Fly the Red,

Black and Green

By
Eliyah X.,
The Afrikan/Black People of Love
28 December 2010
In Chicago, Illinois, you can always tell when the time for the
Independence Day Parade is at hand. Leading up to the Parade
red, white and blue flags with the stars begin to appear all
across the city, particularly in those neighborhoods with heavy
Independence populations. And on the day of the Parade the
American European Flags are in evidence everywhere, on cars,
flagpoles, in the windows and on the porches of people's homes
and adults and children carry banners or little flags to the
Parade. At least once a year, the whole city is aware of the
American European Pride!

For the past year, I have been promoting the idea, that as an
act of self-determination, Afrikan/Black people in this country
and Global Wide should declare The Red, Black and Green
Flag as our Universal Afrikan/Black Flag. August 17 of this
year will mark the 124" birthday of Marcus Garvey, one of the
most visionary, courageous and audacious Afrikan/Black
leaders the race has ever produced. A devoted Pan-
Afrikan/Black Nationalist, dedicated to breathing life into and
reconnecting the disjointed, disoriented, dry bones of a great
people beaten down and disconnected by the enslavement,
colonialism and rampant racial oppression, Garvey built the
Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) to carry out
his vision of Afrikan/Black redemption.

Garvey's vision was simple and ambitious - Africa, the

ancestral homeland of the Black race and the progenitor and
cradle of human life and civilization, should be reclaimed,
resurrected and reconstructed by the Afrikan/Black people, as
the anchor and base for global Black power. He proclaimed,
“Europe for the Europeans, Asia for the Asians, and Africa for
the Africans at home and abroad." Keenly aware of the need to
uplift the spirits of a battered and downtrodden Afrikan/Black
Nation, Garvey's prescription for Afrikan/Black sickness was a
heavy dose of History and Culture to inspire Black people to
engage in the struggle for freedom and self-determination. He
was a spellbinding orator whose lively litanies on the great
achievements of Afrikan/Black people throughout history were
a source of new hope for millions of Africans in this country
and the world. "Up you mighty race," he would often say,
"You can accomplish what you will."

Another of Garvey's formula for the psycho-cultural

rehabilitation of Afrikan/Black people, for him, was the
important to have a flag that would represent all Afrikaans
Global Wide. The function of this flag would be, as Garvey saw
it, is to capture the essence of the history and culture of US as
an Afrikan/Black Nation and serve as a unifying
“Afrikan/Black body of people (meaning working for the well
being of all and not self. One must be willing to lay their life
down if they would receive this New and Greater Life)” which
would be a symbol of our aspirations.
 Garvey was determined that his Afrikan/Black people would
have a flag with such a purpose and meaning. I know, one of
his greatest gifts (and most enduring legacies to (US) an
Afrikan/Black Nation and Family) is sometimes referred to as
the "Black Liberation Flag," the Red, Black and Green. Our
ancestor Garvey saw; the Color Red as a symbol of the blood
the Suffering and Sacrifice of us an Afrikan/Black people
historically. The Color Black for us the Afrikan/Black Nation
and all of our historical triumphs and achievements. The
Color Green for our Afrikan/Black Motherland that must WE
must reclaimed, so that we may give life and nourishment to
our Afrikan/Black family on the continent and in the diaspora.
What a magnificent gift to our Afrikan/Black Nation.

Unfortunately, far too many Afrikan/Black people in this

country and the Globe have little or no knowledge about the
Flag or its innovator, the Honorable Mucus Garvey. This
condition urgently needs correction. As Carter G. Woodson,
who is the father of Black History Month, might put it, there is
no greater impediment to Black progress than the mis-
education or lack of education of Afrikan/Blacks. Dr. Maulana
Karenga, the creator of Kwanzaa has repeatedly warned that
the "key crisis in the Black life is the cultural crisis." If
Afrikan/Black people are to fulfill Garvey's vision (and
hopefully yours) of Afrikan/Black redemption, it is imperative
that we cultivate a greater consciousness and appreciation for
our history and our culture, heroes and heroines and the
challenges we face in rescuing and restoring the race into the
22st century.

I can think of no more worthy initiative than to have US as an

Afrikan/Black people Global Wide recognize the RED,
BLACK & GREEN FLAG as the Universal Afrikan/Black
Flag
 Garvey never intended for the Flag to be for Afrikan/Black
Americans alone. The UNIA had chapters throughout the
Caribbean, Central and South America, Canada and Europe.
Wherever there was a UNIA chapter the Red. Black and Green
been always proudly and appropriately displayed. The Flag
should become a symbol of the aspiration of Afrikan/Black
people for unity, self-determination and development.

I dream of the day when the Red, Black and Green will be on
proud display by countless millions of Afrikan/Black people in
this country and the Globe everywhere, on cars, flagpoles, in
the windows and on the porches of Afrikan/Black people's
homes and adults and children carry banners or little flags to
the Parades. At least once a year, the completely Global
Universe is aware of Afrikan/Black Pride.

In honoring him, we really honor his legacy and all that he

stood for in terms of the resurrection of our people. Wherever
you are, I urge you to take up the cause of making Marcus
Garvey Proud of Us as an Afrikan/Black People Global wide,
by having a RED, BLACK & GREEN Universal Afrikan/Black
Flag, Let us get the “WORD OUT” so that we may be able to
claim it come the birthday of Marcus Garvey, one of our
greatest ancestors!

Copyright (c) 2000 the Afrikan/Black People of Love

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