Congresswoman Clarke leads fight for Presidential Pardon for Marcus Garvey
By: Derrick Scott
Washington, DC – Jamaica’s National Hero, the Right Excellency Marcus Garvey who was charged with US mail fraud could be exonerated before the United States President Barak Obama leaves office in January 2017.
This was revealed by US Congresswoman Yvette Clarke during an address to the Jamaica Diaspora after she received the Inaugural Talawah Award for Politics.
Congresswoman Clarke said that her next step was to ensure that Jamaica’s first national hero Marcus Garvey was exonerated before President Obama leaves office. She noted that two other congressmen – Charles Rangel and John Conyers – would join her to lead the charge to ensure that the national hero received the presidential pardon and that his name is reclaimed.
While residing in the USA in 1923, Jamaica’s National hero Marcus Mosiah Garvey was arrested and charged with mail fraud. After serving two years in federal prison he was deported to Jamaica. During subsequent years, several organizations and governments lobbied the US authorities to expunge Garvey’s record.
Congresswoman Clarke was among seven Jamaican nationals who were presented with the Inaugural Talawah awards for their various contributions to their homeland Jamaica and their adopted home, the United States.
(Photo credit: Derrick Scott)
