by Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

Midway theofficial presentation of The Illustrated Biography of Marcus Garvey at King's House on Thursday evening, the music of some who have kept Garvey's name alive in the public consciousness was played.

Damon Riley on saxophone and Ibo Cooper on piano played a 'Marcus medley', beginning with Burning Spear's Ol' Marcus Garvey then moving on to his Marcus Garvey. They then honoured "Marcus Garvey, man of nobility", before closing with all of Marley's Redemption Song, the second verse of which begins with the Garvey command to "emancipate yourselves from mental slavery".

Garvey taught

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who officially launched the book, which has been done in English, Spanish and French, said "one of the reasons why it is so important to get Garvey back into ordinary public discourse is that there is so much Garvey taught, his philosophy, that is not only relevant today but even more so."

As such, he said he will tell Education Minister Andrew Holness that The Illustrated Biography of Marcus Garvey must be in schools.

He noted that it was appropriate that English, Spanish and French should have been chosen for the publication as those are "the languages around which people of African descent congregate."

Enid Courtney, Lady President of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) Jamaica, said that with the book being translated into Spanish and French "other races can have no excuse to say they did not know anything about Garvey", closing her address with 'One God, One Aim, One Destiny'.

Shirley Campbell Barr from Costa Rica and of Jamaican descent, who did the Spanish translation, made the connection with the Jamaicans who went to Central America to work between the 1870s and 1930s. "This story is about my great-grandparents, grandparents, my parents, who 100 years after still speak Spanish with a Jamaican accent," Campbell Barr said, to laughter.

She noted that when Garvey came to Central America, "most importantly, he brought a word of hope, Garvey brought a new dream and vision." And she said that, today, Jamaicans in Costa Rica are the most successful minority in terms of taking advantage of available opportunities.