An exuberant group of 34 people joined the Uhuru Movement’s third annual Marcus Garvey Legacy Cruise that set sail December 2, 2012 on the Carnival Valor.
Departing from Miami, the cruise traveled to Cozumel, Mexico; Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Georgetown, Grand Caymans before returning to Miami on December 9.
With swimming, snorkeling and sun, along with fabulous food, children’s programs, excursions, amazing sunsets and late night entertainment, the Marcus Garvey Legacy Cruise is a fundraiser for the African Socialist International—the most exciting fundraiser ever!
The Marcus Garvey Legacy Cruise is no ordinary cruise. It is a unique African Internationalist institution, emulating the footsteps of Marcus Garvey, the brilliant African leader, born in Jamaica and based in Harlem in the early 20th century.
Garvey built an organization of 11 million African people around the world with the slogan, “Africa for the Africans, those at home and those abroad,” a mission the African Socialist International is committed to accomplishing in our lifetime.
Every year, the Marcus Garvey Legacy Cruise participants travel by bus from the dock at Ocho Rios, Jamaica to St. Ann’s Bay to visit the home where Garvey was born and to meet with his descendant, Colleen “Mitzi” Johnson and her family who still reside there.
“You have given us a great honor to visit your Jamaica who gave the world Marcus Garvey who fought for black people everywhere,” Chairman Omali told the crowd of adults and school children gathered in front of the Garvey home.
A visit to the Marcus Garvey Technical High School in St. Ann’s Bay followed.
A tour of the school’s agriculture program was given by agriculture science teacher Richard Grant.
The school is self-sufficient, producing its own food for the students, including vegetables, fruits, pigs, chickens and rabbits.
It is always striking that the government of Jamaica has little regard for Garvey, the island’s most renowned son.
The Garvey ancestral home, which should draw visitors from around the world, is in shambles and the family lives in poverty.
All aboard!
The yearly cruise is based on the understanding that African people aim to govern ourselves and acquire state power for ourselves. The cruise gives us the ability to relax, be together, learn and enjoy ourselves on our own terms with our own shared worldview.
The highlights of the cruise were the events and studies held onboard featuring Chairman Omali Yeshitela, the electrifying leader of the African Socialist International and Ron Bobb-Semple, an acclaimed actor with a dynamic portrayal of Marcus Garvey in full regalia.
Chairman Yeshitela’s presentations during the cruise delved deeply into the roots of the current crisis of imperialism and the widespread uprisings of African, Arab and oppressed peoples around the world struggling for self-determination and an end to U.S. occupation and domination.
The Chairman told his audience that a “page in human history has been turned.” The oppressed who have historically been the “objects of history” are now speaking in their own voice.
Following the excursion to Mayan ruins near Cozumel, the Chairman educated cruise participants about the true identity of the Olmecs, whom historians refer to as Mexico’s “mother culture,” although they fail to recognize that the Mayan, Inca and Aztec people also sprang from the Olmec civilization.
The Chairman showed that the Olmec came from Africa, a reality that is denied by European scholars despite the obvious African features of the enormous Olmec heads.
Most participants in the 2012 Marcus Garvey Legacy Cruise expressed their deep appreciation of the experience and their plans to be part of the cruise again next year.
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