New on TikTok: Mental Liberation is the First Step Your mind is the first territory to liberate. Garvey knew that before you build anything, you have to free the thinking that keeps you small. If you do not control the narrative inside your own head, no institution you build will last. No movement will hold. Garvey taught that intelligence rules the world and ignorance carries the burden. The starting point is radical self-awareness. Know thyself. Your African ancestry is not something to apologize for. It is strength. Pride. Wisdom. Save this. Send it to someone still carrying shame that was never theirs. Full episode on The Garvey Classroom — link in bio What did Marcus Garvey mean by mental liberation? Garvey taught that freeing your mind comes before any political or social freedom. If the thinking is still colonized, every institution built on top of it will collapse. The mind is the foundation of all achievement and the most powerful weapon any person holds. Why is African ancestry important to Black identity and self-worth? Across the diaspora, generations were taught to see African heritage as something to hide or overcome. Garvey reversed that. He insisted that knowing your history and claiming your ancestry as a source of wisdom and pride is the starting point of all liberation. Where can I learn more about Marcus Garvey's philosophy of mental emancipation? The Garvey Classroom at thegarveyclassroom.com explores Garvey's teachings on mental freedom, radical self-awareness, and the power of African identity through the Unstoppable Heroes podcast and weekly essays. #MarcusGarvey #BlackHistory #BlackConsciousness #DreamBig #AncestralWisdom#MentalHealth

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New on TikTok: MGEA 2 (1) We are not teaching Black history for our children to find what Fanon calls their generational mission. Frantz Fanon wrote that each generation must discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it. Black history in schools is North American history. Our children will never study what Steve Biko built in South Africa unless we teach Black history as Pan-African history. Steve Biko founded the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa. He taught that the most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. Our children need to know his name. How do you teach Marcus Garvey in the classroom? You start with his three pillars: the power of the mind, the importance of purpose, and the strength of perseverance. How do you connect Black history to African and Caribbean history? You build a Pan-African curriculum that includes figures from across the diaspora. How do you build a Pan-African curriculum from scratch? That is what The Garvey Blueprint does. Seventy-five Pan-African figures. Three years. Culturally responsive teaching grounded in Marcus Garvey's philosophy of mental emancipation. This Thursday, February 19, 7 PM EST at the Marcus Garvey Education Academy, founded by Dr. Julius Garvey. Register at thegarveyclassroom.com. Link in bio. #MarcusGarvey #BlackHistory365 #TheGarveyClassroom #BlackParents

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New on TikTok: Identity is Claimed_ Not Given They called Garvey dangerous because he taught Black people to build their own economy. That truth still threatens every system that profits from your dependence. Nobody hands you your identity. You claim it. Through power. Through institutions you build with your own hands. Cultural erasure does not heal through patience or assimilation. It heals through deliberate, unapologetic reclamation. Save this. Send it to someone still waiting for permission. Full episode on The Garvey Classroom — link in bio Why was Marcus Garvey considered a threat by the US government? Garvey built a mass movement for Black economic self-sufficiency that directly challenged the racial and economic hierarchy of the country. The hostility he faced confirmed his mission. Power that threatens oppression will always be labeled dangerous. How does cultural erasure affect Black communities in the diaspora? From the Caribbean to the UK to the American South, cultural erasure strips identity across generations. Garvey understood that assimilation is not healing. Reclamation of history, institutions, and economic power is the only path forward. Where can I learn more about Marcus Garvey and Black self-determination? The Garvey Classroom at thegarveyclassroom.com explores Garvey's model of mass mobilization, economic independence, and identity reclamation through the Unstoppable Heroes podcast and weekly essays. #MarcusGarvey #BlackHistory #PanAfrican #KnowYourHistory #GenerationalWealth

