The Making of “Garvey’s Ghost”
From a single, humble idea to a fully realized series, Garvey’s Ghost is a story born of love, laughter, and community. At its heart is a question: what if the spirit of Marcus Garvey returned to witness the world he fought to change?
Origins
The spark came from a few pages in Mr. Denham Jolly’s autobiography, In The Black: My Life.
In 1955, a 19-year-old Denham arrived in Toronto from Jamaica with little more than hope and a letter of introduction to Violet Williams. Violet, a cleaner by day and a force of nature by calling, welcomed new immigrants, found them jobs, managed their finances and social lives, and led the Toronto chapter of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).
Toronto then was cold in more ways than spirit endured in Canada long after his death. At one point, 34 U.N.I.A. chapters operated across the country, living on through leaders like Violet.
Development
Inspired by Violet’s resilience and Garvey’s legacy, I gathered a group of actors to explore the story. During an improv, a young actor said he wanted to play Marcus Garvey. “But Garvey is dead,” we reminded him. The room lit up. We imagined Garvey reappearing to his devoted follower, Miss Violet, as she navigated frigid, racist 1950s Toronto. He would comfort her, challenge her, argue with her—cantankerous, opinionated, and full of warmth. She would meet him toe to toe. Their spirited debates—sharp, funny, and full of heart—became the backbone of the show.
The concept deepened into a comedy that never flinches from the pain and struggle of the era, balancing it with the irrepressible wit that defines the Caribbean experience. After two weeks of improvisation—laughter and discovery that we captured on video—our writer, Mary Wells, took the reins and shaped that energy into the first scripts.
Production
People ask, “How do you know when you’re on the right track?” I don’t. But when I can follow the fun, I stop worrying. The more we laughed, the less we overthought. Laughter became our compass. We didn’t always know what we were making, but we trusted the spark and kept going.
And that is the gift of the creative process: if you are lucky, at some point, the story takes on a life of its own and begins to guide its makers. We become the mouthpieces—the palette—for a larger creative spirit moving through us. You feel it: bigger than you, slightly beyond your control, perhaps a bit scary. You surrender. That is where the magic lives.
The Result
I’ve never seen anything quite like Garvey’s Ghost. We call it “the little series that could.”
From a few lines in a book, it grew into something bright, surprising, and original—the humor, the story, the colors. The juxtaposition of laughter and life’s harshness is true to our experience and who we are as Caribbean people.
As Miss Lou taught us: out of agony, we have learned to create joy. In that spirit, our national hero Garvey slips into the crafty, nimble form of Anansi—wise, witty, ever alive in our imaginations.
Latest News
- Garvey’s Ghost was screened at Skylark Film Festivalto an enthusiastic audience.
- Star of Garvey’s Ghost, Owen “Blakka” Ellis, appeared on CVM Sunrise to discuss the film and its cultural impact.
- Garvey’s Ghost was also featured in The Gleaner, in an interview with director Frances-Anne Solomon and actor Owen “Blakka” Ellis.
A Glimpse Into Garvey’s Ghost
