On his Birthday, National Holiday, Reflection on MLK and the Caribbean 

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer

#USA, January 20, 2023 – Celebrated on the third Monday of January each year, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a public holiday now in its 40th year created in remembrance of one of the greatest civil rights leaders of all time; but many are unaware of the Caribbean connections to King and the US civil rights movement itself.

Martin Luther King Jr, widely considered one of the greatest orators in American history is known for his part in representing his fellow African Americans and walking alongside them in their mission to being considered equal citizens under the law at the highest and lowest stages in the US; from Selma Alabama to the White House.  At the same time King credits a Caribbean man, Jamaican National Hero, Marcus Garvey, as a major influence on his life’s philosophy.

“Marcus Garvey was the first Man of Colour in the history of the United States to lead and develop a mass movement. He was the first man on a mass scale and level to give millions to Negroes and make the Negro feel he was somebody,” King said.

King also had several notable visits to the Caribbean.  It was on a visit to the island of Bimini, in The Bahamas that he wrote his 1965 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, and in a visit to Jamaica in that same year that he expressed his love for Caribbean society.

“In Jamaica I feel like a human being” he explained, citing a recurring love for the majority black country that was free; a trait shared with much of the Caribbean. The Jamaica Observer quotes him as saying

“I was impressed by one thing. Here you have people from many national backgrounds: Chinese, Indians, so-called Negroes, and you can just go down the line— And they say, ‘Here in Jamaica we are not Chinese, we are not Japanese, we are not Indians, we are not Negroes, we are not Englishmen, we are not Canadians. But we are all one big family of Jamaicans. One day, here in America, I hope that we will see this and we will become one big family of Americans”

It was there that he settled for a short time to complete one of his greatest work: Where Do We Go From Here. He also visited Puerto Rico during his travels.

King had an enduring appreciation for the Caribbean, which both inspired and motivated him; referenced in the fondness of his speech regarding the region that remembers him as a shared hero among all the people of the Americas.

Photo Caption:  During one of his visits to Nassau, Bahamas, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is pictured  with the late Sir Randol Fawkes, a lawyer and politician who was often referred to as “The Father of Labor” for the work that he did in establishing the trade union movement in The Bahamas.  Photo: Bahamas Chronicle