6 Leaders Who Called For A Political Union of Caribbean Nations

Marcus Mosiah Garvey (1887-1940) - founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, the largest mass movement across territorial borders among the African peoples during the 20th century. "As one who knows the people well, I make no apology for prophesying that there will soon be a turning point in the history of the West Indies; and that the people who inhabit that portion of the Western Hemisphere will be the instruments of uniting a scattered race who, before the close of many centuries, will found an empire on which the sun shall shine as ceaselessly as it shines on the empire of the North today." Source: "Marcus Garvey and the Vision of Africa" by John Henrik Clarke (1974) Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975) - founder of the Nation of Islam A 2012 report in the Final Call states that Minister Louis Farrakhan said he learned that Elijah Muhammad said the British West Indies would one day become a great nation, and that the Caribbean, Central and South America were important in the rise of Black people. Muhammad said what it takes the Black man in America six years to learn, the Black man in the Caribbean would learn in six months, added Farrakhan. Source: Finalcall.com Rachel Manley - Author and Daughter of Michael Manley, former Prime Minister of Jamaica “Today few young people realize that for two years before independence, the islands of the English- speaking Caribbean were in fact federated in a full political union, with the federal headquarters in Port of Spain, and Grantley Adams from Barbados as its first prime minister.” Manley called the federation a marriage without a prenuptial agreement, and said following the independence of Jamaica her grandfather told her that “we had all lost.” Manley is the daughter and granddaughter of two Jamaican prime ministers—Norman and Michael Manley. She made these remarks as she delivered the 27th annual Eric Williams Memorial Lecture in September 2013. Source: Guardian.co.tt Louis Farrakhan - Leader of the Nation of Islam Minister Farrakhan, who heads the Nation of Islam, made an appeal for deeper political unity among countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) during an interview in Grenada last year. “Grenada cannot exist independent of other Caribbean islands. So, the future of the West Indies must not just stop with CARICOM, but there must be a political union of the whole of the Caribbean,” he said. Source: Caribbeannewsnow.com Norman Manley (1893 - 1969) - Co-founder of the People's National Party, Jamaica's Ruling Political Party When Manley, Jamaica's first premier, announced the 1991 referendum that resulted in the country's exit from the Federation of the West Indies, he asserted that there was a West Indian nation destined to take its place in the community of nations. This nation contained a West Indian people, with common aspirations and a common history, which was on the verge of achieving unity. As an exemplary nation where people of different races “are learning, have nearly learnt, how to dwell together in unity,” the West Indian nation was obliged to become an independent state as a light to the world. Eric Williams (1911 - 1981) - The first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Williams, the first prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, first came to public attention with The Negro in The Caribbean (1942), a study of the region in the war years derived from his travels on behalf of the Caribbean Commission. In this book, he advocates political and economic federation of the Caribbean and asserts “the Negro’s right to decide his own affairs and his own life is not a question for argument.”

Related Stories

‘Is That the Original Karen?’: Louis Farrakhan Shuts Down Phil Donahue Guest Who Claims White People Have ‘Done Backflips’ for Black People In Resurfaced Clip

‘Glad Jenn Left That Alone Cuz He’s KNOT Wassup’: Jennifer Williams Reacts to News About Her Ex-Husband, Eric Williams, and His New Fiancée, Fans Chime In

London Police Ordered to Pay Thousands to Nation of Islam for Blocking Minister Louis Farrakhan’s Reparations Speech In 2017