Continuing efforts to exonerate Marcus Garvey

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

WASHINGTON, USA: The Embassy of Jamaica and the broader Jamaican community in Washington, redoubled its efforts during 2003 to commemorate the life and work of National Hero Marcus Mosiah Garvey and to also intensify their joint advocacy for the complete exoneration of Garvey, which would expunge his US federal conviction on mail fraud.

The Washington Friends of Liberty Hall - a group of Jamaican professionals residing in the Washington area - in association with the Jamaican Embassy, were the key partners behind an effort to restore the Kingston headquarters of Marcus Garvey's original Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). 

Friends of Liberty Hall, which was put together by a former official at the Organization of American States, Dorel Callendar, succeeded in raising over J$2.75 million for the refurbishing and restoration of Garvey's Liberty Hall headquarters, located at 76 King Street in Kingston.

Garvey is recognized as one of the ten most influential black leaders who lived in the United States during the 20th century. 

Ambassador Seymour Mullings said that Garvey's appeal and his central message of equality and opportunity are as much a part of our contemporary debate today as they were 80 and 90 years ago when Garvey was in the prime of his advocacy. He also noted that given the importance of Garvey and his legacy to millions of African-Americans, it was incumbent on the Embassy to keep the Jamaican National Hero's memory alive and to join with groups and individuals in the United States in celebrating his life and work. 

In addition to raising funds for the renovation of Liberty Hall and seeking support for the establishment of educational enterprises related to the facility, members of the support group in Washington have also been deepening their collaboration with the Jamaican Embassy as well as individuals such as New York congressman Charles Rangel in seeking a presidential pardon for Marcus Garvey. 

Ambassador Mullings also expressed satisfaction that many in the Jamaican community have continued to join the Jamaican mission's efforts to vindicate "one of the 20th century's most valiant and courageous fighters for human rights and to ensure that other generations to come will be motivated by his example to stand in defense of true liberty and human dignity." 

For his part, Mr. Mullings earlier this year urged American lawmakers to support a bill, sponsored by ranking Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel of New York, which seeks to absolve Garvey of a June 1923 federal conviction on mail fraud. In addition, in July, Mr. Mullings publicly endorsed a letter by Congressman Rangel to colleagues in the United States House of Representatives, seeking support for the passage of House Resolution 50, which called on President George Bush to officially clear Garvey's name. The bill, which was tabled in the 107th Congress last year, was also the subject of an address to the House by Congressman Rangel in honour of Jamaica's 41st anniversary of independence and its 165th year of emancipation. 

Since 1985, Congressman Rangel has sponsored several resolutions in the US House aimed at effecting the complete exoneration of Marcus Garvey, and has been a leading proponent for presidential action which would once and for all strike Garvey's conviction from federal criminal records. 

Mr. Rangel, whose congressional district spans the municipality of Harlem, which was Garvey's base of operations during his tenure in the United States, has also called on the US government to recognize the Garvey trial and conviction as a miscarriage of justice, and to have the Federal record reflect this determination.

Ambassador Mullings has also committed the Jamaican mission to increased action, in the coming year, to vindicate Garvey. "No effort will be spared (on the Embassy's part) in restoring the name of this great Jamaican, who was not only an example to countless numbers of his countrymen, but inspired thousands in the United States and indeed millions around the world, through his profound sense of internationalism and his deep commitment to social justice and human rights." 

Mr. Mullings also echoed comments by Rep. Charles Rangel that it was important to "set the historical record straight" regarding Garvey's activities in the United States and called for a greater appreciation of the circumstances which led to his arrest and conviction.

Garvey, along with three other UNIA officials, were indicted on mail fraud charges stemming from the UNIA's mailing of brochures to members and supporters advertising stock in the SS Phyllis Wheatley, a ship that the UNIA was negotiating to acquire but did not own. All the defendants were acquitted of the charge of conspiracy, and only one defendant, Marcus Garvey, was found guilty of the substantive charge of using the mail to defraud. Garvey was convicted on the single charge and was given the maximum penalty of five years in the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. His sentence was subsequently commuted in November 1927 by President Calvin Coolidge, after which he was immediately deported to Jamaica.

Current interest in seeking exoneration for Marcus Garvey has stemmed from the ongoing reassessment, by American historians and journalists, of the tenure of J. Edgar Hoover, who was director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1924 to 1972. Hoover was responsible for bringing the charges against Garvey after a lengthy period of surveillance and incessant scrutiny of his UNIA affiliates in Harlem and in 24 cities across the United States. 

In a statement earlier this year calling for the adoption of the bill, Congressman Rangel, who is also an attorney, asserted that the exoneration was necessary given "the weakness of the evidence against Garvey)." He also noted that "by unbiased standards, the charges were not substantiated and his conviction was not justified. We cannot overturn the verdict but we can prove that times have changed and that we now know better." 

The Congressman also reiterated his commitment to reintroduce the resolution, each year, until Marcus Garvey "is declared innocent of the charges brought against him and is recognized (within the general American public) as a leader and thinker in the struggle for human rights. Today, he stands out in the pantheon of Black America's greatest and most controversial leaders. But in the records of the US Department of Justice and the Federal Courts, Garvey remains ex-convict number 19359," Rangel said.

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