Garvey’s vision of unity takes root
By Jerry Muhammad
Updated Jun 16, 2005, 09:06 am

NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - During the 1920s, when the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey started the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) under the banner of “One God, One Aim, One Destiny,” little did he know that it would take 85 years for the seeds of African unity to take root and manifest itself in the Millions More Movement under the banner of “The Power of One.”
On African Liberation Day at the African Orthodox Church (which was founded by Marcus Garvey in 1921 in Harlem), members of the UNIA, African Communities League, Nation of Islam, New Black Panther Party and representatives of African countries gathered to announce the unity of Africans throughout the Diaspora. They also pointed out that the media has been silent on reporting ongoing economic development in the African Union.

“When you, in the Diaspora, see pictures of Africa, you see sickness, war and conflict, but you don’t see an Africa with teachers, doctors, business people and construction going on,” said John Ng’ongolo, minister counselor to the Permanent Mission of the United Republic of Tanzania.

“I found evidence in the New York Times archives that mainstream media has an agenda to present Africa in the most negative and racist way, in order to separate Africa from the Diaspora,” said Milton Allimadi, publisher of the Black Star News.

“The mainstream media thinks it has won,” said Abiodun Oyewole, one of The Last Poets. “The media thinks that many of us from the sixties are dead, dying and totally eradicated from the truth. If we really become one, like Marcus Garvey talked about, we can blink and our enemy will disappear. We must understand that we have a power that we are not using,” he emphasized.

“When we, at the African Union, took a look at the regions of Africa, we identified Central Africa, North Africa, South Africa, West Africa, East Africa, but we also realized that a sixth region was identifiable, the African Diaspora. We realize that we must include the African Diaspora in decisions that concern Africa,” informed Nayang Charwah of the African Union Offices to the United Nations.

Accepting acknowledgement from the UNIA on behalf of the African country of Mozambique, Minister Kevin Muhammad, of Muhammad’s Mosque No. 7, told the audience, “We are an African people at home and abroad but, before we were Africans, we were Black. Once we change the language, we change the mentality.”

He also stressed the value of unity in dealing with the condition of our communities.

“Ten years ago, we united on the D.C. Mall. Ten years later, we have had many accomplishments, but the masses of our people are on a death march. We are dying worldwide health-wise, we are dying politically, and we are dying spiritually. We want millions of more men, women and children to come to D.C. on October 14th, 15th and 16th, in the spirit of Marcus Mosiah Garvey,” he said. “The enemy fears our unity—for total unity can solve 95 percent of our problems.”

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