\nMarcus Garvey (Photo Credit: Africa is a Country)<\/span><\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nMarcus Garvey remains one of the keynote influences of the African renaissance.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span>\u00a0From the streets of Harlem, far and wide , the grand patriarch of Pan-Africanist thought commanded the arena with successive generations under his inspiration.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nThe Provisional President of Africa, as Garvey was known to his adherents, is credited for flaring up Afrocentric sentiment from a fringe movement among subjugated former slaves to a cross-continental movement. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nHis ideas, chiefly revolving around the \u201cBack to Africa\u201d movement as the ultimate hallmark of emancipation, outlived the reactionary backlash with which they were met and foiled by the establishment of his time.\u00a0<\/span>
Repatriation, decolonisation, early aversion to neo-colonialism and the current upsurge of Pan-Africanism sentiment were, to varying extents, ignited from Garvey\u2019s ideological engine.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nNow that Africa is on the crest of another awakening, with black pride, resource nationalism and economic growth turning the tide in the erstwhile \u201cbackyard of civilisation,\u201d the philosopher\u2019s influence is looming pertinent once again.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n\u00a0<\/span>The fermenting crossover from austerity to prosperity, guaranteed perchance Africa stays the course and incapacitates the recurrent instruments of stagnation, is duly looking backward in order to look forward.\u00a0<\/span>
<\/span>There is a difference between retrospection and retrogression wherefore history must not be downplayed if the continent is to retain the positive momentum.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nThe African awakening, which has utilised the fresh stimulus occasioned by the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Organisation of African Union (OAU) under the tagline \u201cPan-Africanism and the African Renaissance\u201d earlier this year, must be situated within its founding template to forestall veering off-rail.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nInterests of the elite and neo-colonial subjugation continue to level a death-knell against the aspirations of masses at the base of the class pyramid. Bob Marley\u2019s reminder, \u201cin this great future you can\u2019t forget your past,\u201d and a corresponding recourse to the original canon of Pan-Africanist thought, will consolidate the authenticity of the swelling hype of Africa Rising.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nGarvey himself styles history as <\/span>the landmark by which a people is directed into a worthwhile course of life. \u201cThe history of a movement, the history of a nation, the history of a race is the guide-post of that movement\u2019s destiny, that nation’s destiny, that race\u2019s destiny. What you do today that is worthwhile inspires others to act at some future time,\u201d he counsels right from the outset of his seminal Philosophy and Opinions.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Progressive nationalists must imperatively revert to the works of Neto, Lumumba, Blyden, Fanon, Cabral, Bois, Toure, Nyerere, Biko, Nkrumah and other pioneer Pan-Africanist thoroughbreds as a framing point for awakening the continent from stillborn promises to the incredible possibilities within our range. Needless to say, this canon is not perfect but the continent can separate nuggets from dross with the benefit of hindsight.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nGarvey is one revolutionary figurehead who has remained in the current with a possible downside that the emergent nostalgia borders more on a heroic chronology without due attention to its particular works. In light of this, Literature Today devotes this week to a closer look at Garvey\u2019s Philosophy and Opinions.<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nPhilosophy and Opinions<\/i>, which was electronically interred into the Journal of Pan-African Studies in 2009, is a compendium of Garvey\u2019s articulate opinions across varied domains of African life. It was compiled by Garvey\u2019s wife, Amy Jacques in 1923, initially not for publication but to preserve a <\/span>personal record of his opinions, mostly transcribed from speeches made his tenure as a leader of the diasporan Negro community.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nOn second thought, Amy sent the volume to press to arm the Africans with the \u201cexpressions of thoughts enunciated by him in defense of his oppressed and struggling race; so that by his own words he may be judged, and Negroes the world over may be informed and inspired, for truth, brought to light, forces conviction, and a state of conviction inspires action.