MARCUS GARVEY DAY CELEBRATION in Philadelphia 2021

1400 John F Kennedy Boulevard,Philadelphia PA 19107

17 October, 2021

Description

Celebrating the rich historic legacy of Hon. Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jamaica's first National Hero / first President of the UNIA-ACL. Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. ONH, born on August 17th 1887, at 32 Market Street, St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, died on June 10th 1940, was Jamaica's first National Hero / Jamaican political activist / publisher / journalist / entrepreneur and Civil Rights Leader in United States Of America. The UNIA-ACL became increasingly popular and UNIA-ACL grew in membership to over 2,000,000, in just over 18 months. It had branches in 25 States across U.S.A, as well as divisions in the West Indies / Central America and West Africa. In June 1918, the UNIA was incorporated, and in July a commercial arm, the African Communities' League, filed for incorporation. Hon. Marcus Garvey is know to be the only Black Civil Rights Leader in the United States Of America, to advance the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) shared interest in racial separatism. In June 1922, Garvey met with Edward Young Clarke, the Imperial Wizard pro tempore of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) at the Klan's offices in Atlanta. News of Garvey's meeting with the KKK soon spread and it was covered on the front page of many African-American newspapers, causing widespread upset. Mr. A. Phillip Randolph – civil rights activist, reported receiving a letter from the KKK threatening him to stop criticizing Garvey and to join UNIA. In October 1919, George Tyler, a part-time vendor of the “Negro World Newspaper”, entered the UNIA office and tried to assassinate Garvey by shooting him. Garvey received two bullets in his legs but survived. Tyler was soon apprehended but died in an escape attempt from jail, it was never revealed why Tyler tried to kill Hon. Marcus Garvey, but Five (5) days later he gave a public speech in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, to an audience of over 25,000. In early 1925, the U.S. Court of Appeal upheld the original court decision of a fictitious mail fraud charge against Hon. Marcus Garvey. The Attorney General, John Sargent, received a petition with 70,000 signatures urging for Garvey's release. Sargent warned President Calvin Coolidge that African Americans were regarding Garvey's imprisonment not as a form of justice against a man who had swindled them but as "an act of oppression of the race in their efforts in the direction of race progress". Eventually, Coolidge agreed to commute the sentence so that it would expire immediately, on November 18th 1927. He stipulated, that Garvey should be deported straight after release. On being released, Garvey was taken by train to New Orleans, where thousands of supporters saw him onto the SS Saramaca, on December 3rd , The ship then stopped at Cristóbal in Panama, where supporters again greeted him, but the authorities refused his request to disembark. He was then transferred to the SS Santa Maria, which took him to Kingston, Jamaica. Kwame Nkrumah, the prominent Pan-Africanist activist who became Ghana's first president, acknowledged having been influenced by Hon. Marcus Garvey. The flag that Ghana adopted when it became independent adopted the colors of UNIA and the Five (5) point Black Star was implemented in the center of the Ghanian flag, as a symbolic tribute to Hon. Marcus Garvey, also Ghana’s national soccer team was named the “Black Stars” and inherit such an attribute to date. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, was the first person to receive the honorary Marcus Garvey Award of Excellence. On June 20th 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King visited Garvey's shrine, in Kingston Jamaica, and laid a wreath. In a speech he told the audience that Garvey "was the first man of color to lead and develop a mass movement. He was the first man on a mass scale and level to give millions of Negroes a sense of dignity and destiny. And make the Negro feel he was somebody. Garvey has invariably been described as the Black Moses of his race, Garvey was undoubtedly the peerless champion of his race. He was bulwark for the world-wide organization of people of African descent. It was noted that by the time Garvey returned to Jamaica in the 1920s, he was "just about the best known Black man in the whole world". The size and scope of UNIA has also attracted attention, described Garvey as the leader, of the largest Black mass movement in modern history. And the first Black mass protest crusade in the history of the United States Of America. In 1962, when Jamaica became independent, the government hailed Garvey as a hero. In 1969, he was posthumously conferred with the Order of the National Hero by the Jamaican government. In 1975 the reggae artist Burning Spear released the album Marcus Garvey. The Marcus Garvey Award of Excellence, is known to be the highest cultural award, from a Jamaican / African American and African heritage prospective and is given to persons / groups whom has done exceedingly well in the development of Jamaican / African American / African history throughout the world. We invite you to come and celebrate, with us the significance of the this eloquent Jamaican hero:, Jamaican culture / exposition / Food / drink / performances and day full of fun and entertainment of Jamaica's historical legacy. ONE LOVE JAMAICA The Jamaica Pennsylvania Association welcomes interested Sponsorships for our cultural event and interested vendors to contact us at Email: [email protected] Jamaica Pennsylvania Association is a cultural charitable organization, that markets / promotes Jamaica's history and culture in the State of Pennsylvania.  We take pride in our cultural production, as these events reflect our Jamaican history and culture.