The youngest son of National Hero Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Julius W Garvey, will present his father’s National Hero medal and other memorabilia to Liberty Hall, located at 76 King Street in downtown Kingston.
The handover will be made on Thursday, January 5 at 2:00 pm and will include live entertainment of Nyabinghi drumming and others.
The event is free of cost and is open to the public, and will be filmed for part of the footage of Jamaican-born, US-based director and Hollywood stuntman Roy T Anderson’s documentary-film, Marcus Garvey: A Son’s Story.
Following on the heels of Queen Nanny: Legendary Maroon Chieftainess, (Action 4 Reel Flimworks, 2015), Anderson’s award-winning film on Jamaica’s only national heroine, production has begun on Marcus Garvey: A Son’s Story, a 90-minute feature-length film chronicling the story of an unparalleled civil-rights leader, a news release from Garvey said.
Marcus Garvey
The film by Anderson and Julius Garvey will peel back all the layers in their presentation of this oft-misunderstood and controversial figure.
Marcus ‘Black Moses’ Garvey arrived on the scene on August 17, 1887 in the tiny seaside town of St Ann’s Bay on the northern coast of Jamaica, 53 years after slavery was abolished. In his short life Garvey would go on to become the world’s foremost Pan-Africanist, and, in some eyes, the greatest mass leader of the 20th century. He dedicated his life to the project of redeeming Africa, which he saw as the home to civilization.
Influenced greatly by Booker T Washington, an American educator and author, Garvey formed the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) and launched it fittingly on Emancipation Day, August 1, 1914 in Kingston. He took his message to the United States during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, arriving at a time when there was a vacuum in black leadership. He soared to prominence with his message of black pride.
Julius & Marcus Garvey
While Garvey’s followers numbered more than four million, there were over 1000 UNIA-ACL branches around the world, with its international headquarters alternating between Harlem, New York; Kingston; and London, England, where he eventually passed away in 1940.
Even after his death Garvey’s philosophies have impacted many social and political movements in Jamaica and around the world.
To be shot in Jamaica, Ghana, Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, Central America, and elsewhere over the course of two years, the film features interviews and conversations with world-renowned leaders and scholars, as well as present-day followers of Garvey, such as the group known as Rastafarians, perhaps the most ardent disciples of this iconic figure. Among this legion are Bob Marley and Burning Spears, world-renowned singers who have immortalized Marcus in songs.
You must log in to post a comment.