A plaque commemorating Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jamaica’s first national hero, will be unveiled in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 25, 2025.
The ceremony will take place at Big Bethel AME Church, the historic site of Garvey’s first public lecture in Atlanta on March 25, 1917. The unveiling coincides with the 108th anniversary of the lecture, which was a pivotal moment in Garvey’s Pan-African advocacy.
The event will be led by Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Her Excellency the Hon. Audrey P. Marks, OJ, in collaboration with Steven Golding, symposium founder and president of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The plaque is being unveiled as part of the second annual Atlanta Marcus Garvey Lecture, organized in partnership with the Atlanta Jamaica Association.
The Big Bethel AME Church holds historical significance as the venue where Garvey delivered his lecture in 1917, and the event will also observe the United Nations’ International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
In addition to the plaque unveiling, attendees will be treated to an exclusive screening of “Mosiah,” a film depicting Garvey’s life, with actor Samuel Lee-Fudge portraying the civil rights leader. Fudge, an Atlanta native, will be present at the event.
Garvey’s legacy continues to resonate globally, especially after former U.S. President Joe Biden granted a posthumous pardon to Garvey in January, correcting the injustice of his 1923 conviction for mail fraud.
In his statement, President Biden emphasized Garvey’s pivotal role in the civil rights movement, quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who described Garvey as “the first man of color in the history of the United States to lead and develop a mass movement.” The pardon serves to restore Garvey’s tarnished reputation and recognizes his monumental contributions to racial equality and cultural pride.
Ambassador Marks praised Garvey’s transformative impact, noting that he became one of the most influential Pan-African leaders of the 20th century. As founder and first President-General of the UNIA-ACL, Garvey built the largest mass movement of Black people, fostering a sense of economic independence, cultural pride, and political self-determination that resonated globally.
Among the distinguished guests attending the event will be Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Jamaica’s Consul General for the Southern United States Oliver Mair, and other prominent members of the Atlanta Jamaica Association. The plaque unveiling is expected to serve as an important milestone in honoring Garvey’s enduring influence on global civil rights and his legacy as a champion of Black empowerment.
