Dear Editor,

At this particular juncture, I find it to be of utmost importance to intervene in the matter of the recently unveiled Marcus Garvey statue at The University of the West Indies, Mona, and to shed some real meaningful light on it from the organised Garvey Movement’s perspective.There has been much said and done about this matter already, and without any proper consultation with the elder’s opinion.I took the effort to go and inspect the site of the statue myself, and upon beholding it at its location in front of the Faculty of the Humanities, on its very own, the statue depicted a youthful Marcus Garvey scholar in the university setting, where the young student population can stand to benefit from its inspiration and motivation.I then went directly to the office of the principal, Professor Archibald McDonald, to voice my concern about the statue. I submitted copies of correspondence I received in March last year from the Office of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Hilary Beckles, which directed me to take up my suggestion of having a statue of Marcus Garvey erected in the Inspiration Garden of the Faculty of Humanities to commemorate the visit of US President Barack Obama to the Mona campus in April 2015.On this basis, the university seemed to have taken the initiative to erect a bust of Garvey as an interim solution to a wider plan to build and erect a full-size statue in the Inspiration Garden within the due course of time.I express the bright, enlightened hope that this message of clarification will serve to allay all and any antagonistic plans afoot to take down the statue.As well, the opportunity is hereby taken to renew the publication of the existing pan-African reporter after an extended break period. 

Allan B

L Martin

Director

Marcus Garvey Foundation of Jamaica

allanlbmartin@yahoo.com