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nPhilosophy and Opinions<\/i>\u00a0is effortlessly readable and accessible for readers of all classes, possibly because it was not consciously written for publication but culled from speeches especially intended for the impoverished majority.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nHolistic Development<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nGarvey advocates extensively the imperative to spur Africa from centuries of stagnance into a geopolitically competitive entity. He did not consider wealth to be measured by statistics on the national scale but the quality of each individual\u2019s life, not only in monetary and material, but also personal and spiritual terms. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nSuccess in daily endeavours, more than measuring up to an artificial criterion, accounts for genuine wealth. Holistic welfare encompassing health, material, personal and spiritual is the requisite combo for a satisfactory life.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nNotwithstanding, Garvey does not gloss over poverty but slams it for facilitating crime and immorality: \u201cOne lives, in an age like this, nearer perfection by being wealthy than by being poor. To the contended soul, wealth is the stepping stone to perfection; to the miser it is the nearest avenue to hell. I would prefer to be honestly wealthy, than miserably poor,\u201d Garvey said.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nApparently, Garvey was ahead of his time. Whereas blacks were tutored by early missionaries to embrace poverty so as to be candidates of heaven, there has been a transition whereby congregants are told to run this world before going to heaven. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nIn Africa, teachings of life-enhancement are still draped in suspicion but the Bible shows that the full gospel package provides both for this life and the life to come. Garvey spurns the magnification of poverty into a virtue and encourages blacks to be empowered in every facet of their lives.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nPoverty is an abasing force which compromises the conscience since the poor man lives in perpetual temptation of other people\u2019s property.\u00a0 <\/span>Garvey urges integrity of character as the first station towards attainment and advocates the even distribution of resources to abolish poverty and reclaim the inherent dignity of every person.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nGarvey\u2019s ideas were however not without flaws. Unlike the inclusive ideal of \u201cAfropolitanism\u201d whereby geography and ethnicity have no bearing on the definition of African, Garvey propagated a \u201cpure African race,\u201d with somewhat counter-racist and eugenic undertones.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nKwame Nkrumah argues more convincingly to the contrary, \u201cI am an African not because I was born in Africa but because Africa was born in me.\u201d <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nTo his credit, Garvey argues that credible ideals know no nationality, and rhetorically questions if the world should not accept Protestantism because Luther was Germany, reject democracy because Lafayette was French or telegraphy because Marconi was Italian.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Marcus Garvey (Photo Credit: Africa is a Country) Marcus Garvey remains one of the keynote influences of the African renaissance. \u00a0From the streets of Harlem, far and wide , the grand patriarch of Pan-Africanist thought commanded the arena with successive generations under his inspiration. The Provisional President of Africa, as Garvey was known to his adherents, is credited for flaring up Afrocentric sentiment from a fringe movement among subjugated former slaves to a cross-continental movement. His ideas, chiefly revolving around the \u201cBack to Africa\u201d movement as the ultimate hallmark of emancipation, outlived the reactionary backlash with which they were met and foiled by the establishment of his time.\u00a0Repatriation, decolonisation, early aversion to neo-colonialism and the current upsurge of Pan-Africanism sentiment were, to varying extents, ignited from Garvey\u2019s ideological engine. Now that Africa is on the crest of another awakening, with black pride, resource nationalism and economic growth turning the tide in the erstwhile \u201cbackyard of civilisation,\u201d the philosopher\u2019s influence is looming pertinent once again. \u00a0The fermenting crossover from austerity to prosperity, guaranteed perchance Africa stays the course and incapacitates the recurrent instruments of stagnation, is duly looking backward in order to look forward.