Kumar Fyah Launches Garvey Day Petition, Drops “Public Holiday” Feat. Black Uhuru
New single arrives alongside a renewed push to make Marcus Garvey’s birthday a national holiday in Jamaica
KINGSTON, JAMAICA — Nearly a century ago, a Jamaican-born organizer walked into rooms with nothing but conviction and came out having built a shipping line, a newspaper, and a movement that reached from Kingston to Harlem to the capitals of a still-colonized Africa. Marcus Mosiah Garvey did this before telephones were common in most homes, before air travel, before the internet made the world small. Recording artist Kumar Fyah wants Jamaica to reckon with that history properly — and he’s asking fans everywhere to help him make the case.
Kumar Fyah is calling on fans across the globe to sign a petition urging the Government of Jamaica to officially designate August 17 — Garvey’s birthday — as a national public holiday and a formal subject in the Jamaican school curriculum, carrying forward a mission the legendary artiste Burning Spear has campaigned for over the course of decades. Kumar Fyah takes up that call for a new generation, pairing it with the release of his new single, “Public Holiday,” featuring Black Uhuru, landing on all major streaming platforms and Bandcamp on August 17 — the date itself part of the statement.
“The Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey, ONH, was declared a National Hero in 1969. His birthday, August 17, is marked every year — but it has never been recognized as a National Public Holiday in Jamaica,” said Kumar Fyah. “As a reggae artist raised inside the educational and Rastafari community, Garvey’s teachings on Black pride, self-reliance, and African autonomy shaped my music influences before I ever picked up a mic. A national holiday is not a symbol. It’s a commitment — to business places, families, and communities gathering every year to keep his vision of unity and liberation alive, out loud, on purpose.”
