A Magpie's Wisdom

"You gather your insights like a magpie." Dennis Scott.

When Dennis first said this to me, I was stung. I'd always thought of myself as having an overarching philosophy that I'd applied to my life and work. But as the years have gone by, I've begun to see the truth in his words.

That's how it's been with all my books. Every book that I've written began with an "inspired moment" that led to further research, distillation, selection, first draft, revision, revision, and revision. And then, after a few years, I finally figure out what I've been trying to say.

The same has been true of the campaign to exonerate Marcus Garvey, which has now become something bigger: RESPECT Garvey. The more I've gone back into my notes from when I taught Garvey at Miami Dade College, the more I've seen the themes/values/memes of Redemption, Education, Self-Reliance, Entrepreneurship, Purpose, Community, and Tradition demonstrated in Garvey's life and in his seminal work, The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey.

I am even more convinced that if these values were embraced by our communities, beginning with Jamaica, with a sustained commitment to demonstrating these values, we'd begin to see the changes that we all desire.

Then, truly, Marcus Garvey's words would have come to pass.

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The Coalition for the Exoneration of Marcus Garvey is petitioning Senator Bill Nelson, Representative Frederica Wilson, and the Congress of the United States of America for the exoneration of Marcus Garvey:

http://www.causes.com/actions/1722148-urge-congress-to-exonerate-civil-rights-leader-marcus-garvey 
We are also petitioning President Barack Obama to exonerate Marcus Garvey:

http://signon.org/sign/exonerate-marcus-garvey?source=c.url&r_by=4631897
Thank you for your support..


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So appropriate that this should be the 2000th post on this blog and with over 1, 900 000+ page views since I began blogging on December 13, 2005.
Give thanks to all the readers and supporters of my work.
One Love, Geoffrey