Grange says gov't will continue push to have Garvey exonerated
Published:Sunday | January 19, 2025 | 5:05 PM
Minister of Culture, Olivia Grange, says US President Joe Biden did “the right and honourable thing” when he used his clemency power to pardon, posthumously, National Hero Marcus Garvey.
Garvey was convicted of mail fraud in the United States in 1923, but Grange says “that trial and conviction were meant to tarnish Garvey’s image and diminish his global movement.”
She says Biden’s “historic pardon is a most significant step in a process which must continue until the National Hero is exonerated—his
name must be cleared completely.”
“Marcus Garvey was a formidable advocate for the rights of black people, and leader of the largest black movement in history. It was no surprise when Garvey caught the attention of federal agencies in the racially charged United States of America. It was no surprise when Garvey was charged with mail fraud, imprisoned, tried and deported. I welcome President Biden’s decision which represents a major victory in the struggle to clear Garvey’s name. We must welcome the pardon wholeheartedly. However, we maintain that Garvey’s actions were not criminal actions, but were acts of liberation, with moral justification. Therefore, what we need is an expungement of Garvey’s record in America, similar to what was done by the Jamaican parliament," Grange states.
The minister says the pardon which was announced Sunday morning was the outcome of many years of advocacy by successive Jamaican governments, the Garvey family, led by his son Julius, the UNIA, members of the Jamaican Diaspora and many people in America and across the world.
A resolution was brought to the US House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, as far back as 1987 to clear Garvey, but did not succeed.
In 2018, the Jamaican Houses of Parliament passed The National Heroes and Other Freedom Fighters (Absolution from Criminal Liability in Respect of Specified Acts) Act, which cleared the records of National Heroes, including Garvey.
The law removed the conviction for sedition against Garvey.
The minister says while the “Government of Jamaica will continue to work with the Garvey family, and all the stakeholders to push for the exoneration of Marcus Garvey. Today we celebrate.”
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