day – her first Olympic 100-metres final, along with team mates Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart.

We were on our feet even before the starter’s gun, and as they stormed to the finish with our ‘Pocket Rocket’ in the lead, we shouted, “One-Two-Three!” But a Russian looked at the board and shouted back, “No Jamaica!  It is ONE-TWO-TWO!”  Later, as we stood teary-eyed for Jamaica’s National Anthem, two Jamaican flags made their way up the poles, as it had not been even imagined that they would need three.”

I remember returning to the hotel that evening, and clicking on the Marcus Garvey website, only to see a medal in the masthead, and his words, “Look for me in the whirlwind.” Talk about ancestral power!

Garvey urges us to read

Professors and writers have worked to keep Garvey’s philosophy alive, including a compilation by Garvey’s late wife, Amy Jacques Garvey, “The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey”, Ken Jones’ “Marcus Garvey Said …”, Professor Robert Hill’s 12-volume collection, “Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers” which was acquired by Duke University in 2015 along 300 boxes of material which he had begun compiling in 1970, and Professor Rupert Lewis’ publications, including ‘Marcus Garvey’, and “Garvey – Africa, Europe and the Americas”.

In recent conversations with Emprezz Golding and Dr Leahcim Semaj who shares a birthday with the great man, we agreed that if Garvey’s teachings had been mainstreamed since 1962, Jamaica would not be facing the issues of indiscipline and low productivity. I learned only last week from his daughter Justine Henzell, that the late Perry Henzell had written a play on Garvey for his Centenary, and it is among the archives at Liberty Hall. Like Trevor Rhone’s ‘Old Story Time’ this play should be a part of the CSEC syllabus and should be performed all over Jamaica.

With one political administration after the other refusing to fully incorporate Garvey’s works into primary and secondary curriculum, it leads you to wonder if Garvey’s message of dignity and self-reliance is counter to our political culture of conflict and dependence.  No one who recognizes their worth would be hanging out of bus windows on their way to party conferences, chasing down curry goat and T-shirts, and be willing to terrorise those who will not wear the orange or the green.

The challenge to both political parties is therefore a return to Garvey’s teachings and the fraternal collaboration between the founders of their two parties, Sir Alexander Bustamante and N.W. Manley. Jamaicans have become weary of the finger-pointing and yearn for compassionate leadership. How can it be that 30 percent of our population are said to be squatters? Those politicians who have been encouraging this behaviour to shore up votes instead of seeking legitimate housing for their constituents need to be outed.

This is a time for courage, a time when hardworking, decent politicians must stand up to the ones who are painting politics as a dishonorable calling. In 1923, Marcus Garvey wrote, “When Garvey dies, a million Garveys will rise up.” Jamaica is waiting and hoping.