DR Julius Garvey used his 91st birthday celebration last Friday to endorse the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), telling guests that Jamaica is in need of new leadership.

Dr Garvey, the son of Jamaica’s first National Hero Marcus Mosiah Garvey, opened his birthday speech by thanking entertainer Richie Stephens for hosting the event at his house in St Andrew, and expressed gratitude to PNP personalities Claude “Big Stone” Sinclair as well as Paul Burke for organising the event.

Soon after, he jumped straight into his message of encouraging Jamaicans to make a change.

“I would like to thank all of you for coming out to help me to celebrate my 91st birthday. I would like to tell you that the birth certificate is wrong but I would be lying if I said that. The birth certificate is true, but I am blessed. I think the theme of today is obviously Marcus Garvey, and the second theme of today is to right the ship of Jamaica because the ship of Jamaica has been in troubled waters and it needs a new captain,” Dr Garvey said.

Opposition leader and PNP President Mark Golding was among the specially invited guests. Looking in the direction where Golding stood, Dr Garvey asked, “Is there a new captain in the house?”

“I hope the captain is not distracted and that the captain knows his job to right the ship of HMS Jamaica. We expect that in 2025. We are all here to support the movement forward for Jamaica. Living abroad, I am proud to be a Jamaican but I am not that happy in terms of the way Jamaica is now and the way it is being perceived,” he said.

“I need a Jamaican hero to look up to other than my dad. Us Jamaicans living abroad need a new hero to look up to, and we expect that to happen in the next year or so. We have a lot of work to do,” Dr Garvey added.

He thanked Major Effiom Whyte for carrying what he described as the great burden of constantly agitating and advocating that the philosophies of Marcus Garvey be taught in schools. According to Dr Garvey, having his father’s teachings permeate schools across the island has been a process long delayed.

“Effiom Whyte is doing great, great work. His father was a Garveyite. His father was the head of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in Jamaica at the time when I was growing up. His father used to come to 12 Mona Road and would have meetings there. My mother was part of the UNIA. I didn’t know Effiom then. I knew him later on, but most of us grew up under the tutelage of Garvey and Garveyism,” he said.

“Effiom is at the forefront to make the teachings of Marcus Garvey in schools happen. It has been long delayed. I remember going to Ronald Thwaites, who was minister of education back in the day and talking about what was supposed to happen, but it never happened. Now it has to happen, and Comrade leader Golding has to make sure that it happens as well. African humanism was what Marcus Garvey was all about. It is time for Garvey and time for a change. One God, one aim and one destiny,” said Dr Garvey who is scheduled to launch his new book, titled Awoke, at Mecca in St Andrew today.

Golding, in his remarks, said it was a privilege being able to participate in Dr Garvey’s 91st birthday celebration.

“This is a special night, the 91st birthday of the son of our first national hero, the national hero I think who had the greatest international impact of all. For his son to be here, it is a privilege to be here with him. Dr Julius Garvey is in such good physical health. He is very sprightly and very alert, and you would never think that he is 91,” Golding said.

According to Golding, the teachings of Marcus Garvey are the answer for dysfunctional behaviour in Jamaican society.

“Marcus Garvey’s teachings in schools is being piloted now because of the work of Effiom and others, and we want to see that rolled out on a national scale as one of the important elements of what will help our country to move forward,” Golding said.

“When we talk about values and attitudes and we see the challenges in terms of dysfunctional behaviours that are all too prevalent, manifesting in negative things in our society, we believe that if we teach our youth, our children, the right way about self-belief and self-esteem and the power they have innately — in keeping with the philosophies of Marcus Garvey — it will help our nation move forward in a real way. This evening, for me, has been an incredibly rich experience.”