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Stanley Nelson’s Public Broadcasting Service documentary on the life of Marcus Garvey generated considerable alarm among many of those interested in Garvey’s life and work. While there was much to commend in the film, there seemed to be a concerted effort to introduce gratuitous misinformation designed to tarnish Garvey’s image. Most startling was the film’s closing scene, which depicted Garvey being stoned by urchins in the streets of Jamaica as he approached the hovel in which he was allegedly living. Garvey actually lived in a well-to-do neighborhood and was never stoned by anybody. The entire bizarre scene was fabricated out of whole cloth.
In the following selections Garvey’s sons and Garvey scholars respond to the PBS documentary.
Letter No. 1, February 26, 2001
To the Editor of the Jamaica Gleaner
Dear Sir,
I would like to make some comments relative to the PBS documentary on Marcus Garvey, “Look for me in the Whirlwind”, that was shown at the Little Theatre in Kingston on February 20th. My two major areas of criticism are (1) Factual inaccuracies and slanderous statements without even attempting to substantiate them and (2) The absence of any in-depth analysis of what Marcus Garvey stood for or was trying to do. I will attempt to deal with some of the former that I consider to be of major importance.
(1) The early incident of Marcus Garvey being left in the grave is dramatized and the statement is made that his father was teaching him ‘Never to rely on anyone’. The incident is factual, but the reason given to me by my mother is that my grandfather was teaching Marcus not to be afraid of anything! It may seem initially like a small difference, but it sets the stage for later gratuitous statements that Marcus Garvey was always alone, never confided in anyone, did not take advice and was dictatorial. So right from the beginning we have psychodrama and psychohistory. Incidentally the technique of leaving someone in a graveyard for an extended period of time is a well-known Tibetan Buddhist practice, used for centuries to test an initiate’s fearlessness and stability of mind.
(2) Statements that Amy Ashwood was the cofounder of the UNIA is an exaggeration in that Marcus Garvey returned from England to Jamaica on July 15th 1914 and within 5 days founded the UNIA. It is unlikely that a 17-year-old girl had the vision to be anything more than an early member. It is said that Amy Ashwood’s mother did not consider Marcus Garvey the right type of person for her daughter to date, as he did not have a solid income. Well at this point he was a world traveler, a master printer, a journalist and the founder of an organization that had her daughter as one of fifteen members of the “board of management”. Incidentally, both Amy Ashwood’s mother and brother were on the UNIA payroll. Marcus Garvey was elected president and TRAVELLING COMMISSIONER of the UNIA at its founding. I emphasize this latter with good reason. Incidentally both Amy Ashwood’s mother and brother were on the UNIA payroll.
(3) Marcus Garvey grossly mismanaged the funds of the organization and used them for his own purposes. Again, not only is there no proof of this, but the opposite is true in that Marcus Garvey gave a public accounting of how the funds were used. At this early stage the organization was mostly uplift and philanthropy. It was a literary and debating society, did charitable work such as feeding and entertaining hundreds of poor and sick people, especially on Emancipation Day and at Christmas. Garvey never ran away from Jamaica or left in a hurry. This was carefully planned and there are letters to Booker T. Washington and his successor, Moton, to prove that Garvey’s visit to the U.S. was to see Tuskegee Institute, which he viewed as a model industrial institute, and to raise funds for a similar institute and farm in Jamaica. I think he was clearly carrying out his duties as TRAVELLING COMMISSIONER. Also he never abandoned Amy Ashwood in Jamaica, as she had already left for Panama.
(4) Marcus Garvey is portrayed as being awed by the bright lights, richness and tall buildings of Harlem. He had already had 4 years of world travel under his belt, 2 in the Caribbean (Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and 2 in Europe (England, France, Spain, Germany and Italy). I do not think he was overly impressed with Harlem, New York, U.S.A. He is said to have been so nervous at an early speaking engagement that he shook like a leaf and LITERALLY fell on his face. Marcus Garvey even prior to leaving Jamaica in 1910 took part in debates and elocution contests and he trained himself in this area. He studied the speaking style of many ministers in Kingston, he spoke in public on many occasions in Costa Rica and Panama. He studied the speakers in London’s Hyde Park, at Speaker’s Corner.
