Reviewed by Prizgar Gonzales

In this Twitterized world, where 21st Century humans relish in the fleetingness of 280 characters I pondered on how and why, humans, the highest form of creation, are reduced to such drastic limitations. What caused most of us to become provincial, limited, condensed, robotized, yes, totally removed and indifferent from natural human instincts such as curiosity, knowledge, and learning. I found the answer while reading an extraordinary and timeless book, Lessons for African People; The Course of African Philosophy, by Marcus Mosiah Garvey.

The United States government has derailed the largest Pan-African mass-movement, then and now, totaling millions, deported, in 1927, the leader, Marcus Garvey. In 1937, while in exile, Garvey invited the best and brightest from his Organizations, the United Negro Improvement Association (U.N.I.A.) and the African Community League (A.C.L.), to attend a teaching seminar in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Garvey’s curriculum consisted of 22 lessons. Lesson Number One was entitled: Intelligence, Education, Universal Knowledge and How to Get It.

The crux of his message to Africans in the Diaspora is to never stop learning and moreover, to discern that your real education occurs when you embark on self-education. He began his lectures with the refrain,

“You must never stop learning. The world’s greatest men and women were people who educated themselves outside of the university with all the knowledge that the university gives, as you have the opportunity of doing the same thing the university student does — read and study. One must never stop reading. Read everything that you can that is of standard knowledge.

Some parting words from the grand-master;

“Never forget that intelligence rules the world and ignorance carries the burden. Therefore, remove yourself as far as possible from ignorance and seek as much as possible to be intelligent.”

Reviewed by Prizgar Gonzales Published by Frontline Book Publishing www.frontlinebookpublishing.com