Government of SVG welcomes Biden’s pardon of Marcus Garvey

The Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) said it welcomes the pardon by then US President, Joe Biden, but has called for the Jamaica-born to be fully exonerated.

Garvey, a national hero of Jamaica, was among a number of persons pardoned by the outgoing Biden administration. A release issued through the Prime Minister’s Press Officer, Shevrel Mc Millan, notes that on January 19, 2025, President Joseph Biden granted a pardon to the “Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey, National Hero of Jamaica, who was railroaded, judicially, in an unfair and politically-jaundiced trial for alleged ‘mail fraud’ in the USA in 1923.”

Marcus Garvey, a renowned Black nationalist and anti-imperialist, was at the time the President of the international mass-based organisation known as the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).

At the same time, the Government said it is calling further for a full exoneration by the United States government of Marcus Garvey on the trumped-up charge for which he was found guilty and imprisoned. The United States’ Congress (House of Representatives and Senate) is required to pass the relevant bill for it to be assented by the President of the USA to effect an exoneration.

The release states too that the Government is pleased to be advised that Congresswoman,Yvette Clarke, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, is taking legislative steps towards Garvey’s exoneration.

It notes further that numerous organisations, activists, and governments in Africa and the Caribbean, including St. Vincent and the Grenadines, have been advocating for Garvey’s pardon/exoneration.

It recalls that on February 1, 2022, Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves issued publicly a three-page Memorandum to the People, Mass Organisations and Civil Society in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Caribbean, Africa, the United States of America, and the World on the subject of “A Petition to Exonerate the Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey, National Hero of Jamaica”.

In accord with a decision of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and in consultation with former Prime Minister of Jamaica, the P.J. Patterson, Prime Minister Gonsalves penned the draft of a letter from CARICOM’s leaders to be sent to President Biden. The letter was dated March 29, 2022, and issued by CARICOM’s then Chairman, John A. Briceno, Prime Minister of Belize.

A similar letter had been earlier sent from CARICOM to President Barack Obama, during his presidency, but no action was taken, the release from the Prime Minister’s Office adds.

“The Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines reiterates its commendation of president Biden on the grant of the executive pardon. Moreover, our Government emphasises yet again the importance of solidarity in pursuance of justice and accordingly thanks all those who have been campaigning for the pardon/exoneration of our esteemed visionary and patriarch, Marcus Mosiah Garvey.”

The release declared that the campaign continues for Garvey’s full exoneration.