Kingston, Jamaica: Thursday, August 17, 2017
The President of the PNP Patriots Omar Newell is issuing a call for Jamaicans to reflect on the life and legacy of The Rt. Hon. Marcus Garvey as the nation celebrates the 130th anniversary of his birth.
In a statement issued from Beijing China, Newell noted that “Garvey’s message of African-liberation, self-reliance and education is still very relevant to contemporary Jamaica”.
Jamaica’s first national hero, Garvey was born August 17, 1887 in St. Ann’s Bay to a maroon father and deeply religious mother. He left school at age 14 to become an apprentice printer in Kingston, but by age 20 begun a journey to national hero, leading a printer’s union strike to fight for worker’s rights, despite being a part of the management team. .
Dismissed by the printers, Garvey formed the National Club, published a newspaper called ‘The ‘Watchman’ and travelled South America observing the plight of black people in the early 20th century. These experiences made Garvey devote his life to the upliftment of our race, truly becoming a 20th century freedom fighter on arrival to Harlem, New York on March 16, 1916.
By 1919 he built the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and African Communities League (ACL), attracting over three million members across 300 branches in countries inhabited by Africans. The economic arm of the UNIA operated Factories Corporations, cooperative stores and businesses, a doll factory, and even a publishing house before his two years imprisonment from 1925 on disputable allegations.
“Today we must pay tribute to the legacy of our great hero, who inspired a global race of our people even after imprisonment and rejection” Newell said. Garvey was a trailblazer and returned to Jamaica with empowering political ideas.
“The Marcus Garvey People’s Political Party he inspired had stated aims which are analogous to those of the People’s National Party and this inspires us to continue striving for full independence and the economic liberation of all Jamaica’s people” Newell notes.
Garvey still heavily influences Jamaica’s music and culture, from Burning Spears to Bob Marley, and remains an inspiration to many rastafarians who continue to be among the over 700,000 Jamaicans living as squatters on soil toiled by their once enslaved ancestors for centuries.
The PNP young professionals say they honour Garvey by continuing his fight for universal empowerment and equal opportunity today.
According to the Patriots’ leader, “the fight continues for fair access to capital, a livable minimum wage, the removal of barriers to housing and the removal of corrupt officials and practices perpetuating inequity, and preventing Jamaicans from achieving individual success”.
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Contact:
Omar Newell, Telephone: 388-1368
PNP Patriots President
Orrett Montague, Telephone: 852-2100
PNP Patriots Communications Director
