Haiti is the only case in recorded history where a formerly enslaved people rose up against their oppressors and militarily defeated them to then form an independent nation in 1804.
While Haiti is the second independent country in the Americas after the United States which became independent in 1776, it is the first free country in the Americas as the US was a slave owning nation. Haiti is the first independent country in Latin America. Haiti is NOT the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Haiti has been the victim of an international conspiracy of the white slave owning nations of the world to malign and impoverish it ever since it fought a successful war which abolished slavery in 1804 and declared Haiti a haven for all enslaved peoples. Since these countries still “rule” the world today, their propaganda against Haiti marches on.
The father of our independence is Jean Jacques Dessalines, not Toussaint L’Ouverture as is commonly taught in most mainstream histories of Haiti. Our military victory against the armies of Spain, England, and France is a source of pride for all Haitians and lovers of justice everywhere. The successful freedom struggle in Haiti has been an inspiration for enslaved Africans all over the Americas as well as all over the world. Haiti helped many countries around the world win their independence These included the countries liberated by Simon Bolivar (Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, parts of present day Peru, Guyana, and Brazil); and Cuba.
Haiti was the first country to name a major thoroughfare of our capital, Port-au-Prince, in honor of the fallen caucasian revolutionary John Brown who had taken up arms against slavery in the United States in the 1850’s.
The Citadelle Laferriere, built in 1820 (1805-1820) by Haitians less than 20 years after they broke the chains of slavery, remains up to today the largest military fort in the Americas.
Despite continued assault by hostile powers claiming to be our friends and greedy multinationals, local organic agriculture remains the backbone of the Haitian economy and the source of what remains of our freedom and independence.
Haiti’s case Against Bill & Hillary Clinton & Their Degenerate Crack Head Martelly
While Bill & Hillary Clinton have been sold to the world as friends of Haiti because they accidentally spent their honeymoon there, the record, as you will see, is completely different.
In 2008 the UN named Bill Clinton UN Special Envoy to Haiti with the job of “mobilizing international support for Haiti’s economic recovery and reconstruction”. In fact his actual job was to camouflage the bloody, cholera plagued US-UN occupation in Haiti (since 2004) and to divert attention away from UN killings and rapes in Haiti.
At this time, his wife Hillary was the Secretary of State of the US and together they collaborated to achieve a common goal of the US, the UN, and the other so called friends of Haiti. They wanted to implement what is known as the Collier Development Plan which is merely another anti-humanity ploy to wrest whatever little sovereignty remains to Haitians by taking productive land away from the peasants to build low “slave” wage factory jobs and tourist resorts. to build low “slave” wage factory jobs and tourist resorts.
Bill Clinton in front of one of his 6 billion dollar “Haiti” houses
When the tragedy of the earthquake hit in January 2010, they used this as a perfect occasion to further their macabre plan. Since the “rulers of the world” push the lie that non-white leaders are irresponsible and corrupt, our “friends” determined that the Haiti earthquake relief money would be too much for Haitians to manage. Once again our dear benefactor and savior Bill Clinton was named the head of this relief fund. Of the $13 Billion that was pledged, we are told that about $6 Billion was actually received. Less than 1% of this amount made it to the Haitian Government. Bill Clinton had total control of the balance.
To cover up Bill’s recovery fund corruption and Hillary’s USAID corruption, they dredged up the degenerate, self-avowed crack head Michel “Sweet Mickey” Martelly that they forced down our throats as President of Haiti. Hillary actually traveled to Haiti during the election threatening to cut off US aid and to cancel US visas of Haitian officials and their families if Martelly had been eliminated in the first round of the elections. It would only be such a character who would help them with their cover up while lining his own pockets and that of his cronies.
