Admirers of Marcus Garvey celebrated the Pan African icon’s 138th birthday on August 17th. Among them was singer Moses I, who has followed Garvey’s message of black consciousness since his youth in Jamaica.

He recorded a cover of The Ethiopians’ ‘Tribute To A Hero’ to mark the milestone. His version is titled ‘Tribute To An Hero (Marcus Garvey Day’).

According to Moses I, the single is part of a campaign to make Garvey’s birthday a national holiday in his native Jamaica. Garvey, who was born in St. Ann parish in 1887, died in London in 1940 at age 52.

“I an’ I waan fulfill di vision dat Marcus set, an’ di first step is to give him a public holiday. Throughout di history of black consciousness, it was Marcus Garvey,” he said.

A leader of the vaunted Harlem Renaissance in New York during the 1920s, Garvey is also Jamaica’s first National Hero. On January 19, one day before leaving office, United States President Joe Biden pardoned him for mail fraud, which he served a two-year prison term in Atlanta, Georgia.

Garvey was deported to Jamaica in 1927.

Best known for the 1998 hit song, ‘Crazy Look’ (with Capleton), Moses I is from the Papine area of St. Andrew parish in Jamaica. It has been home for decades to a vibrant Rastafarian community.

WRITTEN BY HOWARD CAMPBELL