Marcus Garvey plaque to be unveiled

A plaque commemorating the life and work of an inspirational figure for civil rights activists will be unveiled in London next month.

Community organisation Narrative Eye will honour Marcus Garvey and his work with the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) with a Blue Plaque at the site of their offices in from which they worked when the organisation moved to the UK in 1935.

Garvey is seen as in important and influential figure who founded the UNIA 1914 in his homeland of Jamaica, working tirelessly on the international stage to fight for those of the African continent and in the Diaspora.

He then moved to America in 1916, becoming a confident public speaker and urged African-Americans to be proud of their race and return to Africa, their ancestral homeland.

The UNIA attracted over 11 million members, including Earl and Louise Little, parent's of prominent activist Malcolm X.

The UNIA headquarters moved to west London in 1935 and Garvey resided in the city until his death in 1940.

Organisers Narrative Eye said,

This plaque is dedicated to the UNIA in recognition of their presence and contribution to the rich history of the local area and Britain as a whole

A number of speakers and invited special guests will gather outside the house where Garvey once resided at 53 Talgarth Road, Kensington around 2pm.

They will then make their way on Wed 17th August 2011 to witness the unveiling of the plaque , on the wall of 2 Beaumont Crescent, Lodnon, W14 9LX, the offices of the UNIA where Marcus Garvey and UNIA members conducted their important work.

This serves to ensure that the great work of the UNIA in this country cannot be denied or forgotten

added the organisers.

Simon Woolley, Director of OBV said,

Every Black student, in fact every Black person should read the remarkable story of the Hon Marcus Garvey. What he achieved, at the time that he achieved it, against all the odds is frankly incredible. In the end his dream of a powerful, economically sufficient Black world was only thwarted because the American authorities simply could not let him succeed. But with this Plague his memory fantastically lives on.

Zohaib Rashid

Picture: Marcus Garvey