The degenerate Martelly doing the only thing he really knows how to do
Martelly’s illegitimate administration (2011 to 2016; he got ~ 700,000 votes in a country of 11 million) was plagued with political assassinations, arrests of opponents and detentions without trial; gassing of peaceful demonstrations; widespread and unprecedented corruption. Since July 2018, the Haitian people all over the country are up in arms to remove Martelly’s handpicked successor – Jovenel Moise – who with his cronies continue to plunder and rob Haiti all the while doing the bidding of Haiti’s enemies and their international bosses so as to destroy the country.
ORGANIZER: Marcus Garvey was the World’s Greatest Organizer as he was able to organize more than 12 million Africans worldwide.
HISTORY: Mr. Garvey used history to inspire and educate, and not to dwell in it.
A BETTER DAY: Mr. Garvey sold the Black Man to himself so that he believed that a better day is coming.
NEGRO WORLD: The Negro World newspaper was the world’s most successful international weekly publication with a subscription of over 500,000. It was so successful that the British empire banned the Negro World newspaper. It was single handedly responsible for the education of African people worldwide as it had Black history, Arts, Culture and Women’s pages.
FLAG: Motivated to denounce the song, “Every Race has a Flag but the Coon”, Garvey built an economic empire and established a Declaration of Rights resulting in the creation of a Government so as to secure the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all Africans worldwide. Subsequently, the Government of the UNIA ACL was founded. The colors of the Black race are Red, Black, and Green.
UNIVERSAL ANTHEM: After establishing the economic empire, the Government of the UNIA, the Red, Black & Green, the Anthem of the Government of the UNIA was also established.
AFRICAN LEGION: Amongst the auxiliary components of the UNIA were the Universal African Legion, a paramilitary group; the African Black Cross Nurses; African Black Cross Society; the Universal African Motor Corps; the Black Eagle Flying Corps, and the Juvenile Division, which was the youth corps.
RACE PRIDE: Garvey went about the task of converting the disabilities of race into a positive tool of liberation with a thorough aggressiveness. Mr. Garvey built a mass organization (government) that went beyond mere civil-rights agitation protest and based itself upon a definitive, well-thought-out program that would lead to the total emancipation of the race from foreign dominion. As per Mr. Garvey, “The world has made being black a crime, and instead of making it a crime I hope to make it a virtue.” Nor was Garvey’s idea of racial pride a matter of envy towards other races. Rather, he advocated self-discipline as the basis of pride, and was severely critical of complainers.
ADVOCACY OF HARD WORK: Beneath the splendor usually associated with his name, beneath the genius for organizing, beneath the oratorical eloquence for which he was legendary, Mr. Garvey is a notorious advocate of hard work, an advocate of the singleness of purpose and an advocate of self discipline. The leader must strive to master his shortcomings”, he says. “The race must strive for excellence. The greatest men and women in the world burn the midnight lamp.” Garvey states eloquently, “As other people were willing to sacrifice their time and even their lives to christianize our race so we must exercise patience and time to civilize our people.”
ECONOMICS SELF RELIANCE: Buildings Owned in NYC Grocery Store No 1: 47 West 135th Street; Grocery Store No 2: 646 Lenox Avenue (@ 142nd Street); Grocery Store No 3: 552 Lenox Avenue (@ 138th Street); Universal Restaurant No 1: 114 West 138th Street; Universal Restaurant No 2: 75 West 135th Street; Universal Printing House: 2305 7th Avenue @ 135th Street; Universal Mart Industry: 62 West 142nd Street; Black Dolls Factory: 36-38 West 135th Street; Booker T. Washington University & Phyllis Wheatley Hotel: 3-13 West 136th Street; UNIA Head Office: 56 west 135th Street; BSLA Head Office: 54 west 135th Street.
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.
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.
He was born in 1913 in the Dominican Republic but operated in Harlem from 1929 until his death in 1966. For three decades -1940’s, 1950’s, and 1960’s – he became the single most important individual responsible for keeping the works of Marcus Garvey alive.