He participated himself. He also sat in the gallery of the House of Commons and studied the speakers there engaged in parliamentary debate. He did not have to go to the U.S. to copy the speaking style of someone named Billy Sunday and he certainly would not have “shaken like a leaf”. His topic, by the way was ‘Jamaica’ and the audience was largely West Indian. As to literally ‘falling flat on his face’. This is an outright lie, as to fall flat on one’s face, one would have to be in an altered state of consciousness so that the normal defense mechanism of putting out one’s hands to break the fall would not be operational. The one fact in all this is that Marcus Garvey fell off the platform while speaking on May 9th, 1916 at St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church Hall at 57 West 138th Harlem, N.Y. How one gets from this one fact to the tissue of lies and fevered mental projections is quite a leap. By the way he got up and continued his speech. He needed no medical attention for a broken nose, busted lip or bruised head as he would have done if he ‘literally fell flat on his face’ from the platform.
(5) Garvey is said to have been authoritarian, antidemocratic, naming himself and others with fancy titles, etc. The UNIA was an organization with a constitution. Marcus Garvey was elected Provisional President of Africa by 25,000 delegates from all over the world at the first international convention of the Negro peoples of the world in N.Y. in 1920. He was opposed by Dr. Lewis from Nigeria, but he won the election. Important matters relative to the objectives of the organization and how they should be carried out were discussed at convention and by the delegates in committee and the recommendations voted upon democratically by the delegates present. Not autocratically dictated by Marcus Garvey. There were 8 such conventions. The first in 1920 and the last in 1938 in Toronto Canada. WWII started in 1939. Garvey died in 1940.
(6) He is said to have fired his lawyer and no reason is given for this except to say that Garvey wanted to impress the jury with his oratory. The fact is that his lawyer wanted to plea bargain and Garvey refused, protesting his innocence and therefore fired him. Nevertheless he hired lawyers to advise him on court proceedings, as he pleaded his case. He did this well enough to have a hung jury. At which time the presiding judge instructed the jury not to ‘turn the tiger loose’. They came back in 15 minutes with a guilty verdict. The only piece of evidence was an empty envelope; the address was not in Marcus Garvey’s handwriting.
(7) A handbill is shown advertising and seeking subscriptions to buy a boat called the ‘Phyllis Wheatley’. This is said to be a gross misrepresentation, as the ship did not exist. Well the ship did exist, and $20,000 had been paid down on it and the organization was raising funds to complete the purchase and rename the ship the ‘S.S. Phillis Wheatley’. The fist ship of the Black Star Line was the ‘Yarmouth’, renamed the ‘Frederick Douglas’. The third ship was the ‘Kenawha’, renamed the ‘Antonio Maceo’. The fourth ship was to be named the ‘Phillis Wheatley’ after Afro-Americas first female poet and one of its most celebrated. How this can be called misrepresentation requires a wide stretch of the imagination.
(8) Finally, the last scene that was dramatized showing Garvey, ‘the failure, who had come down, in the world’, being stoned by children and walking toward a hovel, presumably his home. A despicable lie. We lived at 53 Lady Musgrave Rd., St. Andrew from 1927 to 1937. My brother and I were both born there. The house still stands and was lived in by the Hendricks family and subsequently housed the Indian High Commission. I do not need to tell a Jamaican readership of the many accomplishments of Marcus Garvey between 1927 and 1935 in Jamaica. To end a documentary on Our 1st National Hero, Hero of the Americas and a Hero to millions of Africans, those at home and those abroad, climaxes the many distortions of fact, lies and character assassinations that are so numerous that I cannot include them all here. One can only ask, Why? Perhaps it is a situation of ‘who pays the piper calls the tune’. I prefer to be charitable and say, ‘My father forgive them for they know not what they do’.
Sincerely,
Julius W. Garvey, M.D.
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Letter No. 2, To the Editor of the Jamaica Observer
I would like to make some comments relative to the PBS documentary on Marcus
Garvey, "Look for me in the Whirlwind", that was shown at the Little Theatre in Kingston on February 20th.
