[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 119 (Thursday, September 21, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1791]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CELEBRATING THE RIGHT EXCELLENT DR. MARCUS MOSIAH GARVEY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 20, 2006

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor and privilege to stand on the 
floor of the United States House of Representatives to pay tribute to 
Jamaica's favorite son and national hero, The Right Excellent Dr. 
Marcus Mosiah Garvey. Dr. Marcus Mosiah Garvey had ``One God, One Aim, 
One Destiny'' for his life. That venerable aim was the ``Redemption of 
Africa.'' He was born in St. Ann's Bay, Saint Ann, Jamaica on August 
17, 1887. Marcus Garvey was a publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, 
crusader for Black Nationalism, and founder of the Universal Negro 
Improvement Association and African Communities League.
  Garvey advanced proposals that were designed to promote social, 
political and economic freedom for Blacks, including launching the 
Black Star Line Corporation and its successor company, the Black Cross 
Navigation and Trading Company. He was at the forefront of developing 
Liberia based upon the belief that Blacks should have a permanent 
homeland in Africa. Marcus Garvey asserted, ``Our success 
educationally, industrially and politically is based upon the 
protection of a nation founded by ourselves. And the nation can be 
nowhere else but in Africa.'' Garvey was a deep believer in race 
improvement through self-empowerment which undercut the ``Doctrine of 
Inferiority'' that plagued the minds of Blacks throughout the Diaspora. 
The Garvey Movement was an emerging force that spoke to the pride of 
being Black and the richness of Black ancestry. Garvey sought respect 
for Africa and dignity for those dispersed from its' shores.
  Garvey furthered the paradigm of redemption and uplift of his race by 
establishing the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African 
Communities League in 1914 in Jamaica. Through the UNIA-ACL Garvey 
championed the cause of Africa and proclaimed that until Africa is free 
and redeemed, not only in name but dignity, no one would be free, Black 
or White. Garvey was a firm believer in the ``Brotherhood of Man'', 
that is to say, all of our destinies are inextricably linked together 
by the ``Parenthood of God.'' Moreover, the Creator has a purpose for 
everyone that he has created and that purpose does not include slavery 
or subjugation for any circumstances.

  Garvey held that dignity and self-esteem were the most powerful and 
only weapons against racism and white supremacy. Garvey stated, ``the 
man or woman who has no confidence in self is an unfortunate being, and 
is really a misfit in creation. God Almighty created earth and every 
one of us for a place in the world, and for the least of us to think 
that we were created only to be what we are and not what we can make 
ourselves is to ipute an improper motive to the Creator for creating 
us.'' Garvey wanted every Black throughout the Diaspora to commit to 
self-awareness, confidence, conviction and actio. Only then would 
Africa become free and the bonds of condemnation fall and shatter.
  Marcus Garvey was a scholar, a leader and a statesman who gave his 
life to mother Africa and Black people. History records that Garvey 
attracted an unprecedented fallowing, enjoyed by no previous Negro 
leader. Garvey sought to eradicate the evils that plagued Black 
existence. He believed that ``Chance has never yet satisfied the hope 
of a suffering people,'' but it will take measurable deliberate action 
toward the destiny that God has prepared.
  In the 1920's, Marcus Garvey built the largest Black-led mass 
movement this country has ever seen. There was never a leader like him, 
before or since. In nearly all matters relating to the resurgence of 
African people, in this country and abroad, there is recognition of 
this man and his movement that seemed impossible in his lifetime. His 
prophesy has been fulfilled in the independence explosion that brought 
more than 30 African nations into being. The concept of Black Power 
that he advanced, using other terms, is now a reality in large areas of 
the world now governed by people of African origin. From the year of 
his arrival in the United States, in 1916, until his deportation in 
1927, the community of Harlem, my home, was his window on the world. I 
am so proud that, from the work in my community he launched a great 
movement and became one of the most significant leaders of the 20th 
century.
  Mr. Speaker, Jamaica's first national hero, the Right Excellent 
Marcus Garvy is honored in many ways throughout the world. If you visit 
New York City's Harlem neighborhood, you will find a park named after 
his Excellency. If you travel across the shores and visit Nairobi, 
Kenya, you can walk down a major street named after Marcus Garvey. If 
you should visit Lenton, Nottingham, you can drop in to the Marcus 
Garvey Centre. In Kingston the building housing the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs bears his name, and in St. Ann there is a secondary school 
named after him. Marcus Garvey is celebrated and memorialized all 
across the world and now it is my pleasure to honor him now in the 
``People's House.''
  Mr. Speaker, on August 17th, people from all over the world will 
celebrate Marcus Garvey's birthday. We will celebrate him as a leader, 
a friend of Africa and a lover of Black people throughout the world. 
Even now, I can hear the reverberation of his words, ``Up you mighty 
race, accomplish what you will.''

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