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New on TikTok: This Thursday, February 19, at 7 PM EST, I'm presenting The Garvey Blueprint at the Marcus Garvey Education Academy. Three-year Pan-African literacy curriculum. Grades 6-8. 75 historical figures taught through original stories. Built on Marcus Garvey's philosophy: Power of the Mind, Importance of Purpose, Strength of Perseverance. Open to educators, parents, and school leaders. Link in bio to register. What is The Garvey Blueprint? A three-year Pan-African literacy curriculum for grades 6-8 that teaches 75 historical figures through original historical fiction, organized around three pillars from Marcus Garvey's educational philosophy. Who is this for? Educators, parents, homeschoolers, and school leaders looking for a year-round curriculum that grounds Black history in critical thinking and ELA standards. Is it standards-aligned? Yes. Aligned with state ELA standards including New York State Next Generation standards. Reading, writing, speaking, and listening every week. How do I attend? February 19, 2026, 7:00 PM EST. Register at bit.ly/garveyblueprint. #TheGarveyBlueprint #MarcusGarvey #PanAfricanEducation #CulturallyResponsiveCurriculum #BlackHistoryEveryDay

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The Garvey Blueprint: A Conversation with the Marcus Garvey Education Academy

February 19, 2026 | 7:00 PM EST

Register: bit.ly/garveyblueprint

Direct Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4045329958

 

I grew up in Kingston, Jamaica. Marcus Garvey was everywhere and nowhere. His name was on buildings. His face was on currency. But his ideas were absent from the classroom.

That absence shaped everything I have done since.

For thirty years, I studied Garvey’s writings. I spent six years teaching middle school English and 27 years teaching college.  And during that time, one question kept returning: Why do our children learn about Garvey as a portrait on a wall, rather than as a thinker whose methods they can use?

The Garvey Blueprint is my answer.

On Thursday, February 19, at 7:00 PM EST, I will be presenting The Garvey Blueprint at the Marcus Garvey Education Academy. The presentation is open to educators, parents, school leaders, and anyone who believes that Black children deserve a curriculum built from inside their own intellectual tradition.

What Is The Garvey Blueprint?

The Garvey Blueprint is a three-year Pan-African literacy curriculum for grades 6 through 8. It uses English Language Arts as the medium through which students encounter the intellectual, political, and cultural history of Africa and its diaspora.

Across 39 instructional weeks per year, students study 31 historical figures per grade. Over three years, they encounter 75 unique historical figures and one fictional character. Nine staple figures return every year, studied through a different analytical lens each time. A sixth grader meets Frederick Douglass through the question of clarity. An eighth grader meets Douglass through the systems that criminalized Black literacy. The figure stays the same. The thinking transforms.

Three pillars govern the curriculum: the Power of the Mind, the Importance of Purpose, and the Strength of Perseverance. These pillars come directly from Garvey’s educational philosophy. They are structural principles embedded in every quarter, every framing question, and every assessment.

Why This Curriculum Exists

Colonial education divided what belonged together. African intellectual history. Caribbean political thought. African American literary tradition. These are chapters of the same story, separated by design. The Garvey Blueprint reconnects them.

Every instructional week begins with an original historical fiction anchor text. Students enter through the story. They meet Harriet Tubman, Arturo Schomburg, Frantz Fanon, Antonio Maceo, Ella Baker, and dozens more as characters in a narrative before analyzing them as strategists and system-builders. The stance toward every figure is operational: What did this person build? What did it cost? Can the method be applied?

This is what we call Builders and Their Blueprints. Historical figures studied as architects of liberation whose methods transfer to the student’s own condition.

What I Will Cover on February 19

The presentation will walk through the curriculum's architecture. How the three pillars organize instruction across quarters. How the eight developmental stages, drawn from Garvey’s own declarations, create a spine that holds three years of learning together. How the weekly rhythm moves students through four cognitive levels every single week. How the Grit Guardrail Framework ensures that when we study perseverance, we study it alongside the systems that made perseverance necessary.

I will also address the question that every parent and educator asks first: How does this prepare students for standardized assessments? The answer is direct. The Garvey Blueprint aligns with state ELA standards. Reading, writing, speaking, and listening are embedded in every week. Students write claims with evidence. They build analytical essays. They engage in Socratic discussion. By eighth grade, they defend a capstone portfolio that traces their intellectual development over three years.

The curriculum does not choose between cultural grounding and academic rigor. It treats them as the same project.