Carlos A. Cooks is the ideological son of Marcus Garvey. He organized a “Buy Black” campaign in the 1930s to advance community building; he launched annual Garvey Parades in the 1940s and promoted Black female beauty and natural hairstyles. His argument for mental liberation was grounded in his work with African leaders fighting for territorial decolonization. He promoted a convention in 1959 to eliminate the word “Negro” and to replace it with “Black” and “African.” In sum, Cooks organized economic and cultural activities that became part of the Black Power Movement. His works influenced a new generation of leaders that included Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael. He avoided publicity; he was unconcerned with having his name in the press. He seems to have taken the position that if one understood
Garvey, then one would understand his own position. Cooks’ selfless commitment explains the reason why he remains unfamiliar. Cooks’ reluctance to court media attention begins from his formative years. He was reminded in New York of a bond of secrecy that goes back before his migration from the Dominican Republic. Born in the eastern city of San Pedro de Macoris, his career in Harlem was shaped by the story of this city as much as it was linked to the initiatives of his father, James Cooks.
In the 1880s, the sugar industry was established in San Pedro. At the center of production was the exploitation of immigrant workers from many of the Caribbean Islands. James Cooks hailed from St. Martin in the 1890s and rather than falling prey to the giant industry, he gained success as an entrepreneur. In the next century, he was reporting ownership of twelve houses and several other businesses in San Pedro. In this city, he raised his four children with his wife Alice. A father who invested in business but was equally concerned with helping the workers marked the early memories of the son. Cooks Sr. helped to maintain mutual aid and other societies; Carlos was inducted as a child in a Haitian secret society that called him to service and secrecy. However, by 1916, the story of San Pedro was shifting. Haiti and the Dominican Republic came under the occupation of the United States military, and Haitian workers gravitated to the interior of the Dominican Republic and the sugar industry, where the common conditions of exploitation influenced strong bonds among the increasingly diverse community of Black people.
In response to detrimental conditions, workers were seeking to organize, and turned to Garveyism in their reading of the Negro World, now in circulation. In 1919, San Pedro became the center and held branch of the UNIA, Chapter No. 26. This center was also known as
Liberty Hall; the organization was housed in one of the many buildings owned by James Cooks. His involvement along with that of others resulted in his arrest and persecution by the American military. In 1922, James and some members of his family resettled in New York, leaving Carlos in the care of relatives in San Pedro. Carlos remained in the Caribbean for another seven years further immersing himself into the UNIA.
When Carlos arrived in Harlem in 1929, he was ready to assume a role in the Garvey movement. The rest of his family in New York stayed away from this organization, which the law had disliked; but the boy of merely sixteen years of age engaged in activities that were to place him in the Harlem spotlight; he also became a street speaker. In 1932, he became an officer upon the recommendation of Garvey; six years later, in 1938, he headed the UNIA Advance Division earning the name, the “Undaunted”
When Italy’s Benito Mussolini ordered the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935, Cooks responded by recruiting people in the community to expel Italian economic “encroachment” in Harlem. The police identified him as the ringleader of a group that attacked white-controlled businesses, which it is claimed, promoted the prostitution of Black women. He then launched the famous “‘Buy Black’ campaign” to advance Black commerce and financial independence. By the end of the decade, the police increased its vigilance over Cooks, as he was now becoming an independent voice.
I n 1943, Cooks was forced to suspend his work with the ANPM when he was drafted to fight in World War II. This enlistment came after his public mockery of the war; he was found guilty of sedition. The incident was publicized in a New York Times piece subtitled: “Alien Dominican Gets 90 Days for Creating Disorder.” Cooks returned from the war in 1946 and with no signs of rehabilitation. After collaborating with a newly formed organization of Benjamin Gibbons and James Lawson, Cooks restarted his ANPM in 1949 and continued unapologetically with Marcus Garvey’s vision.
New Yorkers share their experience visiting Ghana and Liberia with the UNIA-ACL Guided 2019 Year of Return Tour! Inspired to go? Book your spot for the 2020 tour now!
