Garvey writes

 

Garvey writes

     This is part of a lecture on the fascinating Marcus Garvey that was part of a PBS show about black history. Marcus Garvey was born in Jamaica but found himself in America in the teens of the 20th century trying to start an organization called the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Garvey had been invited by George Washington Carver to study the Tuskegee Institute to educate young blacks in the Carribean, Africa and the Americas. Greg loved the idea of the flamboyant Garvey not settling for crumbs from the white man but instead proclaiming the greatness of African heritage, repeating black is beautiful and wearing elaborate military costumes as he rode around Harlem in the back of a touring car. He was a rivetting speaker and accomplished writer. He was known as the Black Moses in his community and also began a back to Africa movement. It may have been Philosopher Cornel West in his striking speaking voice who said "now Garvey writes" to make a point about achieving equality and justice for the black man. Garvey was not free from controversy and was eventually sentenced to prison for mail fraud that may have just been part of the white fear of his movement. Even though he and W.E.B. Dubois were the earliest leaders before civll rights took hold Garvey still believed in segregation of the races. Greg could imitate the intonation and tenor of the statement perfectly and would sometimes just say "now Garvey writes" just for fun and would complete the sentence with "...provides a positive point of departure for blackness."