by Fan'aye SunLight-Selassie | Aug 6, 2020 | Garvey's Voice, News & Blog
Preamble
Be It Resolved That the Negro people of the world, through their chosen
representatives in convention assembled in Liberty Hall, in the City of New York and
United States of America, from August 1 to August 31, in the year of Our Lord one
thousand nine hundred and twenty, protest against the wrongs and injustices they are
suffering at the hands of their white brethren, and state what they deem their fair and just
rights, as well as the treatment they propose to demand of all men in the future.
We complain:
- That nowhere in the world, with few exceptions, are Black men accorded equal treatment
with white men, although in the same situation and circumstances, but, on the contrary, are
discriminated against and denied the common rights due to human beings for no other reason
than their race and color. We are not willingly accepted as guests in the public hotels and inns
of the world for no other reason than our race and color. - In certain parts of the United States of America our race is denied the right of public
trial accorded to other races when accused of crime, but are lynched and burned by mobs,
and such brutal and inhuman treatment is even practiced upon our women. - That European nations have parceled out among them and taken possession of nearly
all of the continent of Africa, and the natives are compelled to surrender their lands to
aliens and are treated in most instances like slaves. - In the southern portion of the United States of America, although citizens under the
Federal Constitution, and in some States almost equal to the whites in population and are
qualified land owners and taxpayers, we are, nevertheless, denied all voice in the making
and administration of the laws and are taxed without representation by the State
governments, and at the same time compelled to do military service in defense of the country. - On the public conveyances and common carriers in the southern portion of the United
States we are Jim-crowed and compelled to accept separate and inferior accommodations
and made to pay the same fare charged for first-class accommodations, and our families
are often humiliated and insulted by drunken white men who habitually pass through the
Jim-crow cars going to the smoking car. - The physicians of our race are denied the right to attend their patients while in the
public hospitals of the cities and States where they reside in certain parts of the United States.
Our children are forced to attend inferior separate schools for shorter terms than white children
and the public school funds are unequally divided between the white and colored schools. - We are discriminated against and denied an equal chance to earn wages for the support of our families, and in many instances are refused admission into labor unions and nearly everywhere are paid smaller wages than white men.
- In the Civil Service and departmental offices we are everywhere discriminated against
and made to feel that to be a black man in Europe, America and the West Indies is
equivalent to being an outcast and a leper among the races of men, no matter what the
character attainments of the black men may be. - In the British and other West Indian islands and colonies Negroes are secretly and
cunningly discriminated against and denied those fuller rights of government to which
white citizens are appointed, nominated and elected. - That our people in those parts are forced to work for lower wages than the average
standard of white men and are kept in conditions repugnant to good civilized tastes and customs. - That the many acts of injustices against members of our race before the courts of law
in the respective islands and colonies are of such nature as to create disgust and
disrespect for the white man’s sense of justice. - Against all such inhuman, unchristian and uncivilized treatment we here and now
emphatically protest, and invoke the condemnation of all mankind.
In order to encourage our race all over the world and to stimulate it to overcome
the handicaps and difficulties surrounding it, and to push forward to a higher and
grander destiny, we demand and insist on the following Declaration of Rights:
1. Be it known to all men that whereas all men are created equal and entitled to the rights
of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and because of this we, the duly elected
representatives of the Negro peoples of the world, invoking the aid of the just and
Almighty God, do declare all men, women and children of our blood throughout the world
free denizens, and do claim them as free citizens of Africa, the Motherland of all Negroes
2. That we believe in the supreme authority of our race in all things racial; that all things
are created and given to man as a common possession; that there should be an equitable
distribution and apportionment of all such things, and in consideration of the fact that as a
race we are now deprived of those things that are morally and legally ours, we believed it
right that all such things should be acquired and held by whatsoever means possible.
3. That we believe the Negro, like any other race, should be governed by the ethics of
civilization, and therefore should not be deprived of any of those rights or privileges
common to other human beings.
4. We declare that Negroes, wheresoever they form a community among themselves should
be given the right to elect their own representatives to represent them in Legislatures,
courts of law, or such institutions as may exercise control over that particular community.
5. We assert that the Negro is entitled to even-handed justice before all courts of law and equity in whatever country he may be found, and when this is denied him on account of his race or color such denial is an insult to the race as a whole and should be resented by the entire body of Negroes.