My criticism is twofold: (1) the film was rife with factual inaccuracies and slanderous innuendo and; (2) it lacked any real understanding of what Marcus Garvey stood for or was trying to do or what he ultimately achieved. I will attempt to deal briefly with the latter.
First was a sense of identity - African people had the longest history and culture of all peoples and could be justly proud of same. They created the first civilizations in Africa, which were the prototypes of all others. Only recently in world history were we brought down from our pinnacle of civilization and enslaved. Not withstanding European propaganda we were not subhuman, but we were once great and could be great again. As he said, "History is the landmark by which we are directed into the true course of life". The history of a movement, of a nation, of a race is the guidepost of that movement's destiny. So we must know our history and our past accomplishments and that will give us the strength and courage to accomplish even more.
Second was self-reliance - We do not need to depend on others for our own development, but must use our own intelligence and creative genius to solve the problems that we currently face and to determine our own agenda and hence our destiny. He said, "Man is the individual who is able to shape his own character, master his own will, direct his own life and shape his own ends. Man is therefore the architect of his own fate and master of his own destiny.
Third was Unity and Nationhood - A united people with a strong sense of identity had to have land where they could develop according to their own idealism. This was the basis of Nationhood. He said, "Nationhood is the only means by which modern civilization can completely protect itself. Independence of Nationality, independence of government, is the means of protecting not only the individual, but the group. Nationhood is the highest ideal of all peoples". This is what he wished for African people. This Pan-African Nation had to have a land base in Africa, (The Liberia Project). It is only through Nationhood that African people could be supported and protected globally.
Fourth, only through a strong economic base could the above ideological framework be carried out. He said, "Every student of economics knows that the race can only be saved through a solid industrial foundation. Take away industry from a race, take away political freedom from a race and you have a group of slaves. A race that is solely dependent upon another for its economic existence sooner or later dies. Africans, where ever they were therefore (a) had to be in control of their resources and the means of production (b) Africans needed to constitute a trading block made up of those on the continent and those in the Diaspora. Today numbering 600,000,000; (c) they also needed to control the means of transportation and the means of communication amongst each other.
Fifth, only those who had mastered the physical and psychological sciences would be able to prosper and dominate competitively in the future. Therefore education of all ages and in all locations was paramount. He said, "The battles of the future, whether they are physical or mental, will be fought on scientific lines and the race that is able to produce the highest scientific development, is the race that will ultimately rule. The significant caveat for African people was that spirituality had to control the knowledge of and use of scientific developments. This was the only way to combat the evils of modern scientific materialism.
Sixth, one had to apply these principles pragmatically, depending on time and place and using one's creative genius. A host of solutions were put forth in the early 20th century that were needed at the time. (A) The weekly newspaper the, 'Negro World', published continuously from 1919 to 1933. The largest Negro weekly in the U.S.A. (B) The Negro Factories Corporation. Employing over 1,000 people in N.Y.C. alone. (C) The Black Star Line had four ships in all at a time when shipping was the means of transportation for raw materials and manufactured goods worldwide. (D) The Black Cross Nurses; (E) the African Orthodox
Church; (F) the African Legion, etc.
Seventh, Garveyism represented a way of life that did not separate the spiritual from the secular and therefore represented an integrated view of man and indeed a New African Humanism based on the Father/Motherhood of God and the brother/sisterhood of woman/man. God was a formless permanent, spiritual force that created the universe and everything in it and was both immanent and transcendent simultaneously. In order to discuss or image God one had to resort to anthropomorphism. Each race, ethnic group or cultural entity could picture God in their own image. This was necessary to make God, universal Love and human transformation towards perfection, relevant to a specific time and place on the material plane. Garvey thus wrestled God away from the white race and gave her to everybody.
Ninth, Garveyism was a Philosophy, Theology, Psychology and Social Action Plan and as such is timeless and can be applied by all peoples in any location. A useful mantra for humankind is, One God! One Aim! One Destiny! One Love! Even though Garvey's organizational structure was largely dismantled by J. Edgar Hoover, the Justice Department, 8 full time agents, countless informants and saboteurs, as well as internal dissension, the depression and the second world war, Garvey's brand of Pan Africanism was resurgent by 1945. Dubois had called my mother to ask who to invite to the 5th Pan-African Congress in Manchester. Both himself and Padmore had at this point given up on communism and acknowledged that Garvey was right.
