Two Giants. One Wound. The Garvey–Du Bois Argument We Are Still Living.

 

In 1916, Marcus Garvey walked into the NAACP office to meet W.E.B. Du Bois. What he found there — a staff so light-skinned he could not tell it from a white office — crystallized a rivalry that has never really ended.

Du Bois believed the talented tenth would lift the race from within the existing system. Garvey believed that was color caste wearing the language of progress. Then Du Bois called Garvey "ugly" in print. Garvey's response named exactly what that word revealed about where Du Bois's standard of beauty came from.

That single exchange contains the entire colorism debate. And it is still the argument Black communities are having today — in professional spaces, in politics, in who gets built up and who gets written off.

I wrote the full piece over at The Garvey Classroom. Four verified quotes from The Philosophy and Opinions. The whole argument, tight and direct.

Read it here: https://thegarveyclassroom.com/black-history-month/garvey-dubois-rivalry-colorism/

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.

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/

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.

Black History Lesson Plans About Marcus Garvey at Teachers Pay Teachers

   

    Most Marcus Garvey lesson plans on Teachers Pay Teachers ask students to memorize a name, recall a date, and move on. That is the lowest level of Bloom’s taxonomy. Remembering without understanding. Facts without meaning.

I spent twenty years studying Garvey and six years teaching middle school English before I understood what was missing. Garvey was a thinker. His writings contain arguments, strategies, and frameworks that twelve-year-olds can analyze, debate, and apply. The lesson plans I found treated him as a monument. I needed materials that treated him as a mind.

So I built them.

The Garvey Classroom on Teachers Pay Teachers now has 37 resources spanning Pre-K through 12th grade. Every lesson begins with either a story or an informational text grounded in primary sources. Students read, then they think. They write, then they revise. Social-emotional learning is embedded in the academic work itself. Here is what teachers find when they visit the store.

    For middle school (grades 5 through 8), the collection includes individual lessons on Marcus Garvey, Frederick Douglass, Ella Baker, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Miriam Makeba, Ida B. Wells, Shirley Chisholm, Septima Clark, Sojourner Truth, Mia Mottley, and Claudia Jones. Each lesson integrates reading comprehension, vocabulary, text-based questions, reflective writing, and SEL. The Marcus Garvey Speech Analysis lesson uses his 1925 speech “A Word Before My Incarceration” as the anchor text. Students analyze Garvey’s rhetorical choices in real time. They hear a man speaking with authority and study how he constructs his argument. The

Marcus Garvey Middle School Bundle collects five resources, forty-two bell ringers, and thirty wisdom cards into a complete Black History Month toolkit for $14.99.

    For Black History Month, the 42 Pan-African Heroes Bell Ringers give teachers six weeks of daily openers. Each page features a verified quote, three historical facts, and a reflective SEL prompt. Forty-two figures from across the African diaspora: Jamaica, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Trinidad, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, and the United States.

    For Women’s History Month, the 8-lesson bundle covers Ella Baker, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Miriam Makeba, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Shirley Chisholm, and Septima Clark. Students study women who built movements through organizing, investigation, and collective action. The Women’s History Month Bundle is $35.99.

    For high school (grades 9 through 12), the collection includes Marcus Garvey and Pan-Africanism, Marcus Garvey and Rastafari, Marcus Garvey and the Harlem Renaissance, Marcus Garvey and the Black Star Line, Haile Selassie’s “Until” speech, Rosa Parks, and Mapping Marcus Garvey’s Hero’s Journey using Joseph Campbell’s twelve-stage structure. The Marcus Garvey High School Bundle brings all seven lessons together for $19.99. This bundle has been the top seller this year, with teachers purchasing it for Black History Month instruction and year-round Pan-African studies.

    For Pre-K through 2nd grade, The Marcus Garvey Coloring Book comes with 78 fully scripted lesson plans. Three lesson options per letter, A through Z. Identity and observation. Character and habit formation. Early literacy and vocabulary. Every word is written for the teacher. Print, read the script, teach.

    For elementary (K through 5), the Marcus Garvey Elementary Bundle includes Marcus Believes, Stand Firm, Claudia Brings Us Together, Young Marcus Garvey and His Big Dream, and The Power of Trying. Five lessons blending literacy, SEL, and culturally grounded instruction for $9.99.

    For the full K-12 arc, the Marcus Garvey Complete Collection brings together all 20 core resources into a single curriculum sequence for $39.99. Students begin with identity and confidence in the early grades, develop structure and discipline in middle school, and engage primary sources and critical historical analysis in high school.

    A free lesson is available. Marcus Garvey and the Power of the Mind teaches a growth mindset through Garvey’s philosophy for grades 5-8. No purchase required. Download it from The Garvey Classroom store and see how the approach works.

     Every quote in every lesson is verified against primary sources. No paraphrased attributions. No invented dialogue. The standard is Garvey’s own words, drawn from The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey and Message to the People. The scholarship draws on the work of Robert Hill, Rupert Lewis, Tony Martin, Carter G. Woodson, and Angela Duckworth.

Dr. Julius W. Garvey endorsed this work. Professor Rupert Lewis supported this work. That validation matters because the standard is Garvey’s own.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I find Marcus Garvey lesson plans on Teachers Pay Teachers?