- We declare it unfair and prejudicial to the rights of Negroes in communities where they
exist in considerable numbers to be tried by a judge and jury composed entirely of an
alien race, but in all such cases members of our race are entitled to representation on the jury. - We believe that any law or practice that tends to deprive any African of his land or the
privileges of free citizenship within his country is unjust and immoral, and no native
should respect any such law or practice. - We declare taxation without representation unjust and tyrannous, and there should be
no obligation on the part of the Negro to obey the levy of a tax by any law-making body
from which he is excluded and denied representation on account of his race and color. - We believe that any law especially directed against the Negro to his detriment and
singling him out because of his race or color is unfair and immoral, and should not be respected. - We believe all men entitled to common human respect and that our race should in no
way tolerate any insults that may be interpreted to mean disrespect to our race or color. - We deprecate the use of the term “nigger” as applied to Negroes, and demand that the
word “Negro” be written with a capital “N.” - We believe that the Negro should adopt every means to protect himself against
barbarous practices inflicted upon him because of color. - We believe in the freedom of Africa for the Negro people of the world, and by the
principle of Europe for the Europeans and Asia for the Asiatics, we also demand Africa for the
Africans at home and abroad. - We believe in the inherent right of the Negro to possess himself of Africa and that his
possession of same shall not be regarded as an infringement of any claim or purchase made by
any race or nation. - We strongly condemn the cupidity of those nations of the world who, by open aggression or
secret schemes, have seized the territories and inexhaustible natural wealth of Africa, and we
place on record our most solemn determination to reclaim the treasures and possession of the
vast continent of our forefathers. - We believe all men should live in peace one with the other, but when races and nations
provoke the ire of other races and nations by attempting to infringe upon their rights[,] war
becomes inevitable, and the attempt in any way to free one’s self or protect one’s rights or
heritage becomes justifiable. - Whereas the lynching, by burning, hanging or any other means, of human beings is a
barbarous practice and a shame and disgrace to civilization, we therefore declare any country
guilty of such atrocities outside the pale of civilization. - We protest against the atrocious crime of whipping, flogging and overworking of the
native tribes of Africa and Negroes everywhere. These are methods that should be
abolished and all means should be taken to prevent a continuance of such brutal practices. - We protest against the atrocious practice of shaving the heads of Africans, especially
of African women or individuals of Negro blood, when placed in prison as a punishment
for crime by an alien race. - We protest against segregated districts, separate public conveyances, industrial
discrimination, lynchings and limitations of political privileges of any Negro citizen in
any part of the world on account of race, color or creed, and will exert our full influence
and power against all such. - We protest against any punishment inflicted upon a Negro with severity, as against
lighter punishment inflicted upon another of an alien race for like offense, as an act of
prejudice and injustice, and should be resented by the entire race. - We protest against the system of education in any country where Negroes are denied
the same privileges and advantages as other races. - We declare it inhuman and unfair to boycott Negroes from industries and labor in any
part of the world. - We believe in the doctrine of the freedom of the press, and we therefore emphatically
protest against the suppression of Negro newspapers and periodicals in various parts of the
world, and call upon Negroes everywhere to employ all available means to prevent such
suppression. - We further demand free speech universally for all men.
- We hereby protest against the publication of scandalous and inflammatory articles by an
alien press tending to create racial strife and the exhibition of picture films showing the Negro as
a cannibal. - We believe in the self-determination of all peoples.
- We declare for the freedom of religious worship.
- With the help of Almighty God we declare ourselves the sworn protectors of the honor and
virtue of our women and children, and pledge our lives for their protection and defense
everywhere and under all circumstances from wrongs and outrages. - We demand the right of an unlimited and unprejudiced education for ourselves and our
posterity forever. - We declare that the teaching in any school by alien teachers to our boys and girls, that the
alien race is superior to the Negro race, is an insult to the Negro people of the world. - Where Negroes form a part of the citizenry of any country, and pass the civil service
examination of such country, we declare them entitled to the same consideration as other citizens
as to appointments in such civil service. - We vigorously protest against the increasingly unfair and unjust treatment accorded Negro
travelers on land and sea by the agents and employee of railroad and steamship companies, and
insist that for equal fare we receive equal privileges with travelers of other races. - We declare it unjust for any country, state or nation to enact laws tending to hinder and
obstruct the free immigration of Negroes on account of their race and color. - That the right of the Negro to travel unmolested throughout the world be not abridged by any
person or persons, and all Negroes are called upon to give aid to a fellow Negro when thus
molested. - We declare that all Negroes are entitled to the same right to travel over the world as other
men. - We hereby demand that the governments of the world recognize our leader and his
representatives chosen by the race to look after the welfare of our people under such
governments. - We demand complete control of our social institutions without interference by any alien race
or races. - That the colors, Red, Black and Green, be the colors of the Negro race.