Amy Ashwood Garvey was there, Jomo Kenyatta and other Africans that would lead many national liberation movements in Africa, were also present. Nkrumah, Azikewe, Kenyatta, Lumumba, Nyerere, Mandela, have all attested to Garvey's influence on their thinking and development of national consciousness. In the U.S., Garvey is the father of all Nationalist Movements. El Hajj Malik el Shabazz (Malcolm X) was his most direct ideological disciple. His influence as anti-colonial champion and on all political independence movements in the Caribbean is well known. He is Jamaica's first and most popular National Hero. His bust rests in a prominent position in the Hall of Heroes of the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C.
Marcus Garvey never set foot in Africa is well known, however my mother, his widow, Amy Jacques Garvey was invited by the government of Nigeria to attend the inaugural ceremonies of the installation of Dr. Nnamdi Azikewe as Governor-General in November 1960. This was a tribute to the memory of Marcus Garvey, who he considered a mentor. She then went to Ghana as the guest of the government and was honored there. She met Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia, King of Kings, Elect of God, and Lion of Judah. The Emperor conferred on Dr. Nkrumah the Exalted Order of the Queen of Sheba, and he in turn conferred on the Emperor the Exalted Order of the Star of Africa, the Black Star. So much for those who speak of Garvey's megalomania and Penchant for Pomp.
I will close by quoting Frank Hill in the Daily Gleaner, 17th August 1960 under the caption-"The Prophet of Black Zionism", he states in part; “What makes a man great? It is, I think, the universal quality of the contribution he makes to the civilization of his times. The accent is on the word universal, for the quality of his vision must be such as to be able to hold the attention of mankind, rather than mere isolated pockets of men grouped in special circumstances....."
I agree with the attestation of Frank Hill to Garvey's greatness and I am equally sure that he would agree with me that mediocrity cannot tarnish the brilliance of our shining Jamaican Black Star, MARCUS MOSIAH GARVEY.
Sincerely,
Julius W. Garvey, M.D.
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"The Recent Documentary on Marcus Garvey: For What Price the Destruction of an African Hero?"
By Molefi Asante
The recent television documentary on Marcus Garvey once again shows that the handling of our national and international heroes can never be left to those whose desires appear to be to serve the interests of their paymasters. Stanley Nelson, the producer and director, and Marcia White, the scriptwriter, for the documentary have done a grievous harm to the African community at home and abroad by their portrayal of Garvey. They have not presented Garvey to us, they have tried to undermine Garvey and their work harks back to the deliberate attempts by the federal government and some elements of the African American middle classes to discredit Marcus Garvey in the l920s. A growing number of so-called Black intellectuals and artists believe that the best way forward is to ride on the backs of their own people. They seek to emasculate the noblest defenders of our human rights, to disestablish the reputations of our best thinkers, and to thrown bleach onto the memories of our most ardent activists for justice. Marcus Garvey, as the central figure in African history over the past one hundred years, has not escaped the hammer of misinformation and misrepresentation.
The recent television portrayal had all the makings of a useful historical documentary. It had the benefit of Julius Garvey and Marcus Garvey, Jr., the two sons of Marcus Garvey, Sr., and three leading Marcus Garvey scholars in Tony Martin of Wellesley, Bobby Hill of UCLA, and Rupert Lewis of the University of West Indies. However, regardless of the experts, a documentary is the brainchild of the producer and director. You can make the necessary editing cuts to the impression you want to create.
While any film that did not bring in the words of the Garvey sons or Rupert Lewis or Tony Martin would be considered anemic and not authoritative, using Bobby Hill, the keeper of the Garvey papers, as the expert consultant to cast dispersions on Garvey was meant to invalidate anything said by the other authorities.
The truth of the matter about Garvey is simple. By the time the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League held its huge meeting in August 1920 at Madison Square Garden, Garvey had become a household name among African people in the Americas. Ten years earlier he had lit the fires of African self determination and political self assertion in scores of speeches to thousands of people from the back of a train in the Limon province of Costa Rica. In the United States, he had surpassed the leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in his popularity.