\u00a0There is a difference between retrospection and retrogression wherefore history must not be downplayed if the continent is to retain the positive momentum. The African awakening, which has utilised the fresh stimulus occasioned by the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Organisation of African Union (OAU) under the tagline \u201cPan-Africanism and the African Renaissance\u201d earlier this year, must be situated within its founding template to forestall veering off-rail. Interests of the elite and neo-colonial subjugation continue to level a death-knell against the aspirations of masses at the base of the class pyramid. Bob Marley\u2019s reminder, \u201cin this great future you can\u2019t forget your past,\u201d and a corresponding recourse to the original canon of Pan-Africanist thought, will consolidate the authenticity of the swelling hype of Africa Rising. Garvey himself styles history as the landmark by which a people is directed into a worthwhile course of life. \u201cThe history of a movement, the history of a nation, the history of a race is the guide-post of that movement\u2019s destiny, that nation’s destiny, that race\u2019s destiny. What you do today that is worthwhile inspires others to act at some future time,\u201d he counsels right from the outset of his seminal Philosophy and Opinions. Progressive nationalists must imperatively revert to the works of Neto, Lumumba, Blyden, Fanon, Cabral, Bois, Toure, Nyerere, Biko, Nkrumah and other pioneer Pan-Africanist thoroughbreds as a framing point for awakening the continent from stillborn promises to the incredible possibilities within our range. Needless to say, this canon is not perfect but the continent can separate nuggets from dross with the benefit of hindsight. Garvey is one revolutionary figurehead who has remained in the current with a possible downside that the emergent nostalgia borders more on a heroic chronology without due attention to its particular works. In light of this, Literature Today devotes this week to a closer look at Garvey\u2019s Philosophy and Opinions. Philosophy and Opinions, which was electronically interred into the Journal of Pan-African Studies in 2009, is a compendium of Garvey\u2019s articulate opinions across varied domains of African life. It was compiled by Garvey\u2019s wife, Amy Jacques in 1923, initially not for publication but to preserve a personal record of his opinions, mostly transcribed from speeches made his tenure as a leader of the diasporan Negro community. On second thought, Amy sent the volume to press to arm the Africans with the \u201cexpressions of thoughts enunciated by him in defense of his oppressed and struggling race; so that by his own words he may be judged, and Negroes the world over may be informed and inspired, for truth, brought to light, forces conviction, and a state of conviction inspires action.\u201d Philosophy and Opinions\u00a0is effortlessly readable and accessible for readers of all classes, possibly because it was not consciously written for publication but culled from speeches especially intended for the impoverished majority. Holistic Development Garvey advocates extensively the imperative to spur Africa from centuries of stagnance into a geopolitically competitive entity. He did not consider wealth to be measured by statistics on the national scale but the quality of each individual\u2019s life, not only in monetary and material, but also personal and spiritual terms. Success in daily endeavours, more than measuring up to an artificial criterion, accounts for genuine wealth. Holistic welfare encompassing health, material, personal and spiritual is the requisite combo for a satisfactory life. Notwithstanding, Garvey does not gloss over poverty but slams it for facilitating crime and immorality: \u201cOne lives, in an age like this, nearer perfection by being wealthy than by being poor. To the contended soul, wealth is the stepping stone to perfection; to the miser it is the nearest avenue to hell. I would prefer to be honestly wealthy, than miserably poor,\u201d Garvey said. Apparently, Garvey was ahead of his time. Whereas blacks were tutored by early missionaries to embrace poverty so as to be candidates of heaven, there has been a transition whereby congregants are told to run this world before going to heaven. In Africa, teachings of life-enhancement are still draped in suspicion but the Bible shows that the full gospel package provides both for this life and the life to come. Garvey spurns the magnification of poverty into a virtue and encourages blacks to be empowered in every facet of their lives. Poverty is an abasing force which compromises the conscience since the poor man lives in perpetual temptation of other people\u2019s property.