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It is virtually impossible to speak on the greatness of the most high Marcus Mosiah Garvey in one blog post, so consider this an intellectual appetizer. Popularly dubbed the father of Pan-Africanism, Marcus Garvey was responsible from leading the charge to emancipate Africans in the Americas from mental/psychological slavery (and in some cases physical). American colonizers saw Garvey as their biggest opposition during that era and lead the charge to tarnish his character by imprisoning the Jamaican while they threatened him with deportation and bodily harm. Colonizers at the time were not very prepared to deal with an educated negro seeking liberty and civil rights through the pen.
Born August 17, 1887 in St. Ann Jamaica, Sir Garvey was able to liberate black human beings worldwide. He started off by creating the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) which was founded in 1914 in Kingston Jamaica. This was the largest such movement of the 20th century and was done before the aide of modern technology. The growth and impact of the UNIA as an organization championing human rights was rooted in the principles on which it was founded. One of the things that colonialism did was to wipe away the black man's identity by killing black leaders and destroying black history. If you know not who you are or where you're from, then you know not where you are or where you're going. After his travels outside Jamaica for the first time in 1910, Garvey witnessed the global degradation and suffering of blacks and was determined to change it for the better. He started off by asking himself a series of questions: 1. Where is the black man’s government? 2. Where is the black man's King and his kingdom? 3. Where is the black man's President? 4. Where is the black man's country and his flag? 5. Where are black ministers of big affairs representing the black community and black cause? After not finding any present at the time, Marcus Garvey declared that his mission was to make it. The following core principles under which Garvey operated are necessary for the growth, stability and sustainability of any group or nation: 1. REDEMPTION, 2. EDUCATION, 3. SELF-RELIANCE, 4. PURPOSE, 5. ENTREPRENEURSHIP, 6. COMMUNITY, 7. TRADITION, 8. RESPECT Because this is a simple blog post saluting some of the things that Marcus Garvey contributed to the liberation of black human beings worldwide, we urge you to spend some time and study his teachings and philosophy more in depth outside of this post. Use those eight power points listed above as a study guide. Marcus Garvey spent his public and private life devoted to the upliftment of Africans at home in Africa and abroad in other lands. Garvey taught and believed that in order for the black man to be redeemed he had to reconnect with his roots: Africa for Africans!
Education has to be at the forefront of the black man's fight for freedom. Communication runs the nation which is why upon his arrival in the United States, Garvey created the "Negro World Newspaper", which was published in Spanish, French and English as those were the main languages forced upon blacks who were victims of colonialism.
Garvey also believed that Africans should be self-reliant economically. In the quest for liberation, Black people must control their own economics. This has to be done purposefully with the aim of leading the charge towards black entrepreneurship. Create and control what we eat, what we drink, what we wear, where we learn, our hospitals and our banks that reinvest in the Black community thus leading to black economic growth. A Way Forward: Marcus Garvey said, “If you're not knowledgeable of your past history, know your origin and become familiar with your culture then you're like a tree without roots.”
Marcus Garvey is Jamaica's first National Hero and could be considered the most powerful Black man within the past 5 centuries. His teachings can be felt throughout the Caribbean diaspora and beyond. His plight and his philosophy are some of the reasons why we launched the "Fight Like Marcus" shirt, to serve as a reminder to everyone that there's still much work to be done in the fight for equality. FIGHT LIKE MARCUS ✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