- Resolved That the anthem “Ethiopia, Thou Land of Our Fathers etc.,” shall be the anthem of
the Negro race. . . . - We believe that any limited liberty which deprives one of the complete rights and
prerogatives of full citizenship is but a modified form of slavery. - We declare it an injustice to our people and a serious Impediment to the health of the race to
deny to competent licensed Negro physicians the right to practice in the public hospitals of the
communities in which they reside, for no other reason than their race and color. - We call upon the various government[s] of the world to accept and acknowledge Negro
representatives who shall be sent to the said governments to represent the general welfare of the
Negro peoples of the world. - We deplore and protest against the practice of confining juvenile prisoners in prisons with
adults, and we recommend that such youthful prisoners be taught gainful trades under humane
supervision. - Be it further resolved, That we as a race of people declare the League of Nations null and
void as far as the Negro is concerned, in that it seeks to deprive Negroes of their liberty. - We demand of all men to do unto us as we would do unto them, in the name of justice; and
we cheerfully accord to all men all the rights we claim herein for ourselves. - We declare that no Negro shall engage himself in battle for an alien race without first
obtaining the consent of the leader of the Negro people of the world, except in a matter of
national self-defense. - We protest against the practice of drafting Negroes and sending them to war with alien forces
without proper training, and demand in all cases that Negro soldiers be given the same training
as the aliens. - We demand that instructions given Negro children in schools include the subject of “Negro
History,” to their benefit. - We demand a free and unfettered commercial intercourse with all the Negro people of the
world. - We declare for the absolute freedom of the seas for all peoples.
- We demand that our duly accredited representatives be given proper recognition in all
leagues, conferences, conventions or courts of international arbitration wherever human rights
are discussed. - We proclaim the 31st day of August of each year to be an international holiday to be
observed by all Negroes. - We want all men to know that we shall maintain and contend for the freedom and equality of
every man, woman and child of our race, with our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
These rights we believe to be justly ours and proper for the protection of the Negro race at large, and because of this
belief we, on behalf of the four hundred million Negroes of the world, do pledge herein the sacred blood of the race in
defense, and we hereby subscribe our names as a guarantee of the truthfulness and faithfulness hereof, in the
presence of Almighty God, on this 13th day of August, in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty.
Marcus Garvey, James D. Brooks, James W. H. Eason, Henrietta Vinton Davis, Lionel Winston Greenidge, Adrion Fitzroy Johnson, Rudolph Ethelbert Brissaac Smith,
Charles Augustus Petioni, Thomas H. N. Simon, Richard Hilton Tobitt, George Alexander NcGuire, Peter Edward Baston, Reynold R. Felix, Harry Walters Kirby, Sarah
Branch, Marie Barrier Houston, George L. O’Brien, F.O. Ogilvie, Arden A. Bryan, Benjamin Dyett, Marie Duchaterlier, John Phillip Hodge, Theophilus H. Saunders, Wilford
H. Smith, Gabriel E. Stewart, Arnold Josiah Ford, Lee Crawford, William McCartney, Adina Clem. James, William Musgrave La Motte, John Sydney de Bourg, Arnold S.
Cunning, Vernal J. Williams, Frances Wilcome Ellegor, J. Frederick Selkridge, Innis Abel Horsford, Cyril A. Crichlow, Samuel McIntyre, John Thomas Wilkins, Mary
Thurston, John G. Befue, William Ware, J. A. Lewis, O. C. Thurston, Venture R. Hamilton, R.H. Hodge, Edward Alfred Taylor, Ellen Wilson, G.W. Wilson, Richard Edward
Riley, Nellie Grant Whiting, G. W. Washington, Maldena Miller, Gertrude Davis, James D. Williams, Emily Christmas Kinch, D. D. Lewis, Nettie Clayton, Partheria Hills,
Janie Jenkins, John C. Simons, Alphonso A. Jones, Allen Hobbs, Reynold Fitzgerald Austin, James Benjamin Yearwood, Frank O. Raines, Shedrick Williams, John Edward
Ivey, Frederick August Toote, Philip Hemmings, F. F. Smith, E. J. Jones, Joseph Josiah Cranston, Frederick Samuel Ricketts, Dugald Augustus Wade, E. E Nelom, Florida
Jenkins, Napoleon J. Francis, Joseph D Gibson, J. P. Jasper, J. W. Montgomery, David Benjamin, J. Gordon, Harry E. Ford, Carrie M. Ashford, Andrew N. Willis, Lucy Sands,
Louise Woodson, George D. Creese, W. A. Wallace, Thomas E. Bagley, James Young, Prince Alfred McConney, John E. Hudson, William Ines, Harry R. Watkins, C.L. Halton,
J. T. Bailey, Ira Joseph Touissant Wright, T. H. Golden, Abraham Benjamin Thomas, Richard C. Noble, Walter Green, C. S. Bourne, G. F. Bennett, B. D. Levy, Mary E.
