In this digital painting by Samuel A. Blay, Marcus Garvey is memorialized through a luminant regal treatment enshrining him in the Ancestral hall of fame. Here, Blay reimagines the iconic portrait of Garvey taken at the 1924 UNIA Parade in Harlem by James Van Der Zee.
With its burnished titanium-like texture, Blay’s painting evokes a futuristic Benin Bronze, uplifting this timeless genre known for immortalizing royal African leaders in strength and splendor. The luminescent blue hues and smooth, metallic strokes give Marcus Garvey an almost armor-like quality, casting him as both protector and warrior.
This portrayal illuminates Garvey’s memory as an emblem of strength and guardianship, cherished across the Black globe, his figure and philosophy enduring throughout a century of Black Liberation movements. Movements have come and halted, but the spirit of resistance across the Black globe is stronger than ever, as demonstrated by the work of Artists like Blay.
In the 1920s, people in the Belgian Congo could receive the death penalty for reading Garvey’s paper, The Negro World.
Congressional Hearing on Garvey’s Targeting, 1987
Samuel A. Blay is a Ghanaian-born graphic designer and self-taught visual artist who visually extols the strength and beauty of Black creatives, legends, visionaries.
Blay’s style is marked by a vibrant and meticulous approach, in which he blends elements of Afrofuturism with deep cultural and visual reverence.
His digital illustrations feature bold, radiant colors, often with metallic or luminescent qualities that give his subjects an ethereal, almost otherworldly presence. Across his work, Blay captures Black figures as embodiments of royalty, strength, and beauty.
Blay’s signature detailing gives his subjects an aura of power and grace. From Garvey’s military regalia, to his future-focused gaze, Blay captures this “provisional president of Africa” as a titan deserving of our veneration and devotion.
It is important to note here that although Garvey was never enlisted in any military, he often appeared in regalia equivalent to what a high-ranking military commander would wear.
His most militant efforts focusing on the African mind, Garvey’s publications were so radical that they had to be smuggled into African countries. As noted in the 1987 Congressional Hearing on the US government’s targeting of Garvey, those caught in the Belgian Congo with his Negro World newspaper, could face the death penalty.
“Always think of yourself as a perfect being.”
Marcus Garvey
Garvey’s example and his image invoke a call to militant discipline across the Black Diaspora, to a self-love and intra-racial cohesion so highly sacred that only global respect can follow them. Blay’s painting activates this awareness in its beauty, its luminescence, its depth, its richness.
Here, Garvey exemplifies a Black sovereignty that is resplendent, vibrant, exciting; his pride a palpable beacon of the resilience that continues to inspire movements for African and diasporic Liberation worldwide.
For this and similar pieces, you can visit Blay’s website here.
To study with Blay, go here.
View the full image in noirpress’ latest newsletter here.