Members of the U.S. Congress are imploring President Biden to pardon late Jamaican political activist Marcus Garvey.
Garvey was convicted in 1923 of fraudulently using the mail. However, public consensus considers this charge a way to criminalize and target him.
Former President Calvin Coolidge commuted his sentence, but it remains on his record. However, current congressional leaders have asked President Biden to exonerate the civil rights leader formally. Jamaican-American Congresswoman Yvette Clarke is leading the initiative.
They emphasized the “abundantly clear narrative” that the charges sought to undermine his efforts toward Black empowerment across the diaspora.
“The evidence paints an abundantly clear narrative that the charges against Mr. Garvey were not only fabricated but also targeted to criminalize, discredit, and silence him as a civil rights leader,” detailed the letter obtained by the Jamaica Gleaner.
Their urgency on the matters comes as Biden’s term ends next month. The president has already issued a record number of pardons, including a notable one for his son, Hunter.
In the letter, they also detailed the numerous attempts former Congress members made to exonerate the activist. It included hearings in the House Judiciary Committee in 1987, prompted by Rep. John Conyers. Another round of resolutions spearheaded by Rep. Charles Rangel occurred in 2004.
Clarke and her fellow supporting congress members hope this pardon would “restore the legacy” of the man who championed Black empowerment and remains especially revered in Jamaica.
The letter continued, “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.”
Garvey was a notable Black nationalist who advocated for Black people’s social, economic, and political advancement. His ideologies, known as Garveyism, were controversial for their separatist views. However, his work did lead to the establishment of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).
His son, Dr. Julius Garvey, remains optimistic that President Biden will include him as he continues the rollout of pardons.
“As for my father, who sacrificed his life to elevate our people worldwide and was committed to reconstructing African culture and history, he was made into a criminal,” explained Dr. Garvey, as reported by Afro.com. “But we’re not giving up because we know that the history being taught today is false. No lie can last forever, and as we witness today, the very fabric of those lies and history is being pulled apart. So, we’ll continue to advocate for the pardon of my father until right prevails.”
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