"Negroes, keep your heads high. The day of the unscrupulousness of the white race fooling all the Negroes is over. They will have to remake the universe to fool me. In no department of learning can they close my eyes. I am ready for all their tricks sociologically, anthropologically, economically, industrially, commercially, politically, biologically, ethnically, philosophically and religiously. They use propaganda to throw dust into the eyes of the world, but they shall never blind me in the storm.
"They tried to call me crooked because I am honest and did not fall for the methods of corruption. But, if I am crooked, then I shall present them their history that even the devil would be ashamed of."-Negro World December 10, 1927, Most Hon. Dr. Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. DCL, DSOE.
Using the Gregorian calendar, last week was definitely one of the most important days in the history of global radical Afrikan resistance. It marked the 132nd anniversary of the birth of one of the most enduring Afrikan icons of our time, a titan, a colossus, Mungu, Mharaba, Mwalimu, Marcus Mosiah Garvey.
Like other true Warriors of our Race, Mwalimu Garvey literally dedicated his life, time and resources to the restoration of the identity, pride, self-reliance, resurrection, solidarity and independence of the Afrikan Race, globally.
Through his Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), not only did Garvey set up a global- well-structured movement of Afrikan resistance (which covered all areas of people activity), he is also the only Afrikan person in modern history to have organised Afrikan people globally, in a single life time.
Mwalimu Garvey's achievement as an organisational genius is unprecedented and this is why every known Afrikan radical movement (whether Afrikan nationalist, black nationalist, Pan Afrikanist, Back consciousness or Afrocentric), or their leaders, anywhere in the world, point to Mwalimu Garvey as their inspiration. And I mean all leaders of the radical Afrikan world.
From Elijah Muhammad (formerly Elijah Pool), Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame Toure), Malcolm X, Khalid Muhammad, Walter Rodney, Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba and even our own Muziwakhe Lembede, Josiah Gumede, Mangaliso Sobukwe and Bantu Biko, were inspired by Mwalimu Garvey.
All of them use Mwalimu Garvey as their reference (knowingly or unknowingly). Mwalimu Garvey also inspired the great epistemological Warriorship of the sages of our Race such as Dr John Henrik Clarke, Dr Chancellor Williams, Dr Runoko Rashidi, Dr Frances Cress Welsing, Prof Marimba Ani, Prof Bayinnah Bello and many others.
Not only does Mwalimu Garvey's teachings still endure, but his Race First thesis continues to shape and inspire the proliferation of Afrikan radical movements, across the world. One of the latest additions to this galaxy of radical movements is the movement that we helped found: The Black Power Front (BPF).
For us in the Black Power Front, Mwalimu Garvey is important not only because we share in his Race First premise, but also because like him, we in the BPF believe that Afrikan people everywhere MUST stand on their own and that, as Afrikans we must never feel apologetic for our Race First stance. We Afrikans owe nobody anything. Not our solidarity or even an explanation.
Furthermore, in the context of the emergence of anti-Afrikan movements like AfriForum in South AfriKKKa, the persistence of proxy imperialist wars in the mineral-rich parts of Afrika, the revival of Arab-led capture, murder and slavery of Afrikans, the continued systematic killing and incarceration of Afrikans by the white empire of the United Snakes of AmeriKKKa.
Then there is also the global silence on the over 50 years of continuing genocide (mass murder and mass rape) of our Afrikan kin in West Papua, we in the BPF believe Mwalimu Garvey's Race First thesis remains the most logical response by Afrikans to the historically- evolved- persisting- global insitutionalised violence deliberately directed against their bodies.
As a tribute to this great Warrior of our Race, on the occasion of the 132nd anniversary of his birth, conscious of our individual and collectively weaknesses, we pledge to continue with the sacred ancestral project of ensuring that we usher in a world order, wherein we as Afrikan people and our children, can be truly independent of our various race-enemies and fully in charge of our destiny.
In the mighty name of Makhosi Garvey, we dare not fail or sell our souls to our race-enemies.
Camagu! Lesedi! Kganya! Makukhanye!
#132ndBirthdayMunguMharabaMwalimuMarcusGarvey
#RaceFirst
#BlackPowerOrDeath