Johnson, Lionel Antonio Francis, Carl Roper, E. R. Donawa, Philip Van Putten, I. Brathwaite, Jesse W. Luck, Oliver kaye, J. W. Hudspeth, C. B. Lovell, William C. Matthews,
A. Williams, Ratford E. M. Jack, H. Vinton Plummer, Randolph Phillips, A. I. Bailey, duly elected representatives of the Negro people of the world.
by Fan'aye SunLight-Selassie | Aug 6, 2020 | Garvey's Voice
AFRICA
Africa for the Africans… those at home and those abroad!
AFRICA DESTINY
Let Africa be our guiding star… Our star of Destiny
AFRICA HAS PRODUCED
Africa has produced countless numbers of men and women, in war and in peace, whose lustre and bravery
outshine that of any other people. Then why not see good and perfection in ourselves.
AFRICA SUCCESS
Our success educationally, industrially, and politically is based upon the protection of a nation founded by
ourselves. And the nation can be nowhere else but in Africa.
AFRICA TODAY
Africa has become the big game of the nation hunters. Today Africa looms as the greatest commercial,
industrial and political prize in the world.
ANGLO-SAXON
I regard the Klan, the Anglo-Saxon clubs and White American Societies, as far as the Negro is concerned,
as better friends of the Race than all other groups of hypocritical whites put together.
ATLANTA
If I die in Atlanta my work shall live, in the physical or spiritual to see the day of Africa’s glory. When I am
dead wrap the mantle of the Red, Black and Green around me, for in the new life I shall rise with God’s
grace and blessing to lead the millions up the heights of triumph with the colors that you all know.
AT NO TIME
At no time within the last five-hundred years can one point to a single instance of the Negro as a race of
haters.
BACKBONE
Said a southern woman after she joined the Garvey movement, “Garvey is giving my people backbones
where they had a wishbone. No man had spoken to them like this before. Wherever he went, he stirred
something in them so that they could never be the same self-satisfying or happy go-lucky human beings
again. The good book says that your just reward shall be in heaven; on that great day, Garvey said: work
for it right here and get it here and take it. The spiritual world reward shall surely come.
BACK TO AFRICA
I have no desire to take all Black people back to Africa; there are Blacks who are no good here and will
likewise be no good there.
BEGGAR RACE
A beggar race can never be respected.
BEGGING
Stop begging for jobs and create your own. Look around you and whenever you see the need for factories
and business, supply it. Stop begging for a chance. Make it yourself. So let us start now to build big
businesses, commerce and industry and eventually a nation of our own to protect us wherever we choose
to live.
BLACK MAN
You can do no less than being first and always a Blackman; then all else will take care of itself.
BLACK SKIN
The Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness.
BLUFF
The whole world is run on bluff. No race, no nation, no man has any divine right to take advantage of
others. Why allow the other fellow to bluff you?
BREAD AND BUTTER
A man’s bread and butter is only insured when he works for it.
CALCULUS
After we had already unfathomed the mystery of the Stars and reduced the Heavenly Constellations to
minute and regular calculus they were still backwoodsmen, living in ignorance and blatant darkness.
CANNOT DEPEND
You cannot depend upon another race to free you, that is a basic law of human existence.
CANONIZE
The time has come for the Blackman to forget and cast behind him his hero worship and adoration of other
races, and to start out immediately to create and emulate heroes of his own. We must canonize our own
saints, create our own martyrs, and elevate to positions of fame and honor Black men and women who
have made their distinct contributions to our racial history.
CHANCE
Chance has never yet satisfied the hope of a suffering people. Action, self reliance, the vision of self and
the future have been the only means by which the oppressed have seen and realized the light of their own
freedom.
CHARITY
There’s no humanity before that which starts with yourself, “CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME.”
CIVILIZATION
When our civilization had reached the noon-day of progress, they were still running naked and sleeping in
holes and caves with rats, bats, and other insects and animals.
