“There is no future for a people who deny their past. My Foreparents, My Grandparents, My Mother, My Father did not suffer and die to give me an education to slight, oppress or discourage my people. Whatsoever education I acquired out of their sacrifice of over 300 years, I shall use for the salvation of the 400 million Black people of the world. And the DAY when I forsake my people; may GOD Almighty say, “there shall be no more life for you.”

— Excerpt from “Look for me in the Worldwind”

Today, we honour the memory and pay tribute to the life and work of Jamaica’s first national hero, the Rt. Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey, on the 133rd anniversary of his birth.

Marcus Garvey preached prosperity, recognizing that social and economic advancement were key to improving the conditions of black people. He was of the view that upward mobility would only come through our own efforts which is one of the reasons he is my favourite national hero. His message transcended his own country of Jamaica and reached many black people around the globe.

I decided to compile a few lessons I have learnt from Garvey to share with you:

"Any leadership that teaches you to depend on another race is a leadership that will enslave you"

We can see the implications of white supremacy today where is there is a belief that white people are superior to those of other race and therefore should be dominant over them. White supremacy has roots in what was deemed as “scientific racism” and was a big reason behind the African Slave Trade. Garvey was determined to dismantle white supremacy and achieve black equality through separation, his rationale was that any race that felt the need to make you dependent on them was in and of itself an extension of slavery without using that term. We have come a far way but there are still strong remnants of it today.

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”

Garvey’s view was to read history incessantly until you master it. This means your own national history, the history of the world, social history, industrial history, and the history of the different sciences; but primarily, the history of man. If you do not know what went on before you came here and what is happening at the time you live, but away from you, you will not know the world and will be ignorant of the world and mankind.

“The ends you serve that are selfish will take you no further than yourself but the ends you serve that are for all, in common, will take you into eternity.”

At the end of the day, you do not live in isolation. Whether you have children or not, you will die on day and leave this Earth. The objective is to always try to leave it so that the generations after you will benefit. As black people, we have to fight to the good fight to ensure our kids and their kids feel equal and a part because they deserve it. Look at the generations before us, would we be enjoying the things we do if they thought selfishly? It’s even the small things too that count.

Garvey is regarded as the leader of the largest organized mass movement in black history. He was an inspirational figure who helped break the psychological liberation from the bondage of racial inferiority.

Though he is long gone, Garvey’s memory and influence remain. Hopefully, the above quotes have inspired you to have confidence in yourself.