US Congress members make another plea for Marcus Garvey's exoneration

Twenty-one members of the US House of Representatives have made another attempt to have Jamaica's first national hero, Marcus Garvey, pardoned before President Joe Biden leaves office next month.

Led by Jamaican-American Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, the House members told Biden that as he approaches the end of his presidency "this moment provides a chance to leave an indelible mark on history."

Garvey was convicted in 1923 for the fraudulent use of the mail.

However, the Congress members said in their letter: "The evidence paints an abundantly clear narrative that the charges against Mr Garvey were not only fabricated but also targeted to criminalise, discredit, and silence him as a civil rights leader."

They said although President Calvin Coolidge commuted Garvey's sentence, the time has come for him to be pardoned.

"Efforts to clear Garvey's name have persisted for decades. In 1987, under Congressman John Conyers' leadership, the House Judiciary Committee held hearings on Mr. Garvey's exoneration. In 2004, Congressman Charles Rangel introduced a series of resolutions calling attention to the injustice, followed by Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke's recent efforts to continue these strides. Despite these efforts, Garvey's name has not yet been cleared," they stated.

The Congress members said exonerating Garvey would honour his work for the Black community, remove the shadow of an unjust conviction, and further this administration's promise to advance racial justice.

"At a time when Black history faces the existential threat of erasure by radical state legislatures, a presidential pardon for Garvey would correct the historical record and restore the legacy of an American hero," they said.

The members of Congress also wrote a similar letter to Biden in May 2023.

Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA); established the Black
Star Line, one of the first Black-owned shipping companies; and published the Negro World Newspaper, which, at its peak, reached a circulation of 200,000 readers weekly.

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