COMMERCE
Without commerce and Industry, a people perish economically. The Negro is perishing because he has no
economic system.
COMMON
Whatsoever things common to man, that man has done, man can do. There is nothing in the world
common to man, that man cannot do.
CONDITIONS
When all else fails to organize the people, conditions will.
CONFIDENCE
If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence you have won
before you have started. With confidence you have won before you have started.
CRABS
Having had the wrong education as a start in his racial career, the Negro has become his own greatest
enemy. Most of the trouble I have had in advancing the cause of the race has come from Negroes. Booker
Washington aptly described the race in one of his lectures by stating that we were like crabs in a barrel,
that none would allow the other to climb over, but on any such attempt all would continue to pull back into
the barrel the one crab that would make the effort to climb out. Yet, those of us with vision cannot desert
the race, leaving it to suffer and die.
CREATING DUKES
I am accused of creating Dukes, Barons and Knights. Who gave the white man a monopoly of creating
social orders?
DEATH
Death is the end of all life in the individual or the thing; if physical, the crumbling of the body into dust from
whence it came. He who lives not uprightly, dies completely in the crumbling of the physical body, but he
who lives well, transforms himself from that which is mortal, to immortal.
DEFEATED
To be once defeated is to find cause for an everlasting struggle to reach the top.
DISGRACE
The Universal Negro Improvement Association teaches to our race self-help and self-reliance, not only in
one essential, but in all those things that contribute to human happiness and well being. The disposition of
the many depend upon the other races for a kindly and sympathetic consideration of their needs, without
making the effort to do for themselves, has been the race’s standings disgrace by which we have been
created the strongest prejudice against ourselves..
DISORGANIZATION
The greatest weapon used against the Negro is disorganization.
DOES NOT SPEAK
The Universal Negro Improvement Association does not speak in the language of theology and religion; not
in the language of social reform, but the Universal Negro Improvement Association speaks in the language
of building a government; of building political power and all that goes with it.
EARNEST
Men who are in earnest are not afraid of consequences.
EDUCATION
It is by education that we become prepared for our duties and responsibilities in life. If one is badly educate,
he must naturally fail in the proper assumption and practice of his duties and responsibilities.
ENDS
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 to eternity.
ENEMIES
The enemies are not so much from without as from within the race.
ENEMY
To see your enemy and know him is a part of the complete education of man.
ETHIOPIA
Ethiopia shall once more arise from the ashes of material ruin to the heights of temporal glory.
FALSE LEADERSHIP
Any leadership that teaches you to depend on another race is a leadership that will enslave you. Let me
say that again. Any leadership that teaches you to depend on another race is a leadership that will enslave
you.
FATALIST
Some of us seem to accept the fatalist position, the fatalist attitude, that God accorded to us a certain
position and condition, and therefore there is no need trying to be otherwise. The moment you accept such
an attitude, the moment you accept such an opinion, the moment you harbor such an idea, you hurl an
insult at the great God who created you, because you question Him for His love, you question Him for His
mercy.
FEAR
Fear is a state of nervousness fit for children and not men.
FLAG
Show me the race or the nation without a flag and I will show you a race of people without any pride. Aye!
In song and mimicry they have said, “Every race has a flag but the coon.” How true! Aye! But that was said
of us four years ago. They can’t say it now…
GET ORGANIZED
The thing to do is get organized; keep separated and you will get exploited, you will be robbed, you will be
killed. Get organized and you will compel the world to respect you.
GOD AND NATURE
We are arbiters of our own destiny. God and Nature first made us what we are, and then out of our own
created genius we make ourselves what we want to be. Follow always that great law. Let the sky and God
be our limit and Eternity our measurement.
GOD HELPS
And remember that god helps those who help themselves.
GLORIOUS
Glorious shall be the battle when the time comes to fight for our people and our race.
GREATEST MEN
The greatest men and women in the world burn the midnight lamp.
GREAT WHITE MAN
The great white man has succeeded in subduing the world by forcing the world to think his way… The white
man’s propaganda has made him the master of the world, and all of those who have come in contact with it
and accepted it have become his slaves.
HEAR
Hear all but attend only to that which concerns you, your allegiance shall be to your Race, then to your
family and your Country.
HISTORY
History teaches us no race, no people, no nation has ever been freed through cowardice, through cringing,
through bowing and scraping, but all that has been achieved to the glory of mankind, to the glory and honor
of races and nations was through the manly determination and effort of those who lead and those who led.