By the force of his personality and character he had demonstrated that the NAACP missed the real feelings of the African people in America. So when 25,000 people assembled in the huge
Madison Square Garden under the banner of the UNIA and ACL the event brought more attention to Garvey than ever before. It was the beginning of the FBI? s attempt to sully his name with African American people. From that moment forward the United States government and his enemies outside of the UNIA and ACL would do everything in their power to dishonor Garvey's operation. They would plant articles in papers against him, sow seeds of distrust among members of the organization, create opportunities for t hose who wanted to curry favor with the white establishment to reveal any inside information they had on the organization, and try to set up the officers for criminal activities. What was worrisome to the national government was the fact that an African, without the support of the white media, had ascended to such heights in the popular imagination of the African American people as to be able to call together more black people than the white president. Garvey was the pre-eminent spokesperson of the race and no one in any other organization could compete with him for the public mind.
What Stanley Nelson does in his documentary is to "problematize" Garvey. This angers me because the only people who believe that they have to "problematize" their heroes are soulless people without any sense of historical purpose or reality. Garvey was not fighting against some fantasy; he was dealing with the everyday reality of black life. Was he human?
Of course, he was human, but was he guilty of some heinous crime? No! What Garvey was guilty of was becoming the most courageous African public figure in our history. This was the crime and the government went out of its way to create a case against him. At Madison Square Gardens, Marcus Garvey was elected president-general of the UNIAACL, the Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World was written and disseminated, the formal leadership structure was proposed and accepted, chapters were established with commissioners for each chapter, and demands were made.
Among the demands made by the Garvey movement was that black school children should be taught African history. I certainly wish Marcia White had taken some Afrocentric classes in African history. She would not have written the script the way she did. Perhaps one of Marcus Garvey's greatest gifts was his ability to identify the values and the cultural motifs that resonated with the African people. He produced several cultural symbols that galvanized the membership. An anthem was created called the Universal Ethiopian Anthem, a flag of the colors red, black, and green was made and presented to the members, and small industries were created as places for workers to make a living.
Furthermore, Garvey dispatched representatives to Liberia to investigate the possibilities of colonies in West Africa. The failure of the Black Star Lines in l921 was an ominous sign but it was the constant criticism of the African American middle class that led to infighting and disaffections. This gave the government the opportunity to sow discord among the leadership.
When Garvey was indicted in 1922 the judge was Julian Mack, who claimed to be a member of the NAACP. Garvey appealed and in l925 he lost his appeal and was sent to the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. After a strenuous campaign on the part of Amy Jacques Garvey, who published Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey in l923 and 1925, to raise money for legal expenses, he was released from prison and sent to Jamaica. The fact that a documentary about Garvey does not emphasize the conspiracy against the rise of a black messiah but rather attempts to show that Garvey was some type of egomaniac goes to demonstrate how far away from the truth Nelson manages to get.
All black leaders who create a mass following will be called names in a white racist society that profits in keeping African people from considering their own heroes as heroic. In my mind, any person who puts his or her life on the line for the sake of their people must be considered heroic, full stop.”
Feb 2002, Molefi Asante ...telling it like it is!
( Thanks to Senghor Baye for supplying this article).
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The PBS Film
By Paul Lee
" ..... The PBS film did NOT treat the UNIA's reach into Africa [which was] continent-wide--north, west, east, central, and south. Indeed, one would be hard-pressed to name a major African anti-colonial leader who was not directly or indirectly affiliated with or affected by the UNIA's organizing and propaganda. The same was true of the Caribbean and Diaspora (or "scattered Africa,” as Mr. Garvey called them) communities in Europe.
...I was deeply troubled by the film's reinforcement of several insidious and, I thought, long-discredited stereotypes of Mr. Garvey. There were subtle suggestions that he was a charlatan, such as the film's, to my knowledge, original suggestion that he left Jamaica in 1915 under shady circumstances rather than his stated reason of studying the work of Tuskegee Institute. Of course, we have his letter to Dr. Washington of a year earlier in support of this.
