February 27, 2017

"El Numero Uno" Opens at the Jamaica School of Drama

El Numero Uno
Pamela Mordecai's play, El Numero Uno, opens at the School of Drama in Kingston, Jamaica, on 10 March, 2017. 

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About Pamela Mordecai
Pamela Mordecai was born in Jamaica. She has published five collections of poetry, with a sixth, de book of Mary, to appear in fall 2015. Pink Icing, an anthology of short fiction, appeared in 2006, while Red Jacket is her first novel. She has published five children’s books and her poetry for children is widely anthologized – indeed, one of her children’s poems recently appeared in The Guardian (UK) in a list of “top ten poems to remember and recite”. She has also written many textbooks and edited or co-edited groundbreaking anthologies of Caribbean writing. Her poems have been shortlisted for the Canada Writes CBC Poetry Prize and the Bridport Prize (U.K.) and her short fiction for the James Tiptree Jr Literary Award. She is the recipient of the Institute of Jamaica’s Centenary and Bronze Musgrave Medals, the Vic Reid Award for Children’s Writing, and the Burla Award. Pamela lives in Kitchener.

February 4, 2017

Black History Month: A Marcus Garvey Reading List

Marcus Garvey


During this year's Black History Month celebrations, I will be giving lectures and reading from my recently published YA novel, Garvey's Ghost.

Here are a few of the books about Marcus Garvey that I'd recommend for students, parents, teachers, community activists, librarians, or anyone interested in learning more about this great man. While this is by no means the definitive list, I hope it is a starting point for those who would like to learn more about this great man.

College

The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey, Or, Africa for the Africans by Marcus Garvey and Amy Jacques Garvey. Routledge.

Garvey and Garveyism by Amy Jacques Garvey. Octagon Books.

Race First: The Ideological and Organizational Struggles of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association by Tony Martin. Majority Press.

Negro with a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey by Colin Grant. Oxford University Press.

Marcus Garvey Life and Lessons: A Centennial Companion to the Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association by Marcus Garvey, Robert A. Hill and Barbara Blair. University of California Press.

Marcus Garvey: Anti-Colonial Champion by Rupert Lewis. Africa World Press.

Marcus Garvey and the Vision of Africa by John Henrik Clarke. Black Classic Press.

A Rastafari view of Marcus Mosiah Garvey: Patriarch, prophet, philosopher by I. Jabulani Tafari. Frontline Distribution International.

The source for Garvey scholars:

The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers Volumes 1-10


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This is first serious study of Marcus Garvey. I am noting it only for its historical significance.

Black Moses: The Story of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association by E. David Cronon and John Hope Franklin. University of Wisconsin Press.


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Fourth to Twelfth Grade

Marcus Garvey, Hero: A First Biography by Tony Martin. Majority Press.

Selected Writings and Speeches of Marcus Garvey by Marcus Garvey and Bob Blaisdell. Dover Publications.

Marcus Garvey (Black Americans of Achievement) by Mary Lawler, Nathan I. Huggins and Coretta Scott King. Chelsea House Publications.

A Man Called Garvey: The Life and Times of the Great Leader Marcus Garvey by Paloma Mohamed and Barrington Braithwaite. Majority Press.

Marcus Garvey by Suzanne Francis-Brown and Jean Jacques Vaysierres. Ian Randle Publishers.

Selected Utterances of Marcus Garvey and the Garveyites. Rootz Foundation, Inc.


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Marcus Garvey: Black Nationalist by Peggy Caravantes. Morgan Reynolds Pub.
A few historical errors, including Garvey's name, which Caravantes lists as Malchus:

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K-3

Marcus Teaches Us by Eleanor Wint. Trafford Press.


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Video

The American Experience - Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind 2002. PBS.
Flawed but useful: See Tony Martin's web page.


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And for anyone seeking information about Garvey's trial: 

"Jailing a Rainbow: The Marcus Garvey Case" by Justin Hansford, Saint Louis University - School of Law