Ten O’clock on a Saturday Night

It is 10 p.m. on Saturday, September 19, 2026, and I am putting the final touches on The Story of Marcus Garvey , a course I created to accompany the biography The Story of Marcus Garvey . The book runs six chapters and was written at an eighth-grade level to make it easy for anyone to understand.

The book also gathers twenty-four Garvey quotations I looked up myself. The book tells the story, and the course asks a young reader to do something with what they have learned.

So, the course has a shape, and the shape has a name. The Garvey Learning Cycle.

Mind, then Purpose, then Perseverance, then Reflect, then back to Mind. Garvey did not invent these categories.

I did. But if you read one life closely enough, you will find the method in it.

The cycle gives a learner somewhere to stand. A girl notices a word in chapter three.

It bothers her for a day before she works out why. She does something about it, and the doing takes longer than the deciding did.

Afterward she wonders whether she got it right. Then she returns to the same paragraph carrying something she did not have the first time.

Grownups need somewhere to stand too. The Parent and Homeschool Companion is built for them.

It helps a parent prepare and find the answers to questions their child may be asking. It walks them into the hard parts of Garvey’s life, the racism and the rejection and the organized opposition, without pressing their child to say more about themselves than they want to.

I’ve also used Notebook LM to extend assistance to parents and families that homeschool. It has sections such as The Story of Marcus Garvey: Course at a Glance and How the Companion Supports Your Family.

And I haven’t forgotten the teachers and the administrators who want class sets or maybe a school license. The School Edition is complete and awaiting attorney review of its licensing structure.

In a way, building this course feels like kismet. I am bringing together all my skills as a writer, teacher, professor, and chairperson.

This may be true. Or not.

All I know is that I want to get some sleep. Good night, my friends.

If you’d like to learn more about the book and/or the course, here are the links=: The Story of Marcus Garvey The Story of Marcus Garvey: The Course Support the mission of The Garvey Classroom to help Black children grow into confident, conscious, and capable young people who know who they are, think for themselves, and live lives of purpose. Get full access to The Garvey Classroom at geoffreyphilp.substack.com/subscribe