Who Should Attend

If you are an educator looking for a curriculum that teaches Black history as a year-round intellectual framework, this presentation is for you.

If you are a parent searching for something that meets your child where they are and takes them somewhere they have never been, this is for you.

If you are a school leader considering what a Pan-African ELA curriculum looks like when it is standards-aligned, assessment-ready, and built to last three years, this conversation is where you start.

Join the Conversation

Date: Thursday, February 19, 2026

Time: 7:00 PM EST

Host: Marcus Garvey Education Academy (MGEA)

Register: bit.ly/garveyblueprint

Direct Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4045329958

 

Share this with anyone you think may be interested. The door is open.

 

Geoffrey Philp is the founder of The Garvey Classroom LLC and creator of The Garvey Blueprint. He is the author of several books of fiction and poetry, a Silver Musgrave Medal recipient, and a Marcus Garvey Award for Excellence in Education honoree. He has spent twenty-seven years teaching at the college level and six years teaching middle school English.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Garvey Blueprint curriculum?

The Garvey Blueprint is a three-year Pan-African literacy curriculum for grades 6 through 8. It uses original historical fiction anchor texts to teach 75 unique historical figures across three years, organized around three pillars drawn from Marcus Garvey’s educational philosophy: the Power of the Mind, the Importance of Purpose, and the Strength of Perseverance.

Who created The Garvey Blueprint?

Geoffrey Philp, a Jamaican-born author and educator with twenty-seven years of college teaching experience, six years as a middle school English teacher, and two decades of Marcus Garvey scholarship, created The Garvey Blueprint through The Garvey Classroom LLC.

Is the Garvey Blueprint aligned with state standards?

Yes. The Garvey Blueprint aligns with state ELA standards, including the New York State Next Generation English Language Arts Learning Standards. Reading, writing, speaking, and listening are embedded in every instructional week.

What grades does The Garvey Blueprint serve?

The curriculum serves grades 6 through 8 across a three-year developmental sequence. Each grade has its own central question and analytical lens, with nine staple figures returning each year at increasing levels of cognitive demand.

How is The Garvey Blueprint different from other culturally responsive curricula?

The Garvey Blueprint is story-driven, meaning every instructional week is built around an original historical fiction anchor text. It studies historical figures as strategists and system-builders whose methods are transferable. Social-emotional learning is embedded in the academic work, with no standalone SEL lessons.

What is the Marcus Garvey Education Academy (MGEA) presentation?

On February 19, 2026, at 7:00 PM EST, Geoffrey Philp will present The Garvey Blueprint at the Marcus Garvey Education Academy. The virtual presentation is open to educators, parents, and school leaders. Register at bit.ly/garveyblueprint.

New on TikTok: The Precondition for Success_ Marcus Garvey on Confidence You were told your whole life to wait for permission. Garvey said confidence is where freedom starts. Most people lose before they begin. Not because they lack talent. Because the system trained them to doubt themselves. When your mind, your purpose, and your action lock together, you stop surviving and start building. Save this. Send it to someone who is ready to stop waiting. Full episode on The Garvey Classroom — link in bio What did Marcus Garvey say about confidence and self-belief? Garvey taught that confidence is the precondition for action. Without it, you are defeated before you start. With it, you have already won. Self-belief is the foundation of every liberation movement he built. How do Black youth build confidence in a system designed to break it? You align three things: mind, purpose, and perseverance. Your thoughts shape your direction. Your direction drives consistent action. That closed loop transforms doubt into power and survivors into builders. Where can I learn more about Marcus Garvey's teachings on self-determination? The Garvey Classroom at thegarveyclassroom.com breaks down Garvey's philosophy of mental freedom, confidence, and collective empowerment through the Unstoppable Heroes podcast and weekly essays. #MarcusGarvey #BlackHistory #BlackExcellence #SelfWorth #Mindset

