Repeating Islands

Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (17 August 1887 – 10 June 1940), the first person to be declared a national hero of an independent Jamaica. Garvey, who was born in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, became an internationally-known publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and pan-Africanist. He was the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, a movement of African Redemption that influenced religious movements as different as the Nation of Islam and the Rastafari Movement, which considers Garvey one of its prophets. In an editorial in the Negro World entitled “African Fundamentalism,” Garvey wrote about the union of peoples of African descent in the diaspora that “our union must know no clime, boundary, or nationality . . . let us hold together under all climes and in every country.”

This year’s anniversary will be marked in the Bronx by the re-naming of the four corners of Gun Hill Road and White Plains Road in the Bronx (a Caribbean-populated neighborhood) as “Marcus Garvey Square.” Larry Seabrook, the City Councilman and chairman of the New York City Council’s Civil Rights Committee, announced Thursday that he would host elected officials and foreign dignitaries at the street renaming on Saturday, August 22^nd. “Garvey’s impact on the progress of Africans, African Americans and all Pan-Africans in the Diaspora is phenomenal and we must honor his legacy,” Seabrook said. Dr. Julius Garvey, son of the late Marcus Garvey, is scheduled to deliver the keynote address.

For the article on the square go to http://www.caribbeanworldnews.com/middle_top_news_detail.php?mid=2408

 Image: Marcus Mosiah Garvey at http://www.nlj.org.jm/docs/marcus_garvey.htm