\u00a0 Garvey urges integrity of character as the first station towards attainment and advocates the even distribution of resources to abolish poverty and reclaim the inherent dignity of every person. Garvey\u2019s ideas were however not without flaws. Unlike the inclusive ideal of \u201cAfropolitanism\u201d whereby geography and ethnicity have no bearing on the definition of African, Garvey propagated a \u201cpure African race,\u201d with somewhat counter-racist and eugenic undertones. Kwame Nkrumah argues more convincingly to the contrary, \u201cI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-history"],"yoast_head":"\n Marcus Garvey \u2013 Retrospect | Blockspace<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/?p=550\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Marcus Garvey \u2013 Retrospect | Blockspace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Marcus Garvey (Photo Credit: Africa is a Country) Marcus Garvey remains one of the keynote influences of the African renaissance. \u00a0From the streets of Harlem, far and wide , the grand patriarch of Pan-Africanist thought commanded the arena with successive generations under his inspiration. The Provisional President of Africa, as Garvey was known to his adherents, is credited for flaring up Afrocentric sentiment from a fringe movement among subjugated former slaves to a cross-continental movement. His ideas, chiefly revolving around the \u201cBack to Africa\u201d movement as the ultimate hallmark of emancipation, outlived the reactionary backlash with which they were met and foiled by the establishment of his time.\u00a0Repatriation, decolonisation, early aversion to neo-colonialism and the current upsurge of Pan-Africanism sentiment were, to varying extents, ignited from Garvey\u2019s ideological engine. Now that Africa is on the crest of another awakening, with black pride, resource nationalism and economic growth turning the tide in the erstwhile \u201cbackyard of civilisation,\u201d the philosopher\u2019s influence is looming pertinent once again. \u00a0The fermenting crossover from austerity to prosperity, guaranteed perchance Africa stays the course and incapacitates the recurrent instruments of stagnation, is duly looking backward in order to look forward.\u00a0There is a difference between retrospection and retrogression wherefore history must not be downplayed if the continent is to retain the positive momentum. The African awakening, which has utilised the fresh stimulus occasioned by the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Organisation of African Union (OAU) under the tagline \u201cPan-Africanism and the African Renaissance\u201d earlier this year, must be situated within its founding template to forestall veering off-rail. Interests of the elite and neo-colonial subjugation continue to level a death-knell against the aspirations of masses at the base of the class pyramid. Bob Marley\u2019s reminder, \u201cin this great future you can\u2019t forget your past,\u201d and a corresponding recourse to the original canon of Pan-Africanist thought, will consolidate the authenticity of the swelling hype of Africa Rising. Garvey himself styles history as the landmark by which a people is directed into a worthwhile course of life. \u201cThe history of a movement, the history of a nation, the history of a race is the guide-post of that movement\u2019s destiny, that nation’s destiny, that race\u2019s destiny. What you do today that is worthwhile inspires others to act at some future time,\u201d he counsels right from the outset of his seminal Philosophy and Opinions. Progressive nationalists must imperatively revert to the works of Neto, Lumumba, Blyden, Fanon, Cabral, Bois, Toure, Nyerere, Biko, Nkrumah and other pioneer Pan-Africanist thoroughbreds as a framing point for awakening the continent from stillborn promises to the incredible possibilities within our range. Needless to say, this canon is not perfect but the continent can separate nuggets from dross with the benefit of hindsight. Garvey is one revolutionary figurehead who has remained in the current with a possible downside that the emergent nostalgia borders more on a heroic chronology without due attention to its particular works. In light of this, Literature Today devotes this week to a closer look at Garvey\u2019s Philosophy and Opinions. Philosophy and Opinions, which was electronically interred into the Journal of Pan-African Studies in 2009, is a compendium of Garvey\u2019s articulate opinions across varied domains of African life. It was compiled by Garvey\u2019s wife, Amy Jacques in 1923, initially not for publication but to preserve a personal record of his opinions, mostly transcribed from speeches made his tenure as a leader of the diasporan Negro community. On second thought, Amy sent the volume to press to arm the Africans with the \u201cexpressions of thoughts enunciated by him in defense of his oppressed and struggling race; so that by his own words he may be judged, and Negroes the world over may be informed and inspired, for truth, brought to light, forces conviction, and a state of conviction inspires action.