PHILADELPHIA—Cosponsored by the Diopian Institute for Scholarly Advancement (DISA) and Temple University’s Department of Africology and African American Studies, this year’s keynote speaker for the 34th Annual Cheikh Anta Diop International Conference, is none other than Dr. Julius Garvey, son of the renowned 20th century African American Civil Rights activist, and Pan-Africanist— the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey (1887-1940). A Jamaican political activist, journalist, publisher, and entrepreneur, Marcus Garvey and his Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) galvanized Africana peoples from its inception in 1914 through the 1920s.
His son, Dr. Julius Garvey, became a prominent physician and surgeon. Earning his B.S. degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, in 1957 and his M.D., C.M. degree from McGill University Faculty of Medicine in 1961. Dr. Garvey began his medical career interning at The Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal in 1961 and 1962, and his first residency in general surgery at The Mount Sinai Hospital of New York; completing his residency in 1965 in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
Joining the faculty at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1971, Dr. Garvey was a sought-after instructor in surgery. He later joined the Albert Einstein College of Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Surgery and in 1988 as an Associate Professor of Surgery. Dr. Garvey was named Attending-in-Charge of Thoracic Surgery at Queens Hospital Center, in addition to serving as an Attending Surgeon in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center where he would eventually become the Long Island Jewish Medical Center’s Acting Program Director for the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery from 1980 to 1982, and Assistant Professor of Surgery at State University of New York at Stony Brook from 1978 to 1988.
Dr. Garvey started his own private practice in 1983. He served as Chief of Thoracic and Vascular Surgery at Queens Hospital Center from 1993 to 2006 and Chief of Vascular Thoracic Surgery at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center from 2000 to 2004. In addition to his other medical appointments, Dr. Garvey has served as an attending surgeon at North Shore University Hospital, Franklin General Hospital, Massapequa General Hospital, Catholic Medical Centers, and Little Neck Community Hospital.
Dr. Garvey has lectured in Agroecology in Ghana, South Africa, Namibia, Jamaica, and Trinidad and lectures annually at the Global Health Catalyst Summit since 2016. In recent years, Dr. Garvey lectures on the life and legacy of his father, The Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey. He continues his work to raise awareness about the injustices done to his father and to secure an exoneration for Marcus Garvey—falsely accused, charged, and convicted of mail fraud and deported by the United States government in 1927.
The. Cheikh Anta Diop International Conference is named for the celebrated African scholar and originally founded by Dr. Molefi Kete Asante thirty-four years ago. This year’s Cheikh Anta Diop International Conference will be held in person in Philadelphia, PA, on October 14-15, 2022, at the Temple Performing Arts Center (TPAC), 1837 North Broad Street. A description of the conference and information about DISA can be found on the link to our website.
