Lessons from Marcus Garvey: Lesson 5: Masters of your Destiny

"I trust that you will so live today as to realize that you are masters of your destiny, masters of your fate;  if there is anything you want in this world it is for you to strike out with confidence and faith in self and reach for it...Nature is bountiful; nature is resourceful and nature is willing to obey [your]command..."- Marcus Garvey


Source: The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey, Or Africa for Africans
                    Complied by Amy Jacques Garvey
                    First published in 1923
               http://www.jpanafrican.com/ebooks/eBook%20Phil%20and%20Opinions.pdf

Lessons from Marcus Garvey: Lesson 4 Be Ambitious

"AMBITION is the desire to go forward and improve one's condition. It is a burning flame that lights up the life of the individual and makes him see himself in another state. To be ambitious is to be great in mind and soul; to want that which is worthwhile and strive for it; and to go on without without looking back, reaching to that which gives satisfaction."-Marcus Garvey

Source: The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey, Or Africa for Africans

                    Complied by Amy Jacques Garvey 

                   First published in 1923

             http://www.jpanafrican.com/ebooks/eBook%20Phil%20and%20Opinions.pdf

Lessons from Marcus Garvey: Lesson 3 Charting Your Destiny

We Are Arbiters of Our Own Destiny

God and Nature first made us what we are, and then out of

0ur own creative genius we make ourselves what we want to 

be. Follow always that great law.

Let the sky and God be our limit, and Eternity our 

measurement. There is no height to which we cannot climb 

by using the active intelligence of our own minds. Mind 

creates, and as much as we desire in Nature we can have 

through the creation of our own minds. - Marcus Garvey 

Source: http://www.international.ucla.edu/africa/mgpp/lifesamp.asp

Printed in the Negro World, 6 June 1925, as a front-page editorial; written in Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. Original headlines omitted. Creed reprinted in slightly revised form, under the title "African Fundamentalism," as a UNIA poster, sold by mail order through the Negro World by Amy Jacques Garvey, 1925.

Lessons from Marcus Garvey: Lesson 2 Self-Reliance

"CHANCE has never yet satisfied the hopes of a suffering people. Action, self-reliance, the vision of self and the future have been the only means by which the oppressed have seen and realized the light of their own freedom. "- Marcus Garvey  

Source: The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey, Or Africa for Africans 
                    Compiled by Amy Jacques Garvey
                    First published in 1923 
                    http://www.jpanafrican.com/ebooks/eBook%20Phil%20and%20Opinions.pdf

Lessons from Marcus Garvey: Lesson 1- Race First and African Fundamentalism

New 25-day series, Lessons from Marcus Garvey.  The Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey (August 17, 1887 - June 10, 1940), is Jamaica’s first National Hero, pioneering Pan- African philosopher, visionary, Black nationalist and  political leader. 

Lately I have been reading a lot of Garvey particularly, Tony Martin’s Race First and Marcus Garvey Message to the People (the majority of the books are available in Google Books). 

Marcus Garvey’s African Fundamentalism

The time has come for the Negro to forget and cast behind him his hero worship and adoration of other races, and to start out immediately, to create and emulate heroes of his own.

We must canonize our own saints, create our own martyrs, and elevate to positions of fame and honor black men and women who have made their distinct contributions to our racial history. Sojourner Truth is worthy of the place of sainthood alongside of Joan of Arc; Crispus Attucks and George William Gordon are entitled to the halo of martyrdom with no less glory than that of the martyrs of any other race. Toussaint L'Ouverture's brilliancy as a soldier and statesman outshone that of a Cromwell, Napoleon and Washington; hence, he is entitled to the highest place as a hero among men. Africa has produced countless numbers of men and women, in war and in peace, whose lustre and bravery outshine that of any other people. Then why not see good and perfection in ourselves?

Ours the Right to Our Doctrine

We must inspire a literature and promulgate a doctrine of our own without any apologies to the powers that be. The right is ours and God's. Let contrary sentiment and cross opinions go to the winds. Opposition to race independence is the weapon of the enemy to defeat the hopes of an unfortunate people. We are entitled to our own opinions and not obligated to or bound by the opinions of others.

Source: http://www.international.ucla.edu/africa/mgpp/lifesamp.asp