Bill Text: NY J02721 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

New York Senate Resolution 2721

Introduced

Bill Title: Commemorating Marcus Garvey's Birthday on August 17, 2024

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-08-19 - REFERRED TO FINANCE [J02721 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-J02721-Introduced.html


Senate Resolution No. 2721

BY: Senator SANDERS

        COMMEMORATING  Marcus  Garvey's Birthday on August
        17, 2024

  WHEREAS, From time to time we take note of certain individuals  whom
we  wish  to  recognize  for  their valued contributions and to publicly
acknowledge their endeavors which have enhanced the basic humanity among
us all; and

  WHEREAS, It is the custom of  this  Legislative  Body  to  join  the
people  of  this  great  Empire  State  in  proudly  observing the 137th
birthday of Marcus Garvey on August 17, 2024, taking note  of  his  many
accomplishments and contributions to mankind; and

  WHEREAS,  Born  August  17,  1887, in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, Marcus
Garvey was a charismatic Black leader who organized the first  important
American  Black nationalist movement (1919-26), based in New York City's
Harlem; and

  WHEREAS, Largely  self-taught,  Marcus  Garvey  attended  school  in
Jamaica  until  he was 14; after traveling in Central America and living
in London from 1912 to 1914, he returned to Jamaica, where, with a group
of friends, he founded (August 1, 1914) the Universal Negro  Improvement
and  Conservation  Association  and  African Communities League, notably
called the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which sought,
among other things, to build a Black-governed nation; and

  WHEREAS, Struggling to attract a following in Jamaica, Marcus Garvey
emigrated to the United States (1916) and soon established  branches  of
the UNIA in Harlem and the other areas of the North; and

  WHEREAS,  By  1919,  the rising "Black Moses" claimed a following of
about 2,000,000, leading the largest African-American movement for human
rights  and  economic  self-sufficiency  of  all  time,  and  attracting
millions  of  followers  in  the  United  States,  the  Caribbean, Latin
America, Africa, and Europe; and

  WHEREAS, Furthermore, during this time,  he  established  the  Negro
Factories Corporation and the Black Star Line (1919), as well as a chain
of  restaurants  and  grocery stores, laundries, a hotel, and a printing
press; and

  WHEREAS, Marcus Garvey reached the height of his power in 1920, when
he presided  at  an  international  convention  in  Liberty  Hall,  with
delegates present from 25 countries; the affair was climaxed by a parade
of  50,000  through  the  streets of Harlem, led by Garvey in flamboyant
array; and

  WHEREAS, Marcus Garvey's influence  declined  rapidly  when  he  and
other  UNIA  members  were indicted for mail fraud in 1922 in connection
with the sale of stock for the Black Star Line; he served two years of a
five-year prison term, but in 1927 his sentence  was  commuted  by  U.S.
President Calvin Coolidge, and he was deported; and

  WHEREAS,  The  case against Marcus Garvey was politically motivated,
the charges unsubstantiated, and  his  conviction  unjust;  millions  of
petitioners  have  appealed for his exoneration; his philosophy inspired
some of the world's great Black leaders; and

  WHEREAS,  Marcus  Garvey  is  recognized  as  a national hero in his
native Jamaica, and as a towering figure in nations  around  the  world;
his life and contributions to the United States should be recognized and
appropriate  steps  taken  to  restore  his  name and reputation in this
country; now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
commemorate Marcus Garvey's Birthday on August 17, 2024.