INDEBTED
The world today is indebted to us for the benefits of civilization. They stole our Arts and Sciences from
Africa. Then why should we be ashamed of ourselves? Their modern improvements are but duplicates of a
grander civilization that we reflected thousands of years ago; without the advantage of what is buried and
still hidden, to be resurrected and reintroduced by the intelligence of our generation and our posterity.
INDUSTRIAL
Every student of political science, every student of political economy, every student of economics knows
that the race can only be saved through a solid industrial foundation; that the race can only be saved
through political independence. Take away industry from a race, take away political freedom from a race
and you have a slave race. After a people have established successfully a firm industrial foundation, they
naturally turn to politics and society, but not first to society and politics, because the two latter cannot exist
without the former.
INOCULATE
Let no one inoculate you with evil doctrines to suit their conveniences.
INSPIRE
We must inspire a literature and promulgate a doctrine of our own without any apologies to the powers that
be. The right is the Blackman’s and Africa’s.
INTELLIGENCE
Never forget that intelligence rules the world and ignorance carries the burden. Therefore, remove yourself
as far as possible from ignorance and seek as far as possible to be intelligent.
INTELLIGENCE ACTIVE
There’s no height to which we cannot climb by using the active intelligence of our own mind.
JOBS
God does not give people positions or jobs or good conditions such as they desire; they must do that for
themselves. God does not build cities nor towns nor nations, nor homes, nor factories; men and people do
that and all those who want must work for themselves and pray to God to give them strength to do it.
KINKS
We have outgrown slavery but our minds are still enslaved to the thinking of the master race. Now take
these kinks out of your mind instead out of your hair. You are capable of all that is common to men and
women of other races.
KLANSMAN
You may call me a klansman if you will but, potentially every white man is a klansman as far as the Negro
in competition with whites socially, economically and politically is concerned, and there is no use lying.
LIVE FOR
Men, there is much to live for, and there is much to die for. The man, the race of nation that is not prepared
to risk life itself for the possession of an ideal, shall lose that ideal. If you, I repeat, must be free, you
yourselves must strike the blow.
LOOK FOR ME
Look for me in the whirlwind or the storm, look for me all around you, for, with God’s grace, I shall come
and bring with me countless millions of Black slaves who have died in America and the West Indies and the
millions in Africa to aid you in the fight for Liberty, Freedom and Life.
LOOK TO AFRICA
Look to Africa, when a Black king shall be crowned for the day of deliverance is at hand.
MINDS
We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, for though others may free the body, none but
ourselves can free the mind. Mind is our only ruler; sovereign. The man who is not able to develop and use
his mind is bound to be the slave of the other man who uses his mind.
NATION BUILDING
We are not engaged in domestic politics, in church building or in social uplift work, but we are engaged in
nation building.
NATIONHOOD
Nationhood is the only means by which modern civilization can completely protect itself. Independence of
nationality, independence of government, is the means of protecting not only the individual, but the group.
Nationhood is the highest ideal of all peoples.
NATION OWN
No Race is free until it has a strong nation of its own – its own system of government and its own order of
society. Never give up this idea, let no one persuade you against it. It is the only protection of your
generation and your race. Hold on to the idea, of an independent government and nation so long as other
men have them. Never be satisfied to always live under the government of other people because you shall
ever be at their mercy.
NEGRO PRODUCERS
Negro producers, Negro distributors, Negro consumers! The works of Negroes can be self contained. We
desire earnestly to deal with the rest of the world, but if the rest of the world desire not, we seek not.
NO BOUNDARIES
I know no national boundary where the Negro is concerned. The whole world is my province until Africa is
free.
NO STRENGTH
There is no strength but that which is destructive, because man has lost his virtues, and only respects
force, which he himself cannot counteract.
NO TIME
I am not opposed to the white race as charged by my enemies. I have no time to hate any one. All my time
is devoted to the up-building and development of the Negro Race.
ONE GOD
Black men the world over must practice one faith, that of confidence in themselves, with: One God, One
Aim, One Destiny. Let no religious scruples, no political machination divide us.
OPPORTUNITY
Take advantage of every opportunity; where there is none, make it for yourself.
OUR UNION
Our UNION MUST KNOW NO CLIME, BOUNDARY, or NATIONALITY…
OWN DESTINY
I trust that you will so live today as to realize that you are masters of your own destiny, masters of your fate;
if here is anything you want in this world, it is for you to strike out with confidence and faith in self and
reach for it.
PEN
The pen is mightier than the sword, but the tongue is mightier than them both put together.
