Miami Commissioner Fighting to Exonerate Marcus Garvey

From the pages of history books to murals honoring black heroes, Marcus Garvey's message of racial pride and self-sufficiency still resonates. Now, 64 years after his death, some in South Florida are joining the decades-long struggle to clear the name of one of black America's most influential and controversial social philosophers, best known for his back-to-Africa movement. "Marcus Garvey led a movement to uplift humanity," said Dale Holness, a Jamaican-American and Lauderhill city commissioner who recently launched a local effort to have Garvey exonerated by the United States government. "He was about creating self-sufficiency among African people for them to lift themselves up and be proud." Last month, Holness, a newly elected commissioner, sponsored a resolution at the Lauderhill City Commission supporting Garvey's exoneration. The measure passed and Holness is now working on getting other cities and elected officials onboard. If he succeeds, South Floridians will be joining others in Washington, D.C., and Connecticut who are also fighting to remove the stigma associated with Garvey following his 1923 U.S. conviction on mail fraud. [more ]