Petition for Marcus Garvey's Pardon by US Government

Garvey was imprisoned for mail fraud totaling US$25 in June 1923, and after spending two years and nine months in an Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, was deported from New Orleans, Louisiana to Jamaica on a ship.

Many believe Dr. Garvey was set up by the J Edgar Hoover-led Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) due to fear of his widening popularity among downtrodden US blacks. He was unjustly accused and unjustly punished. His contribution to the American Civil Rights movement is unquestionable.

Recently the Obama administration rejected, and referred to the request by the Jamaican government to pardon Dr. Marcus Garvey as a waste of time. Dr. Garvey's efforts paved the way for the subsequent Civil Rights movements of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Jesse Jackson as well as others. He deserves the same honor as they have received. He should not be rejected because he is a Jamaican national.

The president of the United States as well as other prominent black figures in the United States as well as in other parts of the world owe their positions and opportunities in part to the hard work of Dr. Garvey who was an international Civil Rights Activist. He definitely should not be referred to nor looked at as a waste of time; his legacy around the world speaks for itself. We know that Mr. President Obama did not reject the request for Garvey's pardon; his administration did, so let us get this petition to the president, because we know he will do what is right.