\u201d Philosophy and Opinions\u00a0is effortlessly readable and accessible for readers of all classes, possibly because it was not consciously written for publication but culled from speeches especially intended for the impoverished majority. Holistic Development Garvey advocates extensively the imperative to spur Africa from centuries of stagnance into a geopolitically competitive entity. He did not consider wealth to be measured by statistics on the national scale but the quality of each individual\u2019s life, not only in monetary and material, but also personal and spiritual terms. Success in daily endeavours, more than measuring up to an artificial criterion, accounts for genuine wealth. Holistic welfare encompassing health, material, personal and spiritual is the requisite combo for a satisfactory life. Notwithstanding, Garvey does not gloss over poverty but slams it for facilitating crime and immorality: \u201cOne lives, in an age like this, nearer perfection by being wealthy than by being poor. To the contended soul, wealth is the stepping stone to perfection; to the miser it is the nearest avenue to hell. I would prefer to be honestly wealthy, than miserably poor,\u201d Garvey said. Apparently, Garvey was ahead of his time. Whereas blacks were tutored by early missionaries to embrace poverty so as to be candidates of heaven, there has been a transition whereby congregants are told to run this world before going to heaven. In Africa, teachings of life-enhancement are still draped in suspicion but the Bible shows that the full gospel package provides both for this life and the life to come. Garvey spurns the magnification of poverty into a virtue and encourages blacks to be empowered in every facet of their lives. Poverty is an abasing force which compromises the conscience since the poor man lives in perpetual temptation of other people\u2019s property.\u00a0 Garvey urges integrity of character as the first station towards attainment and advocates the even distribution of resources to abolish poverty and reclaim the inherent dignity of every person. Garvey\u2019s ideas were however not without flaws. Unlike the inclusive ideal of \u201cAfropolitanism\u201d whereby geography and ethnicity have no bearing on the definition of African, Garvey propagated a \u201cpure African race,\u201d with somewhat counter-racist and eugenic undertones. Kwame Nkrumah argues more convincingly to the contrary, \u201cI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/?p=550\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blockspace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-17T16:40:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-25T14:21:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/africasacountry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/tumblr_m5f5joo6qd1qemkxio1_500.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"hardsouth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"hardsouth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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The Provisional President of Africa, as Garvey was known to his adherents, is credited for flaring up Afrocentric sentiment from a fringe movement among subjugated former slaves to a cross-continental movement. His ideas, chiefly revolving around the \u201cBack to Africa\u201d movement as the ultimate hallmark of emancipation, outlived the reactionary backlash with which they were met and foiled by the establishment of his time.\u00a0Repatriation, decolonisation, early aversion to neo-colonialism and the current upsurge of Pan-Africanism sentiment were, to varying extents, ignited from Garvey\u2019s ideological engine. Now that Africa is on the crest of another awakening, with black pride, resource nationalism and economic growth turning the tide in the erstwhile \u201cbackyard of civilisation,\u201d the philosopher\u2019s influence is looming pertinent once again. \u00a0The fermenting crossover from austerity to prosperity, guaranteed perchance Africa stays the course and incapacitates the recurrent instruments of stagnation, is duly looking backward in order to look forward.\u00a0There is a difference between retrospection and retrogression wherefore history must not be downplayed if the continent is to retain the positive momentum. The African awakening, which has utilised the fresh stimulus occasioned by the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Organisation of African Union (OAU) under the tagline \u201cPan-Africanism and the African Renaissance\u201d earlier this year, must be situated within its founding template to forestall veering off-rail. Interests of the elite and neo-colonial subjugation continue to level a death-knell against the aspirations of masses at the base of the class pyramid. Bob Marley\u2019s reminder, \u201cin this great future you can\u2019t forget your past,\u201d and a corresponding recourse to the original canon of Pan-Africanist thought, will consolidate the authenticity of the swelling hype of Africa Rising. Garvey himself styles history as the landmark by which a people is directed into a worthwhile course of life. \u201cThe history of a movement, the history of a nation, the history of a race is the guide-post of that movement\u2019s destiny, that nation’s