President Joe Biden’s decision to posthumously pardon Marcus Garvey has been met with widespread acclaim in the United States and across the global black diaspora. Garvey is revered as an iconic black nationalist and Pan-Africanist thinker, celebrated for his vision of racial uplift and economic self-sufficiency. However, his legacy is far more complex than the hagiographic portrayals suggest. Rather than echoing the usual fawning sentiments, this article will provide an overview of Garvey’s conviction and ideological framework.

Garvey’s 1923 conviction for mail fraud remains one of the most controversial episodes in American history. As the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), he was accused of defrauding investors in his ambitious Black Star Line (BSL) shipping venture. However, his trial occurred in an extremely hostile environment. Due to his vocal criticisms of the white political establishment, J. Edgar Hoover had been determined to indict Garvey for fomenting discord as early as 1919. When initial attempts proved abortive Hoover pursued other means to secure a conviction, ultimately arguing Garvey’s management of the Black Star Line could possibly constitute fraud.

To build a case, Hoover deployed agents to infiltrate the UNIA. FBI surveillance of Garvey played a key role in justifying his presidential pardon, but the legal basis for such a pardon is more nuanced. The trial judge, Julian Mack, was a known ally and contributor to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), an organization that frequently clashed with Garvey. Members of the NAACP supported efforts to prosecute him, and just one day before the trial, the organization’s secretary, James Weldon Johnson, wrote to Mack, raising concerns about impartiality.