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New on TikTok: Why You Stopped Dreaming Big_ The Crisis of Shrunken Imagination You were born with a blueprint for liberation. Then the world shrank your imagination. Doom scrolling. Rigged systems. The weight of systemic racism pressing down before you even start. This clip names the crisis nobody talks about. Mental slavery is real, and breaking free starts with seeing it. Save this. Send it to someone who needs to hear it. Full episode on The Garvey Classroom — link in bio What is mental slavery and how does it affect Black youth? Mental slavery is the internalized belief that your dreams, your community, and your future have limits imposed by systems designed to contain you. Marcus Garvey spent his life naming it and fighting it. Why do so many Black youth across the diaspora struggle with self-worth and purpose? From London to Kingston to Atlanta, Black young people inherit systems that reward assimilation and punish collective ambition. Doom scrolling deepens the wound. Without knowledge of self, the pressure to shrink becomes the default. Where can I learn more about Marcus Garvey and mental emancipation? The Garvey Classroom at thegarveyclassroom.com offers deep dives into Garvey's teachings on mental freedom, self-determination, and Black consciousness through the Unstoppable Heroes podcast and weekly essays. #MarcusGarvey #BlackHistory #Decolonize #DreamBig #MentalHealth

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How The Garvey Blueprint Started

A new post from The Garvey Classroom.

I wrote about how The Garvey Blueprint began. A simple idea that became a three-year Pan-African ELA curriculum for grades 6 through 8, covering 75 figures across the entire African diaspora.

You can read the full piece, query the curriculum in over 80 languages, and explore the architecture at The Garvey Classroom NotebookLM.

If this connects with you, share it with someone who needs to see it.

#TheGarveyBlueprint #TheGarveyClassroom #MarcusGarvey #PanAfricanEducation #BuildersAndTheirBlueprints

FAQs

What is The Garvey Blueprint?

A three-year Pan-African ELA curriculum for grades 6-8, founded on Marcus Garvey's philosophy and guided by the scholarship of Freire, Lewis, Duckworth, Bloom, and Maslow.

Who created The Garvey Blueprint?

Geoffrey Philp, through The Garvey Classroom LLC, draws on 30 years as a teacher, professor, and chair of developmental education.

What makes it different from typical Black history lessons?

Every figure is studied in the context of cost, opposition, and strategy, as a strategist and system-builder whose methods can be applied today.

How many historical figures does the curriculum cover?

75 unique figures from across the entire African diaspora over three years, 31 per grade.

Where can I learn more?

Visit The Garvey Classroom NotebookLM to query the full curriculum in over 80 languages.

New on TikTok: I started writing lesson plans about Marcus Garvey. Then I realized lesson plans were not enough. Three years later, The Garvey Blueprint covers 75 figures across the entire African diaspora. Grades 6-8. Original fiction every week. Query the full curriculum in 80+ languages at the link in bio. #TheGarveyBlueprint #TheGarveyClassroom #MarcusGarvey #PanAfricanEducation #BuildersAndTheirBlueprints FAQs What is The Garvey Blueprint?A three-year Pan-African ELA curriculum for grades 6-8 founded on Marcus Garvey's philosophy. Who created The Garvey Blueprint?Geoffrey Philp, through The Garvey Classroom LLC, drawing on 30 years as a teacher, professor, and chair of developmental education. What makes it different from typical Black history lessons?Every figure is studied with context, cost, and opposition as a strategist and system-builder whose methods can be applied today. How many historical figures does the curriculum cover?75 unique figures from across the entire African diaspora over three years, 31 per grade. Where can I learn more?Visit The Garvey Classroom NotebookLM at the link in bio to query the full curriculum in over 80 languages.

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The Textbooks Will Leave Her Out. We Didn't.

Three days ago, Mia Mottley won a historic third consecutive term as Prime Minister of Barbados. Her party swept all 30 seats in Parliament. For the third time. She is the longest-serving female head of state in the world.

Most students will never hear her name.

Mottley stood at COP26 and told world leaders that two degrees of warming was a death sentence for island nations. She launched the Bridgetown Initiative to restructure how wealthy nations loan money to disaster-hit countries. She led Barbados from a constitutional monarchy to a republic. She is now being discussed as a candidate for the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.