The narration, to my astonishment, referred to the UNIA's uniforms as "outlandish" and this was
underscored by the quaint music used under photos and film of the 1922 UNIA parade. While Mr. Garvey was quoted responding to this, I found it outrageous that the authority of the NARRATIVE VOICE was used to support the characterizations of his ENEMIES (also
quoted in the film). That at least one of the interviewees expressed her pride in how her father looked in uniform might have been outweighed by the presumptive voice of the producer, supported by the comments of Mr. Garvey's enemies.
Finally, Mr. Garvey was held responsible for his own downfall. This demonstrates a regrettable lack of appreciation of the context in which he worked--namely, one infused with his cognizance that he and the UNIA were targeted, not only of the "state power" of the U. S., as Prof. Hill neatly puts it, but also by the COMBINED machinations of SEVERAL Western colonial powers.
Is it any wonder that he became distrustful of others and increasingly dependent upon his own counsel? If he didn't recognize Hoover's Black informants as such, he surely knew that he was under constant surveillance and that these powers were attempting to discredit him and destroy the UNIA. Moreover, Mr. Garvey surely knew that his black opposition LEGITIMIZED these efforts. This reminds me of an old CIA trick, as explained to us by former case officer John Stockwell and former "company" executive Victor Marchetti. According to their memoirs, the agency was in a win-win position when it attempted to destabilize "Third World" governments.
If its operations succeeded, a threat was neutralized (at least in the short run). If not, in attempting to do so, the CIA would use its intended victim's alarmed reaction and sometimes-desperate efforts to defend itself as further "proof" of its "despotic" and "paranoid" character! The film's failure to properly locate the UNIA's threat to Western colonialism makes Mr. Garvey's protectiveness seem self-destructive, substituting armchair psychology for historical analysis and reducing a POLITICAL reality to a CHARACTER flaw.
Of course, such political pressures could and did exacerbate certain tendencies in Mr. Garvey, but the film fails to place these into their proper socio-political context. I am baffled by this, particularly in light of the fact that the credits listed Prof. Hill as the senior consultant and that Dr. Tony Martin, who has a sophisticated read of this context, was an interviewee. Mr. Garvey was one of THE major historical figures of the 20th century. I've invested 26 years of serious study into this man and his movement..."
"Faithful-lee" Yours,
Paul Lee, Director, Best Efforts, Inc.
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Commendation to TMP and Dr. Tony Martin
By Senghor Baye, President-General, Universal Negro Improvement Association
"Let me take time to thank and commend Majority Press and Dr. Tony Martin for all your work and contributions towards the education and upliftment of Africans and all other people on the truth of Marcus Garvey and the UNIA-ACL works, words and deeds for the African Movement yesterday , today & tomorrow. As the 3rd Assistant President General and servant of the needs of Africans at home and abroad of the UNIA-ACL , today I am very pleased that you have provided a means for the PBS," Look For me in the Whirlwind" mis-information [about Marcus Garvey] , can be addressed. Our youth and the world must know the truth about both Marcus Garvey and the UNIA-ACL. The UNIA-ACL did not endorse nor did we ever think the Producer nor his advisors would give a proper account and presentation to the critical mass. Lesson 16 (Propaganda) in the course of African Philosophy ""Message to the People"" by Marcus Garvey in the New Marcus Garvey Library best explains the current position of the UNIA-ACL and why we must tell our own story and watch what we believe when others attempt to tell our story.
...The producer and his consultants, didn't give an accurate account of the life of the Right Excellent Marcus Garvey nor the movement of Africans at home and abroad during the birth of the UNIA-ACL and thereafter. The parent body of the UNIA-ACL sees Dr. Tony Martin as the leading historian throughout the world on both Marcus Garvey and the UNIA-ACL. If anyone is going to do a story this is whom they should consult along with the UNIA-ACL's current leadership, so that a true story can and will be told. Up You Mighty Race We Can Accomplish What We Will!!!
-Senghor Jawara Baye
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Letters to Dr. Garvey
“Dear Mr. Garvey,
All of your points outlined in your letter to the Editor of the Jamaica Gleaner bear investigating. I certainly would have been impressed to hear directly from you within the body of the documentary. Has there, was there, any communication between you and the show's producers? If not, why not? And have the issues been taken up with the show producers since the airing?
