President Biden Posthumously Pardons Revolutionary Pan-African Leader Marcus Garvey – Essence

President Joe Biden made history on Sunday by posthumously pardoning Marcus Garvey, the trailblazing Black nationalist leader whose revolutionary vision shaped Pan-Africanism and inspired generations of civil rights leaders. The news by The White House marks the culmination of decades-long efforts by Garvey’s descendants and supporters to secure justice for a man many believe was unjustly silenced by a politically motivated conviction.

Garvey, born in Jamaica in 1887, was the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which advocated for Black pride, economic independence and the unification of African descendants worldwide. Through his teachings and activism, Garvey became a towering figure in the global fight for Black liberation, influencing leaders like Malcolm X and major movements for Black liberation. Yet his rise was met with fierce resistance, culminating in a 1923 mail fraud conviction widely regarded as a tool of suppression. After serving prison time, Garvey was deported to Jamaica, where he continued his work until he died in 1940.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said of Garvey, “He was the first man, on a mass scale and level, to give millions of Black people a sense of dignity and destiny.” This dignity and destiny were central to Garvey’s message, which called for the global empowerment of African descendants.

ESSENCE has previously reported on the decades-long efforts to clear Garvey’s name and celebrate his contributions to Black history globally. The 2022 documentary African Redemption: The Life and Legacy of Marcus Garvey, directed by Roy T. Anderson, shed light on his enduring impact.  As Anderson told ESSENCE then, “Marcus Garvey is the epitome of resistance. He has an imprint all over the world, and today, movements like Black Lives Matter are manifestations of his vision.”

Dr. Leonard Jeffries, past chair of the Black Studies Department at City College, contextualized Garvey’s influence in the film: “Marcus Mosiah Garvey came and brought the African consciousness of the Roaring Twenties. Harlem was not a dead community. It was a community ready for rebirth.” Garvey’s vision, Jeffries explained, transcended borders, connecting the struggles of Black people globally.

Reggae artists and cultural custodians have also carried Garvey’s teachings forward. Singer Chronixx stated in the documentary, “As artists, we are custodians of oral history and culture. So for as long as Marcus Garvey’s teaching and philosophy is relevant, the people of culture and music have to somehow keep recording it.”

Biden’s decision to pardon Garvey aligns with a broader clemency effort that has become a hallmark of his presidency. He has granted more individual pardons and commutations than  any of his predecessors. Before this Sunday morning announcement, Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses on Friday. The president also made headlines with a sweeping pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, who faced prosecution for gun and tax offenses last December.

This decision also follows Biden’s earlier move to commute the sentences of 37 out of 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishment to life imprisonment—a stark contrast to the Trump administration, which presided over an unprecedented 13 executions during its final months, even amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Among those pardoned on Sunday was Don Scott, the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, where Democrats hold a narrow majority. Scott, who was convicted of a drug offense in 1994 and served eight years in prison. Since his release, he became an attorney and was elected to the Virginia legislature in 2019; he made history as the first Black speaker of the chamber. Also receiving a pardon was Kemba Smith Pradia, who was convicted of a drug offense in 1994 and sentenced to 24 years in prison. After her release, she became a passionate advocate for prison reform. President Bill Clinton commuted her sentence in 2000, and since then, she has dedicated her efforts to reforming the criminal justice system.

Additionally, Darryl Chambers of Wilmington, Delaware, an advocate for gun violence prevention, was pardoned. Chambers served 17 years in prison for a drug offense and has since focused his energy on studying and writing about solutions to gun violence, aiming to make a positive impact in his community.

A pardon formally absolves an individual of guilt, lifting the weight of a past wrong. In Garvey’s case, his conviction was widely regarded as a tool of systemic oppression. Though symbolic—given that Garvey passed away over 80 years ago—the pardon acknowledges his significant contributions to Black liberation and the injustice he faced.