President Joe Biden used his last full day in office to posthumously pardon Marcus Garvey, a black supremacist convicted of mail fraud in the 1920s.
Biden called the Pan-Africanist and racial segregationist a “distinguished leader in civil rights and human rights.” said His 1923 conviction and subsequent five-year sentence were an “unjust”.
Born in 1887 in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, Garvey immigrated to the United States in 1916 and later founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). aimed “To establish brotherhood among the Negroes, promote a spirit of racial pride, restore fallen peoples, and assist in the civilization of the backward tribes of Africa.”
In 1922, Garvey was arrested and charged with mail fraud after advertising on a boat the sale of stock in his shipping company, the Black Star Line.
After being convicted and sentenced to five years in Atlanta federal prison, President Calvin Coolidge commuted Garvey's sentence in 1927 and deported him to Jamaica.
Biden's Sunday White House statement regarding Garvey's posthumous pardon is below.
Marcus Mosiah Garvey (1887-1940) was a prominent civil rights and human rights leader who was convicted of mail fraud in 1923 and sentenced to five years in prison. President Calvin Coolidge commuted his sentence in 1927. Notably, Mr. Garvey founded the Black Star Line, the first black-owned shipping company and international travel vehicle, and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association, which celebrates African history and culture. be. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. described Garvey as “the first person of color in American history to lead and develop a mass movement.” Advocates and lawmakers have praised his global advocacy and influence and highlighted the injustice underlying his conviction.
The outgoing president announced Friday that he would commute the sentences of nearly 2,500 nonviolent drug offenders, setting a record for the most individual pardons and commutations.
Biden also, notably, pardoned his son Hunter Biden. facing He was convicted on tax and gun charges and sentenced to 17 years in prison.
