Preamble
Be it Resolved, That the Negro people of the world, through their chosen representatives in convention assembled in Liberty Hall, in the City of NewYork and United States of America, from August 1 to August 31, in the year ofour Lord, one thousand nine hundred and twenty, protest against the wrongs andinjustices they are suffering at the hands of their white brethren, and statewhat they deem their fair and just rights, as well as the treatment they propose to demand of all men in the future.
We complain:
I. That nowhere in the world, with few exceptions, are black men accorded equal treatment with white men, although in the same situation and circumstances,but, on the contrary, are discriminated against and denied the common rights due to human beings for no other reason than their race and color.
We are not willingly accepted as guests in the public hotels and inns of the world for no other reason than our race and color.
II. In certain parts of the United States of America our raceis denied the right of public trial accorded to other races when accused ofcrime, but are lynched and burned by mobs, and such brutal and inhumantreatment is even practiced upon our women.
III. That European nations have parcelled out among themselves and taken possession of nearly all of the continent of Africa,and the natives are compelled to surrender their lands to aliens and aretreated in most instances like slaves.
IV. In the southern portion of the United Statesof America, although citizens under the Federal Constitution, and in some statesalmost equal to the whites in population and are qualified land owners andtaxpayers, we are, nevertheless, denied all voice in the making andadministration of the laws and are taxed without representation by the stategovernments, and at the same time compelled to do military service in defenseof the country.
V. On the public conveyances and common carriersin the Southern portion of the United States we are jim-crowed and compelled toaccept separate and inferior accommodations and made to pay the same farecharged for first-class accommodations, and our families are often humiliatedand insulted by drunken white men who habitually pass through the jim-crow carsgoing to the smoking car.
VI. The physicians of our race are denied theright to attend their patients while in the public hospitals of the cities andstates where they reside in certain parts of the United States. Our children areforced to attend inferior separate schools for shorter terms than white children, and the public school funds are unequally divided between the whiteand colored schools.
VII. We are discriminated against and denied an equal chance to earnwages for the support of our families, and in many instances are refusedadmission into labor unions, and nearly everywhere are paid smaller wages than white men.
VIII. In Civil Service and departmental officeswe are everywhere discriminated against and made to feel that to be a black manin Europe, America and the West Indies is equivalent to being an outcast and aleper among the races of men, no matter what the character and attainments ofthe black man may be.
IX. In the British and other West Indian Islands and colonies,Negroes are secretly and cunningly discriminated against, and denied thosefuller rights in government to which white citizens are appointed, nominatedand elected.
X. That our people in those parts are forced towork for lower wages than the average standard of white men and are kept inconditions repugnant to good civilized tastes and customs.
XI. That the many acts of injustice againstmembers of our race before the courts of law in the respective islands andcolonies are of such nature as to create disgust and disrespect for the whitemanís sense of justice.
XII. Against all such inhuman, unchristian anduncivilized treatment we here and now emphatically protest, and invoke thecondemnation of all mankind. In order to encourage our race all over the worldand to stimulate it to a higher and grander destiny, we demand and insist onthe following Declaration of Rights:
1. Be it known to all men that whereas, all menare created equal and entitled to the rights of life, liberty and the pursuitof happiness, and because of this we, the duly elected representatives of theNegro peoples of the world, invoking the aid of the just and Almighty God dodeclare all men women and children of our blood throughout the world freecitizens, and do claim them as free citizens of Africa, the Motherland of allNegroes.
2. That we believe in the supreme authority ofour race in all things racial; that all things are created and given to man asa common possession; that their should be an equitable distribution andapportionment of all such things, and in consideration of the fact that as arace we are now deprived of those things that are morally and legally ours, webelieve it right that all such things should be acquired and held by whatsoevermeans possible.
3. That we believe the Negro, like any otherrace, should be governed by the ethics of civilization, and, therefore, shouldnot be deprived of any of those rights or privileges common to other humanbeings.
4. We declare that Negroes, wheresoever theyform a community among themselves, should be given the right to elect their ownrepresentatives to represent them in legislatures, courts of law, or suchinstitutions as may exercise control over that particular community.
5. We assert that the Negro is entitled toeven-handed justice before all courts of law and equity in whatever country hemay be found, and when this is denied him on account of his race or color suchdenial is an insult to the race as a while and should be resented by the entireboy of Negroes.
6. We declared it unfair and prejudicial to therights of Negroes in communities where they exist in considerable numbers to betried by a judge and jury composed entirely of an alien race, but in all suchcases members of our race are entitled to representation on the jury.
7. We believe that any law or practice thattends to deprive any African of his land or the privileges of free citizenshipwithin his country is unjust and immoral, and no native should respect any suchlaw or practice.
8. We declare taxation without representationunjust and tyrannous, and their should be no obligation on the part of theNegro to obey the levy of a tax by an law-making body from which he is excludedand denied representation on account of his race and color.
