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NEW JAMAICAN
GARVEY HOMESICK IN JAMAICA 
THE RIGHT EXCELLENT MARCUS MOSIAH GARVEY (1887-1940), Jamaica’s First National Hero, is still not fully recognised in Jamaica, the country of his birth.
Despite being made the county’s ‘First National Hero’ in 1964, it is regrettable that, to date, not much has been done in Jamaica to both preserve and promote this most important part of our National Heritage.
It is no secret that Marcus Garvey is the best known of all the seven national heroes of Jamaica, to people of the world. The other Jamaican heroes are Sam Sharpe (1801-1832), George William Gordon (1820-1865), Paul Bogle (1822-1865), Nanny of the Maroons (birth not recorded; death believed to be 1734), Alexander Bustamante (1884-1977) and Norman Washington Manley (1893-1969)
Unfortunately, Garvey has earned greater respect in some countries than he has earned in his own native land. This was perhaps one of the reasons he finally left Jamaica and set up permanent residence at 53 Talgarth Road, Hammersmith, West London, in the UK, until his death in 1940. Since Garvey was named a National Hero, along with the other national heros, successive Jamaican governments repeatedly made promises to the people about doing things to preserve the legacies of Garvey but, so far, the majority of the people remain disappointed over the very slow pace of proposed developments. 
To the contrary, this cannot be said of national heroes Sir Alexander Bustamante and Norman Washington Manley. One of the clearest examples is the state of the birthplace of all three heroes. Bustamante’s birthplace in Blenheim, Hanover and Manley’s in Roxborough, Manchester, are both well kept with manicured lawns, beautiful flowers, attractive buildings, and so on. Garvey’s birthplace is in shambles and abandoned to a large extent by most of his Jamaican countrymen and women. The international community and Garvey’s supporters must be made aware of this almost ‘sacrilege’.
In 1977 a statue of Garvey was erected in the grounds of Lawrence Park, St. Ann’s Bay. By 1987, Jamaica observed Garvey’s 100th Birthday Anniversary. A Commemorative Plague was mounted at Garvey’s birthplace at 32 Market Street, St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. The plague was unveiled by Garvey’s cousin, Ms Evelyn Gilmore, and among the dignitaries, was Mrs Coretta Scott-King (1927-2006), late widow of Martin Luther King (1929-1968), the most accomplished African-American Civil Rights Leader. The establishment of the Marcus Garvey Study Centre, which was scheduled to open on 15th December 1987 failed to materialised, although government funds were used to refurbished the Old Cotters Wharf Building in St. Ann’s Bay, to house the Centre. There was a change of government in 1999 and plans for the Marcus Garvey Study Centre were scrapped. The apparent superficiality of accolades continued in 1991 when Garvey birthplace was declared a National Monument; but to date nothing has been done to up-grade the premises to reflect this new National Status. On visiting the birthplace, one sees no Jamaican flag being flown, as should be the case in these matters. The premises are without running water or toilet facilities for the many people who visit the Garvey Shrine daily. There are no street signs pointing to the location of Garvey’s birthplace; there are no personnel in place, equipped with the appropriate information, to guide visitors to the birthplace and, above all, the place is unsightly and clearly reflect an insult to Jamaica’s most illustrious son. At Lawrence Park, where the Garvey Statue is located, the lights are turned on only once per year on the day of his birthday anniversary, when an official function is usually held. In the meantime, the much mooted teaching of Garveyism in Jamaica’s schools, which began during the Michael Manley regime of 1970, is yet to become a reality. Oswald Johnson, along with his children, live at Garvey’s birthplace. He cried “shame” on the Government and the local authorities for not paying more attention to the premises. Without a steady income, Mr. Johnson said that he had to be using some of his meagre resources to up-keep the premises as much as he could. Chairman of the St. Ann’s Bay Home-Coming Committee, Herbert Murdock, who has returned to Jamaica after spending over 20 years in the USA, said he was appalled by the apparent neglect of Garvey’s local legacies. Murdock wrote to the Jamaican Prime Minister, urging the Government to initiate a move towards greater recognition of the Country’s First National Hero. Barry, a local resident, said “there is so much the population could gain from the promotion of Garvey’s legacies locally, like attraction of international tourism, local civic pride, sound identity and cultural education”. Jamaicans at home should take note the deep respect and venerations people at various parts of the world hold for one of St. Ann’s Bay’s sons. This is evident in the numerous celebrations occurring around the world at this year's Universal Marcus Day on Thursday August 17th 2006 as listed on the bulletin board of the Negro World. NEW JAMAICAN Vol.2  
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