PERFECT CREATION
Men and women, God made us as his perfect creation. He made no mistakes when he made us Black with
kinky hair. It is divine purpose for us to live in natural habitat – the tropical zones of the earth. Forget the
white man’s banter that he made us in the night and forgot to paint us white. That we were brought here
against our will is just the natural process of the strong enslaving the weak.
PLAGIARISTS
The Race needs workers at this time, not plagiarists, copyists, and mere imitators; but men and women
who are capable to create, originate, and improve, and thus make an independent racial contribution to the
world and civilization.
PLANTED BANNER
Go on! Climb ye the heights of liberty and cease not in well doing until you have planted the banner of the
red, Black and the Green on the hilltops of Africa.
POWER
The only protection against injustice in man is Power: Physical, Financial, and Scientific.
PRAY
I pray God that we shall never use our physical prowess to oppress the human race, but we will use our
strength, physically, morally and otherwise to preserve humanity and civilization.
PROGRESS
Progress is the attraction that moves humanity.
PROHIBITION
Prohibition is to abstain from intoxicating liquor, as it makes us morbid and sometimes drunk. But we get
drunk every day, nevertheless, not so much by the strength of what we sip from the cup, but that which we
eat, the water we drink, and the air we inhale, which at fermentation conspire at eventide to make us so
drunk and tired that we lose control of ourselves and fall asleep.
RACE FIRST
In a world of wolves one should go armed, and one of the most powerful defensive weapons within the
reach of Negroes is the practice of Race First in all parts of the world.
RACE INDEPENDENCE
Oppositions to Race Independence is the weapon of the enemy to defeat the hopes of an unfortunate
people.
RACE SOLUTION
There shall be no solution to this Race problem until you, yourselves, strike the blow for liberty.
READING MAN
A reading man and woman is a ready man and woman, but a writing man and woman is exact.
REALIZED
If we as a people realized the greatness from which we came we would be less inclined to disrespect
ourselves.
REAL MAN
Real men laugh at opposition; real men smile when enemies appear. A strong man is strong everywhere.
SCIENCE AND NATIONALISM
Being at present the scientifically weaker Race, you shall treat others only as they treat you, but In your
homes and everywhere possible you must teach the higher development of science to your children; and
be sure to develop a RACE of SCIENTISTS par excellence, for in Science and NATIONALISM lie our only
hope to withstand the evil designs of modern materialism. Never forget your Cause. REMEMBER! We live,
work and plan for the establishment of a great and binding RACIAL HIERARCHY; the founding of a
RACIAL EMPIRE whose only natural, spiritual and political limits shall be: LIBERTY FOR AFRICANS, AT
HOME AND ABROAD.
SILLY IDEA
We must give up the silly idea of folding our hands and waiting on God to do everything for us. If God had
intended for that, then he would not have given us a mind. Whatever you want in life, you must make up
your mind to do it for yourself.
SKIN BLEACHING
He appealed to all Negro newspaper publishers and owners. Stop carrying skin bleaching and hair
straightening advertisements as they tended to make people feel to be somebody they must try to look like
white people to succeed. These business men became angry with him. They were well paid for the pictorial
advertisements. Subscriptions cannot pay for newspapers. They had no intention on running a newspaper
on sentiment. As the thought and quote stated, “Negro be yourself” gained more adherence, the tone of
advertisements had changed. Any part of Black life that subjugated true life, he attacked it.
SUCCESS
There is no force like success, and that is why the individual makes all effort to surround himself throughout
life with the evidence of it; as of the individual, so should it be of the nation.
SUN
Let us hold together under all climates and in every country; making among ourselves a RACIAL EMPIRE
upon which, “The Sun shall never set.”
TAKE DOWN PICTURES
Take down the pictures of white women from your walls and elevate your own women into that place of
honor. They are for the most part the burden bearers of the race. And mothers, give your children dolls that
look like them to play with. And they will learn and care for their own children and not neglect them. Men
and women,
THYSELF
First to thyself be true and thou canst not then be false to any man.
TIGER
You may have caged the Tiger but my cubs are running free.
TRAITOR
The traitor of other races is generally confined to the mediocre or irresponsible individual, but,
unfortunately, the traitors among the Negro Race are generally to be found among the men with the highest
place in education and society, the fellows we call themselves leaders.
TREE WITHOUT ROOTS
A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without its roots.
UNWORTHY
So many of us find excuses to get out of the Negro Race, because we are led to believe that the race is
unworthy that it has not accomplished anything. Cowards that we are! It is we who are unworthy, because
we are not contributing to the uplift and upbuiding of this noble race.
