Cedric Wilson, Contributor
WILSON
IN KEEPING with his doctrine of self-reliance, National Hero Marcus Garvey saw that a major obstacle to the development of a skilled and technically competent labour force was the dependence on foreign expertise. To remedy the situation, the manifesto conceived of a plan that would make it compulsory for at least 60 per cent of the labour force in all industrial, agricultural and commercial activities to be Jamaicans. Moreover, he knew that progressive labour legislation, by itself, was not sufficient to increase the levels of productivity and accelerate development.
Education and training was critical to the process. The manifesto proposed the establishment of a Jamaican university and polytechnic, as well as free secondary education. It also recognised the need for the setting up of high schools at night for those who wanted to further their education.
IMPACT OF ELECTRICITY
In his travels throughout the U.S., Garvey had seen the impact of electricity on production and how it had influenced the use of new technology. The manifesto called for Government's involvement in expanding the supply of cheap electricity to growing economic centres throughout the island.
It is also evident that Garvey understood the connection between savings and investment, and was aware of the fact that the low savings rate might not have been adequate to spur the kind of capital injection necessary for the sustained growth required to rapidly improve the standard of living of the average Jamaican. The manifesto ambitiously called for the Government to secure a loan of at least three million pounds from the imperial government to put idle crown lands into agricultural production and aggressively market the output overseas. This, according to the manifesto, would address the unemployment problem the country faced.
Although the manifesto did not elaborate the idea, it was obvious that Garvey believed that land reform was important in order to improve the quality of life and raise the level of output of the rural peasants.
Marcus Garvey's vision was bold and awe-inspiring, yet he was a John the Baptist, a voice crying in a harsh colonial wilderness. After the January 1930 electoral defeat, Garvey's PPP went out of existence, yet there remained the memory of what could have been.
The genius of Marcus Garvey, the persecution he suffered and the unrelenting struggles he faced never completely left the Jamaican psyche. When the Rastafarian faith took root in Jamaica, Garvey was installed as the chief prophet. Actually, he may be considered the equivalent of Prophet Isaiah in the Christian faith. In the same way Isaiah, through his words, is deemed to have prophesied the advent of the Christ, Rastafarians believe that Garvey was the one that pointed them to the black Messiah - Emperor Haile Selassie.
Marcus Garvey's electoral defeat has passed into legend and has left lingering cultural images of betrayal and the politics of empty stomachs on the cultural landscape. The notion of a political sellout conjures images of the masses trading votes for a bellyful of rice and peas; political betrayal is still associated with an enigmatic Judas-like figure called Bag-a-wire who wandered the streets, insane and forever twisting a large coil of wire after acting as a colonial informer on Garvey.
PRACTICAL SIGNIFICANCE
However, it was in the 1970s that Garvey's idea achieved practical significance. After Michael Manley's People's National Party was swept into power on a massive tide of popular support under the slogan 'Better Must Come', the administration embarked upon a programme of social change. Indeed, the regime took upon itself the task of implementing many of the ideas from Garvey's manifesto. A National Minimum Wage was established, free secondary education introduced, a literacy campaign based on volunteer teachers and night classes (JAMAL) was launched, and the National Housing Trust was set up to build affordable houses for Jamaicans.
An attempt was made to develop agriculture with an emphasis on land reform and local marketing. It was in this regard that the Agricultural Marketing Association was formed to move agricultural produce from the farm gate to urban centres. While many urban centres already had electricity, Garvey's proposal for the expansion of electricity was refashioned as something desirable in remote rural areas. Out of this, the Rural Electrification Programme was born. The Manley administration of the 1970s adapted aspects of Garvey's ideas and created the instructional framework within which they could be implemented.
The impact of Marcus Garvey was not entirely restricted to politics in the 1970s. Jamaica saw a cultural renaissance in the ideas of Garvey in the middle of the decade. Songs such as Marcus Garvey's Word Come to Pass by Burning Spear and When the Right Time Come by the Mighty Diamonds both reflected and influenced a consciousness and appreciation for Garvey and his centrality to black pride and black identity.
In retrospect, the PNP regime of the 1970s is often reviled for its failure to maintain the growth path the country was on during the 1960s. Some have argued that it was because of the inward-looking economic strategies that it pursued. Others say that it was the regime's inability to cope with the exogenous shock created by oil crisis in the middle of the decade. Indeed, a range of other hypotheses exist ranging from sabotage to socialism, but nobody will deny that the 1970s represents a crucial turning point in Jamaica's socio-economic development.
REDISTRIBUTION OF INCOME
Many of the social-economic policies introduced by the Manley regime were audacious and they were directed at the redistribution of income. It is in this regard that any serious study of Garvey's contribution to Jamaica would be lacking without an analysis of the politics of Michael Manley. By virtue of the programmes implemented and the rhetoric voiced during the 1970s, historically, both men are inextricably linked.
Today, we live in a time when the parochial and myopic nature of political leadership appears to be without parallel since independence and the monster of ghetto violence seem intractable, to say the least. It is a time when some Jamaicans wonder if there is a future. It is in this context that it is important to understand the depth of poverty and scope of the desperation against which Marcus Garvey delivered his message of hope and pride.
There is need for a new vision and a new Jamaica. There are some, who have looked back into the past and are full of lamentation, and others who have looked to the future and are full of gloom. But, today, we should not merely think of Jamaica as a place that could have been perfected, but like Garvey, it must be seen as a country that can be redeemed.