destiny, that race\u2019s destiny. What you do today that is worthwhile inspires others to act at some future time,\u201d he counsels right from the outset of his seminal Philosophy and Opinions. Progressive nationalists must imperatively revert to the works of Neto, Lumumba, Blyden, Fanon, Cabral, Bois, Toure, Nyerere, Biko, Nkrumah and other pioneer Pan-Africanist thoroughbreds as a framing point for awakening the continent from stillborn promises to the incredible possibilities within our range. Needless to say, this canon is not perfect but the continent can separate nuggets from dross with the benefit of hindsight. Garvey is one revolutionary figurehead who has remained in the current with a possible downside that the emergent nostalgia borders more on a heroic chronology without due attention to its particular works. In light of this, Literature Today devotes this week to a closer look at Garvey\u2019s Philosophy and Opinions. Philosophy and Opinions, which was electronically interred into the Journal of Pan-African Studies in 2009, is a compendium of Garvey\u2019s articulate opinions across varied domains of African life. It was compiled by Garvey\u2019s wife, Amy Jacques in 1923, initially not for publication but to preserve a personal record of his opinions, mostly transcribed from speeches made his tenure as a leader of the diasporan Negro community. On second thought, Amy sent the volume to press to arm the Africans with the \u201cexpressions of thoughts enunciated by him in defense of his oppressed and struggling race; so that by his own words he may be judged, and Negroes the world over may be informed and inspired, for truth, brought to light, forces conviction, and a state of conviction inspires action.\u201d Philosophy and Opinions\u00a0is effortlessly readable and accessible for readers of all classes, possibly because it was not consciously written for publication but culled from speeches especially intended for the impoverished majority. Holistic Development Garvey advocates extensively the imperative to spur Africa from centuries of stagnance into a geopolitically competitive entity. He did not consider wealth to be measured by statistics on the national scale but the quality of each individual\u2019s life, not only in monetary and material, but also personal and spiritual terms. Success in daily endeavours, more than measuring up to an artificial criterion, accounts for genuine wealth. Holistic welfare encompassing health, material, personal and spiritual is the requisite combo for a satisfactory life. Notwithstanding, Garvey does not gloss over poverty but slams it for facilitating crime and immorality: \u201cOne lives, in an age like this, nearer perfection by being wealthy than by being poor. To the contended soul, wealth is the stepping stone to perfection; to the miser it is the nearest avenue to hell. I would prefer to be honestly wealthy, than miserably poor,\u201d Garvey said. Apparently, Garvey was ahead of his time. Whereas blacks were tutored by early missionaries to embrace poverty so as to be candidates of heaven, there has been a transition whereby congregants are told to run this world before going to heaven. In Africa, teachings of life-enhancement are still draped in suspicion but the Bible shows that the full gospel package provides both for this life and the life to come. Garvey spurns the magnification of poverty into a virtue and encourages blacks to be empowered in every facet of their lives. Poverty is an abasing force which compromises the conscience since the poor man lives in perpetual temptation of other people\u2019s property.\u00a0 Garvey urges integrity of character as the first station towards attainment and advocates the even distribution of resources to abolish poverty and reclaim the inherent dignity of every person. Garvey\u2019s ideas were however not without flaws. Unlike the inclusive ideal of \u201cAfropolitanism\u201d whereby geography and ethnicity have no bearing on the definition of African, Garvey propagated a \u201cpure African race,\u201d with somewhat counter-racist and eugenic undertones. Kwame Nkrumah argues more convincingly to the contrary, \u201cI","og_url":"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/?p=550","og_site_name":"Blockspace","article_published_time":"2013-12-17T16:40:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-10-25T14:21:58+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/africasacountry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/tumblr_m5f5joo6qd1qemkxio1_500.gif","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"hardsouth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"hardsouth","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/?p=550#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/?p=550"},"author":{"name":"hardsouth","@id":"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a336a678f28eacb341ce63c6b84b17d0"},"headline":"Marcus Garvey \u2013 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