Open Letter to All Incarcerated People of African Descent
 
The philosophy and program of the Hon. Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association is the best solution to redeem the millions of disaffected members of our beloved race, languishing in prisons around the globe. Understanding the fundamental challenges obstructing our racial progress and fostering crime in poor Black communities, the Hon. Marcus Garvey designed and constructed the most comprehensive program ever developed to address our plight. Furthermore, after suffering the indignity of a wrongful conviction and imprisonment, Mr. Garvey demonstrated the abiding power of his philosophy by disallowing that debilitating environment to encage his boundless spirit, thereby, becoming the standard-bearer for success under duress for those who embrace the redemptive and transformative power of Garveyism.
 
Blaming the victims
 
Globally, mass incarceration serves as a modernized extension of slavery to politically disenfranchise, socially disadvantage, economically cripple and spiritually demoralize our struggling race. While those who are guilty of committing vice must share responsibility for their reckless behavior, too many are disproportionately targeted for arrest, unjustly convicted and inordinately sentenced purely for racially motivated reasons. Internationally, millions of Blacks are needlessly being incarcerated for our inability to mobilize our collective influence politically and regulate the institutions and systems that frequently exploit the unfortunate.
 
We cannot expect the governments that exacerbate our insufferable impoverishment to eradicate the conditions that drive so many of the unemployed and underemployed to desperate actions. Mr. Garvey understood the futility of instrumental solutions to our fundamental problems and, subsequently, developed a universal program and philosophy to organize and empower the apathetic members of our race.
 
In 1914, the Most Hon. Marcus Garvey founded the UNIA to conserve the rights of our noble race and universally protect our interests. In 1920, the UNIA hosted an International Convention whereby 25,000 delegates assembled, representing the 400 million members of our race, and decreed ourselves ‘free denizens, entitled to the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ We denounced the “many acts of injustice against members of our race before the courts of law,” and declared our rights to “even-handed justice before all courts of law and equity in whatever country (we) may be found.”
 
Today, we maintain that institutional racism in the criminal justice system, particularly in countries where we form a minority, is unjust and worthy of our complete condemnation. Yes, we’ve made substantial progress in advancing our civil and human rights since 1920, yet more is necessary to completely honor the mandates of the International Convention. Furthermore, we are convinced that no substantive transformation is possible for those bounded by this vicious cycle of poverty and imprisonment until they first escape the psychological binds of oppression and supplant it with a higher set of ideals stimulated by a grander sense of racial destiny.
 
Emancipate yourself from mental slavery
 
The 21st century prison industrial complex effectively functions as the 19th century slave plantation. Both “peculiar institutions” invariably inhibit your ability to determine your destiny, neutralize your will to resist and reduce you to a state of passivity and docility. These "reformatories" foster conformity through uniformity, mask debilitation as rehabilitation and favor institutional compliance to self-reliance. Prolonged repression of self-expression can essentially erode the critical thinking skills and competitive characteristics necessary to succeed beyond release and ultimately risks reducing you to a clinically depressed, chronically complacent prisoner of your own mind.
 
Understanding the self-destructive nature of the enslaved, imprisoned or otherwise subjugated mind, Mr. Garvey instructed us to "  Emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others can free the body, none but ourselves can free our minds."  The careful examination and internalization of Garveyism, the perfect amalgamation of the immutable principles of self-determination, is all you need to elevate your thinking beyond all acquired inhibitions and imposed limitations. However, his practical application of these philosophical precepts and his adherence to perseverance when faced with similar circumstances provide a perfect and inspiring example to emulate and a beacon of hope in times of great despair.
 
African fundamentalism
 
The Most Honorable Marcus Garvey demonstrated the extraordinary power of his philosophy when confronted with the peril of political imprisonment. He proved that " men who are in earnest are not afraid of consequences,"  by conquering fear and despair when subjected to constant harassment and inhumane treatment. His faithful endurance grants assurance you too can prevail the travails of jail if the source of your conviction transcends the force of your affliction.
 
Mr. Garvey's heroic battle with the criminal justice system reflected the dynamic ability of his world view to effectively transform tragedy to triumph and elevate victims to victors. Despite being repeatedly incited, insulted and assigned "  the hardest and dirtiest tasks in the prison,"  he philosophically prepared himself to suffer the threat of harm without alarm and face the scorn of indentured servitude with certitude in the infinity of our divinity.
 
He believed 'Man has no master but God and when man fears another man like himself he offends God who created him in his image and likeness.'  Emboldened by this indisputable truth and a courageous commitment to racial redemption, he defiantly proclaimed,"Imprisonment or death means nothing to me in my service to our race."
 
In fact, Mr. Garvey productively seized every opportunity during his nearly three-year stint in the penal justice system to incessantly read and “write the history that will inspire a nation.” Understanding " a reading man is a ready man, but a writing man an exact man,"   he wrote poetry, song lyrics, newspaper articles and penned what is arguably the greatest philosophical Manifesto ever prepared for our race: African Fundamentalism
 
Charges
 
Emancipate yourself  from mental slavery: Mental Emancipation is a lifelong process of learning and unlearning.  It demands serious reflection and the furious rejection of all negative and counter-productive thoughts, ideas and values. Transcend your confinement through refinement and return to your community smarter, not slicker; better, not bitter. Understand that prison release is not freedom, for “stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage.”
 
Practice a new creed: faith in self: Allow no one to patronize or brand you as a criminal once you've allowed Garveyism to actuate your mind and mold your character. No philosophy or program can do anything for you until you first make up your mind to do something for yourself.
 
Do not waste time: Time is unyielding and unforgiving. Stop counting days and make those days count. Stop serving time and make time serve you. Turn that jail into a barrack and prepare yourself for the war to restore order in our community; convert that prison into a university and learn all you need to master your environment and exercise dominion over your affairs; transform that facility into a monastery and cultivate the spiritual conviction necessary to endure all adversities and accomplish everything you will. Remember, tough times don’t last; tough people do.
 
The Most Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey felt that this generation would be the one to advance our independence and sovereignty more than any other. The fate of our racial destiny relies squarely upon your decision. What will YOU do?

By Mwariama Kamau.

Tribute to 126th Birthday Celebration of the Hon. Marcus Garvey.