9. We believe that any law especially directedagainst the Negro to his detriment and singling him out because of his race orcolor is unfair and immoral, and should not be respected.
10. We believe all men entitled to common humanrespect, and that our race should in no way tolerate any insults that may beinterpreted to mean disrespect to our color.
11. We deprecate the use of the term"nigger" as applied to Negroes, and demand that the word"Negro" be written with a capital "N."
12. We believe that the Negro should adopt everymeans to protect himself against barbarous practices inflicted upon him becauseof color.
13. We believe in the freedom of Africa for the Negro people of the world, and by theprinciple of Europe for the Europeans and Asia for the Asiatics; we also demand Africafor the Africans at home and abroad.
14. We believe in the inherent right of theNegro to possess himself of Africa, and thathis possession of same shall not be regarded as an infringement on any claim orpurchase made by any race or nation.
15. We strongly condemn the cupidity of thosenations of the world who, by open aggression or secret schemes, have seized theterritories and inexhaustible natural wealth of Africa,and we place on record our most solemn determination to reclaim the treasuresand possession of the vast continent of our forefathers.
16. We believe all men should live in peace onewith the other, but when races and nations provoke the ire of other races andnations by attempting to infringe upon their rights, war becomes inevitable,and the attempt in any way to free oneís self or protect oneís rights orheritage becomes justifiable.
17. Whereas, the lynching, by burning, hangingor any other means, of human beings is a barbarous practice, and a shame anddisgrace to civilization, we therefore declared any country guilty of suchatrocities outside the pale of civilization.
18. We protest against the atrocious crime ofwhipping, flogging and overworking of the native tribes of Africa and Negroeseverywhere. These are methods that should be abolished, and all means should betaken to prevent a continuance of such brutal practices.
19. We protest against the atrocious practice ofshaving the heads of Africans, especially of African women or individual ofNegro blood, when placed in prison as a punishment for crime by an alien race.
20. We protest against segregated districts,separate public conveyances, industrial discrimination, lynchings andlimitations of political privileges of any Negro citizen in any part of theworld on account of race, color, or creed, and will exert our full influenceand power against all such.
21. We protest against any punishment inflictedupon a Negro with severity, as against lighter punishment inflicted uponanother of an alien race for like offense, as an act of prejudice injustice,and should be resented by the entire race.
22. We protest against the system of educationin any country where Negroes are denied the same privileges and advantages asother races.
23. We declare it inhuman and unfair to boycottNegroes from industries and labor in any part of the world.
24. We believe in the doctrine of the freedom ofthe press, and we therefore emphatically protest against the suppression Negronewspapers and periodicals in various parts of the world, and call upon Negroeseverywhere to employ all available means to prevent such suppression.
25. We further demand free speech universallyfor all men.
26. We hereby protest against the publication ofscandalous and inflammatory articles by an alien press tending to create racialstrife and the exhibition of picture films showing the Negro as a cannibal.
27. We believe in the self-determination of allpeoples.
28. We declare for the freedom of religiousworship.
29. With the help of Almighty God, we declareourselves the protectors of the honor and virtue of our women and children, andpledge our lives for their protection and defense everywhere, and under allcircumstances from wrongs and outrages.
30. We demand the right of unlimited andunprejudiced education for ourselves and our posterity forever.
31. We declare that the teaching in any schoolby alien teachers to our boys and girls, that the alien race is superior to theNegro race, is an insult to the Negro people of the world.
32. Where Negroes form a part of the citizenryof any country, and pass the civil service examination of such country, wedeclare them entitled to the same consideration as other citizens as toappointments in such civil service.
33. We vigorously protest against theincreasingly unfair and unjust treatment accorded Negro travelers on land andsea by the agents and employees of railroad and steamship companies and insistthat for equal fare we receive equal privileges with travelers of other races.
34. We declare it unjust for any country, Stateor nation to enact laws tending to hinder and obstruct the free immigration ofNegroes on account of their race and color.
35. That the right of the Negro to travelunmolested throughout the world be not abridged by any person or persons, andall Negroes are called upon to give aid to a fellow Negro when thus molested.
36. We declare that all Negroes are entitled tothe same right to travel over the world as other men.
37. We hereby demand that the governments of theworld recognize our leader and his representatives chosen by the race to lookafter the welfare of our people under such governments.
38. We demand complete control of our socialinstitutions without interference by any alien race or races.
39. That the colors, Red, Black and Green, bethe colors of the Negro race.
40. Resolved, That the anthem "Ethiopia,Thou Land of Our Fathers," etc., shall be the anthem of the Negro race.
41. We believe that any limited liberty whichdeprives one of the complete rights and prerogatives of full citizenship is buta modified form of slavery.
42. We declare it an injustice to our people anda serious impediment to the health of the race to deny to competent licensedNegro physicians the right to practice in the public hospitals of thecommunities in which they reside, for no other reason than their race andcolor.
43. We call upon the various governments of theworld to accept and acknowledge Negro representatives who shall be sent to thesaid governments to represent the general welfare of the Negro peoples of theworld.