UP
Up you mighty Race, accomplish what you will.
WEAK NATION
Point me to a weak nation and I will show you a people oppressed, abused, taken advantage of by others.
Show me a weak race and I will show you a people reduced to serfdom, peonage, and slavery. Show me a
well organized nation, and I will show you a people and a nation respected by the world.
WELCOME
We welcome the opposition of the world, because we are determined to see the battle through. Africa’s
battle-cry is not yet heard.
WILL HAVE TO
The Negro will have to build his own industry, art, sciences, literature, and culture before the world will stop
to consider him.
by Fan'aye SunLight-Selassie | Aug 6, 2020 | News & Blog
On August 19, 2016, the 10th successor to Hon. Marcus Mosiah Garvey was elected President General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association. His name is Michael R. Duncan. As such, it is with great pleasure and pride that we (re)introduce the President General, Hon. Michael R. Duncan.
After immigrating to the U.S. from the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica in 1978, Michael Duncan settled in Brooklyn, NY. At the age of 17, he picked up the holy book – Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey. Initially Michael Duncan thought he was a Jamaican, but after reading the book, he realized that he was an African born in Jamaica. Afterwards, he attended Baruch College of the City University of New York, graduating with a Bachelor’s in Accounting. By the 1990’s, he and his family moved to Southeast Queens. Soon after he revitalized the Rosedale Soccer Club. As Michael Duncan wanted to make a difference, he got involved to help the youth build character through sports especially a team sport such as soccer. Being certain that if we act as a team, then we can better our neighborhoods, respect each other, and improve our lot in life, all of which he learned from the teachings of Marcus Mosiah Garvey.
President General is happily married to his wife Sophia, and they have four children. For the last twenty years, he has volunteered in the Public School [PS] system having been elected Parent Teacher Association president at PS 195, Junior High School [JHS] 231, and Springfield Gardens High School [HS]. PG is a strong advocate of After School Programs so that mathematics, science, and the arts can be supplemented in our schools so as to reclaim our stolen legacy. Keep in mind that Africans were the world’s first mathematicians, architects, accountants, brick masons, empire builders, physicians, and artists, to name a few. PG also organized community awareness against suspension centers at JHS 231 and Springfield HS.
In addition to the many hats that President General Michael R. Duncan wears – husband, father, business owner community leader and soccer club president, he is also the host of the COMMUNITY FOCUS radio show on 93.5 FM NY IRIEJAM RADIO from 8 PM to 9 PM on Mondays and Tuesdays. In summary, this is where community meets radio. PG uses this media as a platform to organize our community, to address the conditions that affect us whether it be policing, education, lack of wealth creation, housing, mass incarceration or politics to name a few, and to rebuild the UNIA. In effect the COMMUNITY FOCUS radio show is the UNIA radio.
The financing of the COMMUNITY FOCUS radio show is from the largesse of the Jamaica Breeze Restaurant that PG and his family own. It is the only Caribbean and Soul Food buffet restaurant in Queens and the Rockaways. Though this is an entrepreneurism, due to the fact that it embraces the philosophy of [economic] self reliance, the Jamaica Breeze has become a mainstay in the community. It has created more than twenty jobs in the community thus buoying the local economy. Moreover, Jamaica Breeze gives a monthly portion of its intake to worthy causes affecting our people.
President General led the fight against the construction of the “Hot Sheets” motel that developers from outside of the community tried to build across the street from Springfield Gardens HS. When the elected officials thought they could discourage and intimidate the community, it was PG who galvanized the senior citizens to stand strong and remain faithful to the community. In the end, the community won, and the motel was not built.
And finally, as Jamaica Breeze became an important part of the local economy, while shopping for its dry goods, fish, meats, produce and vegetables, PG asked himself, “what would Mr. Garvey do” given that the suppliers and distributors were exclusively not from our community though we are the ones propping up their enterprise. The solution was a facsimile to the Black Star Line Steamship Corporation and the Negro Factories corporation that Hon Marcus Garvey established in 1919 and 1920, whereupon the stock price of each share was $5 even though our people were only making between 25¢ and 40¢ per day. How our people were able to save up $5 even though the maximum they were earning was $2 per week is a testament to sacrifice and purpose. All of this is as a result of one man’s belief in his people.
Using the same blackprint, the $5 share price in 1919 adjusted for a 5% cost of living adjustment is $600 today. Thus, we created the Federation of African, Caribbean, and American [FACA] Restaurant Owners Corp with a $600 share price.