    The Garvey Classroom store on Teachers Pay Teachers has 37 resources covering Pre-K through 12th grade. Individual lessons cover Marcus Garvey, Frederick Douglass, Ella Baker, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Miriam Makeba, Ida B. Wells, Shirley Chisholm, Septima Clark, Sojourner Truth, Mia Mottley, Claudia Jones, Rosa Parks, and Haile Selassie. Every lesson integrates ELA, SEL, and culturally responsive instruction.

Are there free Marcus Garvey lesson plans available?

    Yes. Marcus Garvey and the Power of the Mind is a free growth-mindset lesson for grades 5-8. It teaches self-awareness and perseverance through Garvey’s philosophy. No purchase required. Download it from The Garvey Classroom store.

What grade levels do these lesson plans cover?

    The Marcus Garvey Coloring Book with 78 scripted lesson plans covers Pre-K through 2nd grade. The elementary bundle covers K through 5. The core collection of SEL and ELA lessons covers grades 5 through 8. The high school bundle covers grades 9 through 12 with primary source analysis, the Black Star Line, Pan-Africanism, Rastafari, and the Harlem Renaissance. The Complete Collection spans K-12. 

Do these lesson plans align with Common Core standards?

    Every lesson aligns with the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, including the Reading Informational Text, Writing, and Speaking and Listening strands. Lessons also align with CASEL SEL competencies. International alignment includes UK Key Stage frameworks and Caribbean national curriculum standards.

Can I use these for Black History Month?

    Yes. The 42 Pan-African Heroes Bell Ringers provide six weeks of daily openers. Individual lessons on Marcus Garvey, Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, and other figures work as standalone Black History Month resources. Bundles are available for elementary, middle school, and high school. The full curriculum is designed for year-round use beyond February.

Are there Women’s History Month lesson plans?

    The Women’s History Month Bundle includes eight lessons on Ella Baker, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Miriam Makeba, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Shirley Chisholm, and Septima Clark. A standalone Mia Mottley lesson on climate justice and Caribbean leadership is also available. All lessons integrate SEL with rigorous ELA standards for grades 6 through 8.

Are these lesson plans culturally responsive?

    Every lesson is grounded in Pan-African history and primary sources. Students study figures from Jamaica, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, and the United States. The curriculum addresses the systematic exclusion of African, Caribbean, and African American intellectual history from mainstream education.

Who created the Garvey Classroom lesson plans?

    Geoffrey Philp is a Jamaican-born author, poet, and educator with 27 years of college teaching, six years as a middle school English teacher, and two decades of published Garvey scholarship. He is a Silver Musgrave Medal recipient and winner of the 2022 Marcus Garvey Award for Excellence in Education. He gathered more than 11,000 signatures supporting Marcus Garvey’s posthumous pardon. President Biden granted the pardon in January 2025. Dr. Julius W. Garvey and Professor Rupert Lewis endorse the curriculum.

Are primary sources used in these lessons?

Every quote is verified against sources, including The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey and     Message to the People. No paraphrased or unverified attributions appear in any Garvey Classroom material. The scholarly foundation draws on the work of Robert Hill, Rupert Lewis, Tony Martin, and Carter G. Woodson.

Is there a full-year Marcus Garvey curriculum available?

    Yes. The Garvey Classroom offers a complete 39-week ELA and SEL curriculum for grades 6 through 8 called The Garvey Blueprint. It is organized around four quarterly themes: Clarity of Mind, Purpose and Obligation, Strength Through Discipline, and Legacy and Inheritance. Schools and districts can visit thegarveyclassroom.com or contact info@thegarveyclassroom.com for licensing and implementation details.

Do these lesson plans work for homeschool families?

Yes. Every lesson is designed for immediate use with minimal preparation. The scripted Pre-K through 2nd-grade plans require no planning. The classes for grades 5 through 8 include all reading passages, vocabulary, discussion prompts, and writing activities. Homeschool parents and co-ops use these resources for Black history instruction, culturally responsive ELA, and character development.

Visit The Garvey Classroom on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

For the complete guide to year-round lesson plans: Marcus Garvey Lesson Plans for Teachers: Grades 6–8

For schools exploring curriculum adoption: Culturally Responsive ELA Curriculum for Middle School

For parents: The Garvey Classroom: What Parents Need to Know

Confidence is our birthright. Education is the medium.

Posts about Marcus Garvey: Geoffrey Philp: Search results for Marcus Garvey

Introducing Marcus Garvey GPT

 

I’ve launched something new: Marcus Garvey GPT—a digital archive built to answer the most important and often overlooked questions about Marcus Mosiah Garvey.

Where was Garvey born?
How did Garvey die?
Who was Bag O’ Wire?
Why did Du Bois turn against him?

Each answer is grounded in Garvey’s own words—The Philosophy and Opinions, Message to the People, and supported by more than twenty years of research, teaching, blogging on this platform, and community dialogue.

Marcus Garvey GPT is now live on my new WordPress platform, The Garvey Classroom—a space dedicated to confident, liberation-centered education.

Link: https://thegarveyclassroom.com/garvey-quotes/marcus-garvey-gpt

Visit the site.
Ask the questions.
Pass the knowledge forward.