Message to the People. Marcus Garvey

to the white man. All civilization goes back to the Black man in the Nile Valley of Africa. Therefore, in your reading search for all these facts. Never stop reading and never stop until you find the proof of them.

      You must pay great attention to sociology. Get the best books on the subject that you can and read them thoroughly. Find out the social relationship among other races so that you may know how to advise your people in their social behavior. Never admit that the Negro is more immoral than the white man, try to prove the contrary. Socially, the white man has debauched and debased all other races because of his dominant power. He is responsible for more illegitimacy among the races than any other race. He has left bastard children everywhere he has been. Therefore, he is not competent to say that he is socially and morally purer than any other race.

      The mixed population among Negroes from slavery to the present, in certain countries, is due to the white man’s immorality. Therefore, if you should hear anyone talking about moral depravity among Negroes and the moral excellence of the whites; draw the above facts to their attention.

      When through reading and research you have discovered any new fact helpful to the dignity, prestige, character and accomplishment of the Negro, always make a noise about it. You should always keep with you a note book and fountain pen or indelible pencil and make a note in that book of anything you hear or see that you would like to remember. Always keep at home a larger note book in which you must transfer the thought or experience so that it will not be lost to your memory. At least once every three months read over that book and as the book becomes more voluminous with facts, read it over at least once a year.

      By constantly reading these facts they will be planted in your subconscious mind and you will be able to use them without even knowing that you are doing so. By keeping your facts and your very important experiences on record, at the end of a full life you may have a volume of great value; such as Elbert Hubbard’s Scrap Book. Get a copy of this book. It contains valuable inspiration. Always have a thought. Always make it a beautiful thought. The world is attracted to beauty, either in art or in expression. Therefore, try to read, think and speak beautiful things.

      Out of the night that covers me,

      Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

      I thank whatever Gods may be

      For my unconquerable soul.

      In the fell clutch of circumstance

      I have not winced nor cried aloud,

      Under the bludgeoning of chance

      My head is bloody, but unbowed.

      Beyond this place of wrath and tears

      Looms but the horror of the Shade,

      And yet the menace of the years

      Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

      It matters not how straight the gate,

      How charged with punishments the scroll,

      I am the master of my fate;

      I am the captain of my soul.

      “Invictus” by W. E. Henley

      Lesson 2

       LEADERSHIP

      TO LEAD SUGGESTS that you must have followers. For others to follow you, you must be superior to them in the things that they must follow you for.

      You must have superior ability in the particular. You must always be ahead by way of knowledge of all those you lead. The moment you fall down from the position of superior ability, you will automatically fail to lead and you will have to follow others. Therefore, you must be ever vigilant in keeping ahead of those you lead by getting the latest and most correct information for which they are searching, because for it they are following you. People only respect leaders and follow them, when there is something superior in them.

      A leader must have personality; he must be clean cut in his appearance so as not to be criticized. An untidy leader is always a failure. He must be neatly dressed and his general appearance must be clean and presentable because people are supposed to follow him in his manner, behavior and his general conduct. A leader’s hair should always be well kept; his teeth must also be in perfect order for people will criticize him for his unkempt hair, and his bad teeth.

      Your shoes and other garments must also be clean. If you look ragged, people will not trust you. They will critically say, he has no clothing, his shoes are very poor, and it is logical that whatever money he gets hold of he will use it on himself rather than for the purpose for which he makes his appeal.

      Never show your personal poverty to those you lead. They will never trust you. This does not mean that you should not reveal the poverty of the cause you represent, because that cause is your cause and the people’s cause; in which both of you are interested. Never tell lies to those you lead; sooner or later they will find you out and then your career will come to an abrupt end. NO MAN EVER TRUSTS A PERSON A SECOND TIME whom he disbelieves once and has proof for his disbelief.

      A leader, under all circumstances, must carry himself with dignity. He must not be a snob, but he must maintain his pride.

      A leader cannot well afford to mix himself up with anything that is not dignified or self-respecting. If you have to do something that you know you will be morally and socially ashamed of if someone else knows; never do it, but if you have to do it, see to it that you are careful that no one else knows.

      Don’t carry your weakness on your face or in your eyes; somebody will detect it and you will be ruined. If you have personal weaknesses, try to conquer them and hide them as long as you can until you have conquered them; otherwise you will be ruined.

      Every man can conquer his vices by bringing his subconscious will to play upon and against such vices. In everything you do, play the gentleman. Never be a hog, it doesn’t pay. You lose a friend every time you play the hog. Keep smiling with the world even though your mother is dead. Smile with the world and the world will smile back at you; be vexed with the world and the world will be vexed with you. Nobody is obligated to you to make you happy, so don’t carry your sorrow to the world and on your sleeves. Keep them to yourself and get out of them the best way you can. Leaders are not children, they must not, therefore, act as children.

      Leaders must be self-possessed, confident, feeling self-reliant. When your followers see that self confidence they will believe in you and follow you. Always speak out right from your head and from your heart. If your heart is not in it, it is a lie. If your head is not in it, it is pure sentiment. Your heart and your head must work together. People observing you can always tell when you are sincere; that is, when you speak from your heart and your head. They can always tell when you are fooling them, by looking into your eyes and you cannot stand their gaze. At that time, indeed, you are lying. When your heart and your head is in it, your whole body expresses the truth and you can hold any man’s stare.

      A leader must not be extravagant, he must not be flashy in the sense of being over sporty. People will not think you serious. Always make your followers believe you are serious. You can be serious without being sour. Always think before you speak or act. Don’t write or speak just to hear yourself. Speak or write only when you have something to say and never touch anything, by way of leadership, that you do not know about, because somebody who knows about it will have a joke at your expense. A leader must always have something to say, otherwise he forfeits his leadership and someone else who has something to say will supplant it.

      A leader should always make an effort to be known in his community. He must acquaint himself with everything that is happening. He must know the governor of the state or country, the secretary of his state or his colonial secretary. He must know the mayor of his city, and all the members of the legislature. He must know the bishops of his city, the administrative heads of all government departments, all the preachers and doctors and lawyers and prominent business men.

      Don’t be seen with Communists too often; if you know them. Never take part in their meetings unless you are to make a speech against their principles and