44. We deplore and protest against the practiceof confining juvenile prisoners in prisons with adults, and we recommend thatsuch youthful prisoners be taught gainful trades under humane supervision.
45. Be it further resolved, that we as a race ofpeople declare the League of Nations null and void as far as the Negro isconcerned, in that it seeks to deprive Negroes of their liberty.
46. We demand of all men to do unto us as wewould do unto them, in the name of justice; and we cheerfully accord to all menall the rights we claim herein for ourselves.
47. We declare that no Negro shall engagehimself in battle for an alien race without first obtaining the consent of theleader of the Negro people of the world, except in a matter of nationalself-defense.
48. We protest against the practice of draftingNegroes and sending them to war with alien forces without proper training, anddemand in all cases that Negro soldiers be given the same training as thealiens.
49. We demand that instructions given Negrochildren in schools include the subject of "Negro History," to theirbenefit.
50. We demand a free and unfettered commercialintercourse with all the Negro people of the world.
51. We declare for the absolute freedom of theseas for all peoples.
52. We demand that our duly accreditedrepresentatives be given proper recognition in all leagues, conferences,conventions or courts of international arbitration wherever human rights arediscussed.
53. We proclaim the 31st day of August of eachyear to be an international holiday to be observed by all Negroes.
54. We want all men to know we shall maintainand contend for the freedom and equality of every man, woman and child of ourrace, with our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
These rights we believe to be justly ours andproper for the protection of the Negro race at large, and because of this beliefwe, on behalf of the four hundred million Negroes of the world, do pledgeherein the sacred blood of the race in defense, and we hereby subscribe ournames as a guarantee of the truthfulness and faithfulness hereof in thepresence of Almighty God, on the 13th day of August, in the year of our Lordone thousand nine hundred and twenty.
Marcus Garvey, James D. Brooks, James W. H.Eason, Henrietta Vinton Davis, Lionel Winston Greenidge, Adrion FitzroyJohnson, Rudolph Ethelbert Brissaac Smith, Charles Augustus Petioni, Thomas H.N. Simon, Richard Hilton Tobitt, George Alexander McGuire, Peter Edward Baston,Reynold R. Felix, Harry Walters Kirby, Sarah Branch, Marie Barrier Houston,George L. O'Brien, F.O. Ogilvie, Arden A. Bryan, Benjamin Dyett, Marie Duchaterlier,John Phillip Hodge, Theophilus H. Saunders, Wilford H. Smith, Gabriel E.Stewart, Arnold Josiah Ford, Lee Crawford, William McCartney, Adina Clem.James, William Musgrave La Motte, John Sydney de Bourg, Arnold S. Cunning,Vernal J. Williams, Frances Wilcome Ellegor, J. Frederick Selkridge, Innis AbelHorsford, Cyril A. Crichlow, Samuel McIntyre, John Thomas Wilkins, MaryThurston, John G. Befue, William Ware, J. A. Lewis, O. C. Thurston, Venture R.Hamilton, R. H. Hodge, Edward Alfred Taylor, Ellen Wilson, G.W. Wilson, RichardEdward Riley, Nellie Grant Whiting, G. W. Washington, Maldena Miller, GertrudeDavis, James D. Williams, Emily Christmas Kinch, D. D. Lewis, Nettie Clayton,Partheria Hills, Janie Jenkins, John C. Simons, Alphonso A. Jones, Allen Hobbs,Reynold Fitzgerald Austin, James Benjamin Yearwood, Frank O. Raines, ShedrickWilliams, John Edward Ivey, Frederick August Toote, Philip Hemmings, F. F.Smith, E. J. Jones, Joseph Josiah Cranston, Frederick Samuel Ricketts, DugaldAugustus Wade, E. E. Nelom, Florida Jenkins, Napoleon J. Francis, Joseph D.Gibson, J. P. Jasper, J. W. Montgomery, David Benjamin, J. Gordon, Harry E.Ford, Carrie M. Ashford, Andrew N. Willis, Lucy Sands, Louise Woodson, GeorgeD. Creese, W. A. Wallace, Thomas E. Bagley, James Young, Prince AlfredMcConney, John E. Hudson, William Ines, Harry R. Watkins, C.L. Halton, J. T.Bailey, Ira Joseph Touissant Wright, T. H. Golden, Abraham Benjamin Thomas,Richard C. Noble, Walter Green, C. S. Bourne, G. F. Bennett, B. D. Levy, MaryE. Johnson, Lionel Antonio Francis, Carl Roper, E. R. Donawa, Philip VanPutten, I. Brathwaite, Jesse W. Luck, Oliver Kaye, J. W. Hudspeth, C. B.Lovell, William C. Matthews, A. Williams, Ratford E. M. Jack, H. VintonPlummer, Randolph Phillips, A. I. Bailey, duly elected representatives of theNegro people of the world.
Sworn before me this 15th day of August, 1920.
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