The Jamaican Government is to engage its United States counterpart on a bilateral basis in an attempt to have national hero Marcus Garvey exonerated of a mail fraud conviction from 1923.
Governor General Sir Patrick Allen said those efforts will be stepped up as Jamaica gets ready to celebrate 60 years of independence from Britain this year. He was speaking Thursday at Gordon House as he delivered the Throne Speech to mark the start of the new parliamentary year.
Garvey, an outspoken black nationalist and Pan-Africanist, was sentenced to five years and began his sentence at the Atlanta Penitentiary in 1925 following his conviction.
He, and many others, expressed that he was wrongly convicted because of the views he espoused at the time. In 1927 his sentence was commuted by President Calvin Coolidge and Garvey was deported to Jamaica.
While efforts have been made over many years to clear Garvey’s name, the Jamaican Government looks set to now play a lead role in getting it done.
“The 60th anniversary of Jamaica’s independence and the establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States of America, provide a fitting context for advancing the process of clearing the name of the Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jamaica’s first national hero,” said the governor general.
“To that end, the [Jamaican] Government will utilise the avenues available to intercede with the Government of the United States of America, building on past and existing efforts to lift this stain of his wrongful conviction,” Sir Patrick added.
Recently, the Opposition Member of Parliament for St Andrew South Western Dr Angela Brown-Burke tabled a resolution in the House of Representatives making the case for Garvey’s exoneration.
And there is now a push to get the international community involved as Jamaica celebrates 60 years as an independent nation. On February 4, Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, called for Caricom countries and the rest of the world to put pressure on US President Joe Biden to exonerate Garvey.
According to Gonsalves, Garvey’s conviction and sentencing was “unjust, flawed and dubious”.
In a memorandum to groups around the world, Gonsalves urged them to support the campaign to get Garvey’s name cleared. The effort was initiated by the PJ Patterson Centre for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy, which is based at The University of the West Indies, Mona.
