A bunch of 21 Home Democrats signed a letter urging the president to exonerate former civil rights chief Marcus Garvey, in keeping with a press release despatched by the lawmakers to ABC Information on Monday.
Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY) led the panel of lawmakers — principally from the Congressional Black Caucus — to exonerate Garvey on the heels of President Joe Biden’s commutation of 37 sentences from federal loss of life row on Monday.
Garvey, one of many earliest internationally-known Black civil rights leaders, was convicted of mail fraud in 1923 and was given a five-year sentence, in keeping with a letter despatched to Biden from the Congress members, obtained by ABC Information. President Calvin Coolidge pardoned Garvey two years into his sentence. Garvey was instantly deported to his delivery nation of Jamaica.
“Exonerating Mr. Garvey would honor his work for the Black group, take away the shadow of an unjust conviction, and additional this administration’s promise to advance racial justice,” the lawmakers mentioned within the letter to the president. “At a time when Black historical past faces the existential risk of erasure by radical state legislatures, a presidential pardon for Mr. Garvey would appropriate the historic document and restore the legacy of an American hero.”
Congress members have been making an attempt for many years to clear Garvey’s title, in keeping with the congress members. Congressman John Conyers led hearings in 1987 for the Home Judiciary Committee on Garvey’s exoneration. Congressman Charles Rangel launched resolutions, highlighting alleged injustices towards the previous civil rights chief in 2004.
Jamaican born African American nationalist Marcus Garvey, circa, 1920.
Library of Congress
“Precisely 101 years in the past, Mr. Garvey was convicted of mail fraud in a case that was marred by prosecutorial and governmental misconduct,” The congress members mentioned within the letter. “The proof paints an abundantly clear narrative that the costs towards Mr. Garvey weren’t solely fabricated but additionally focused to criminalize, discredit, and silence him as a civil rights chief.”
The White Home didn’t instantly reply to ABC Information’ request for a response.
Garvey, who was born in Jamaica in 1887, was a notable Pan-Africanist, believing that individuals of African descent around the globe ought to be unified due to their alleged widespread pursuits.
Garvey was the founding father of the Common Negro Enchancment Affiliation (UNIA) which was created to problem racial inequality, in keeping with the lawmakers. The group championed self-determination and financial independence for Black folks at a time when Jim Crow legal guidelines oppressed African Individuals and colonization subjugated Africans on their very own continent.
Garvey additionally established the Black Star Line, one of many first Black-owned delivery corporations within the Western Hemisphere, connecting Black companies throughout the Americas, in keeping with the lawmakers. The civil rights chief finally needed to route the vessels to Africa for a redemption program, in keeping with the U.S. Nationwide Archives and Data Administration. He needed to ascertain a nation for individuals who had been born into slavery or had been the descendants of enslaved folks, in keeping with The Washington Put up.
Garvey additionally created the Negro World Newspaper which, at its peak, reached a circulation of 200,000 readers weekly, in keeping with the congressmembers.
Congresswoman Yvette Diane Clarke speaks throughout thirty third Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jan. 21, 2019, in New York Metropolis.
Lev Radin/Pacific Press through Getty Photos
Garvey shared the segregationist views of the Ku Klux Klan as he sought a separate state for these of the African diaspora, in keeping with The Washington Put up.
“I regard the Klan the Anglo Saxon golf equipment and white American societies so far as the Negro is anxious, as higher pals of the race than all different teams of hypocritical whites put collectively,” Garvey mentioned in keeping with The New York Occasions.
Different Black civil rights activists had been outraged. W. E. B. Du Bois mentioned Garvey was probably the most harmful enemy of the Negro race and was both “a lunatic or a traitor,” in keeping with PBS. Du Bois additionally mentioned Garvey “suffered from severe defects of temperament and coaching.”
Jamaican born African American nationalist Marcus Garvey, circa, 1920.
Library of Congress
The newly fashioned Bureau of Investigation, later turning into the FBI, and the director of its intelligence division, a-young J. Edgar Hoover, introduced mail fraud proceedings towards Garvey in connection to the sale of Black Star Line delivery inventory, in keeping with The Washington Put up. He was sentenced to 5 years in jail and served two years earlier than his pardon and eventual deportation by Coolidge.
The FBI declined ABC Information’ request for a remark.
Garvey by no means returned to the U.S. once more, in keeping with the U.S. Nationwide Archives and Data Administration.
“As we strategy the conclusion of your administration, this second offers an opportunity to go away an indelible mark on historical past,” the lawmakers advised Biden of their letter.
ABC Information’ John Parkinson contributed to this report.