On January 25, three weeks before the election, I created a Women's History Month lesson plan about Mia Mottley for grades 6 through 8. I built it because she is exactly the kind of leader textbooks skip. A Black Caribbean woman is reshaping global policy from an island of 283,000 people.

History confirmed what the lesson already taught.

The Mia Mottley lesson is part of our Women's History Month curriculum at The Garvey Classroom. Nine women. Nine lessons. From Harriet Tubman to Shirley Chisholm to Mia Mottley. SEL-integrated. Evidence-based. Ready to teach.

Women's History Month starts in two weeks. You will be ready!

See the full curriculum and get the lesson plans here: https://thegarveyclassroom.com/womens-history-month/

New on TikTok: Marcus Garvey wrestled with a practical problem: How can a scattered people organize themselves and act together? He built the answer around three movements: Mindset — liberation begins in the mind Purpose — a clear shared objective Discipline — organized effort over time This is not only Black history. It is a model for leadership, community building, and self-development. Where are you in the process right now? What did Marcus Garvey believe about education? How do you build unity in a community? What does “free the mind” actually mean? Can a movement succeed without organization? #MarcusGarvey #BlackEducation #Leadership #TheGarveyClassroom

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Before You Teach Marcus Garvey, Read This First

Teachers often want to introduce Marcus Garvey but hesitate because the historical conversation around him feels scattered. Students hear the name, sometimes a quote, and occasionally the Black Star Line, but not the movement's structure or why it mattered.

The difficulty is not the material.
The difficulty is context.

Garvey was not simply a speaker or activist. He organized one of the largest mass movements of African-descended people in the early twentieth century. Schools, businesses, newspapers, conventions, and international chapters existed together as part of a single project: developing institutional capacity and historical consciousness at the same time.

Without that framework, lessons turn into fragments.

Teachers planning Marcus Garvey lesson plans usually ask the same questions:

Was he a separatist?
Why the Black Star Line?


Why meet controversial groups?
Did people really move to Africa?
Was the movement successful or a failure?

Instead of answering each question in isolation, I assembled a single classroom reference that teachers can consult before teaching.

Read the classroom reference here:
https://thegarveyclassroom.com/marcus-garvey-faq-teachers/

The page explains the UNIA, the Negro World newspaper, major events, common misconceptions, and the Pan-African background students need before discussing or using primary sources.

After reading, teachers can also use the Marcus Garvey GPT companion to interpret specific questions or student reactions:
https://chatgpt.com/g/g-6840376e2f9c819191d9416d4a2a96c3-marcus-garvey-gpt

The GPT does not replace the reference.
It helps clarify it.

When teachers understand the structure of the movement, classroom discussion changes. Students stop asking isolated fact questions and begin asking interpretive historical questions.

That is usually when the lesson begins to work.

Free Marcus Garvey Lesson Plans at Teachers Pay Teachers

Black History Month is the season when educators scramble for resources that go beyond the same recycled figures and safe narratives. Garvey rarely makes the rotation. He should.

I created a free lesson plan, Marcus Garvey and the Power of the Mind, designed to introduce students to Garvey’s philosophy of mental emancipation through the framework of a growth mindset. The plan is ready to download, adapt, and use in your classroom today.

Get the free lesson plan here.

While you are in the store, check out our best sellers at The Garvey Classroom store:

•         Black History Month Bell Ringers: Voices of Power (Grades 6–8)

•         Marcus Garvey and Pan-Africanism (Grades 9–12)

•         Garvey, Grit, and the Growth Mindset – SEL & Literacy Mini-Unit (Grades 5–8)

•         Marcus Garvey High School Bundle | Black History Month (Grades 9–12)

•         Marcus Garvey and the Black Star Line – Mini-Unit (Grades 9–12)

Several Pan-African heroes lesson plans are on sale for Black History Month.

If these resources speak to you, share them with a colleague, a department chair, a homeschooling parent, or anyone building a classroom where Black children see themselves as thinkers and builders. Forward this post. Send the link. The work grows when we pass it on.

Garvey taught that liberation begins in the mind. A lesson plan is a small thing. What students do with the ideas inside it is not.