To what end? A naive question I'm sure. I came away from this documentary grateful to have learned anything about Mr. Garvey. It only spurred me to further research this brilliant leader. I know that where humans are involved, imperfection abounds. I do not choose to defend the program. But will say that I'm glad that through it, this man's legacy was shared with me. Marcus Garvey's story strengthens me and connects me to that energy that urges "do not give in...do not stop fighting." We are a mighty people! "
JJ
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"Dr. Julius Garvey, your correcting of the vicious falsifications, half truths and distortions of the PBS film "Marcus Garvey-Look for me in the Whirlwind" is a classic example of the need to stay vigilant and remain aware that the war being waged to defame, and vilify African Peoples generally, and your father specifically by Euro-American propagandists, still continues. it followed your father while he wason this earth and it will continue to follow along, as long as the enemies of Africa exist on this planet.
If we could attack the lies and half truths that are spread about African peoples globally, the way you destroyed the lies and half truths about your father in the PBS film i think we would be on the road to recovery of our African glory! your rebuttal was logical, coherent, concise, and most of all it revealed a pattern found in the film of malicious, intentional defamation of your fathers character and of his true mission, which we know was: the total liberation of ALL AFRICAN PEOPLES! I will will end my letter now but know that we love and respect you, and your families legacy! In truth and love you are indeed "ONE OF THE TIGERS CUB.S" Medase!”
Brother J.
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" One of the first serious books that my father ever gave me was the biography of Marcus Garvey. I was greatly impressed, moved, in fact, by the eloquence, the majesty and the genius of The Honorable Marcus Garvey....
So, it was natural that this child of the sixties and television listings coordinator for a daily newspaper, here in the States, would have rejoiced when I saw advanced information about the KQED documentary. I was disappointed. But, heartened that [ Dr. Julius Garvey ]took the time to carefully and thoroughly set the record straight and that there are people like Kalamu of e-drum and the editors of The Daily Gleaner, that get the word out.
I'll pass it on."
CPS
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" I just wanted to commend the efforts of Dr. Julius Garvey in taking the time to mention the name of not only his ancestor, but mine as well - as it relates to foundation building, in the true and positive light that shines around Marcus Garvey.
With a BLS in African-American Studies/minor in History and currently in Graduate School studying Anthropology, I am continuously amazed by the 21st Century Anglo-centric viewpoints that still color history with a gray tint when it comes to famed people with African blood, especially men.... It was men such as Marcus Garvey that have inspired me to pick myself up, dust off the dirt, and get back into the fight. Because of the lives and times of these great leaders, I have never considered drugs or alcohol as an answer to my problems of being black in America. If their lives served to only save one African-American girl born of an incestuous type relationship
and raised by old and uneducated grandparents, then their living – including making sacrifices and suffering disparaging remarks - was well done.
I will continue my small efforts of passing on the greatness of Garvey to people that I come in contact with. As people of color we must never become 'too big' to mention and remember the ones who made it possible for me to even consider obtaining a PHD in Archeology Anthropology - which by the way is a field that is completely uncharted by African-American females."
LW.
" Is it not possible to approach someone like Spike Lee to produce the true
story of Marcus Garvey? As his soon has stated it to be. " AH3
From the Sons of Africa (Boston)
"...[This ] is why SOA teaches that:
WE MUST WRITE / TEACH / MAKE OUR (OWN) STORY
SOA PROGRAM ARTICLE TWO (2)
PROPER EDUCATION BEGINS AND ENDS WITH "OURSTORY!" HISTORY - OURSTORY = FALSEHOOD
OURSTORY + HISTORY = TRUTH "
SOA
From Anonymous
" I did not get to see the entire documentary of Mr. Garvey. I understand the ramifications of putting
such a person on the tube, as Mr. Garvey the media will not be kind to him. The mere mention of
Marcus Garvey makes the enemies of African shutter. What little I watched especially having the children throw rocks at him was evil. In the West Indies and other African communities the throwing of rocks at an adult is unheard of. This was the producer trying to say that the younger people turned their backs on Mr. Garvey and
his idea. I feel like my students, watching the video in many aspects. I was happy to see Mr. Garvey and the UNIA on footage, and I had to hold my stomach to listen to the other rubbish served. Our enemies can not tell our story.
[No Name] |
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