Marcus Garvey’s Revolutionary Call for Black Emancipation
A Jamaican-born political activist, publisher, entrepreneur, and thought leader, Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) is best known for his role as founder and President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL). He is widely regarded as one of the most influential Black leaders of the 20th century.
Born in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, Garvey was an early advocate for the rights of African people in the diaspora and their repatriation to their ancestral homeland. He was a strong proponent of Pan-Africanism and established the UNIA-ACL to promote black pride, economic self-sufficiency, and racial unity.
Garvey was also a prolific publisher. He founded several newspapers, including the Negro World, which was widely read in the African diaspora. Through his publications, he spread his message of Black pride, self-reliance, and economic independence.
Garvey’s legacy lives on in the form of the Marcus Garvey Movement, which is dedicated to continuing his legacy of Pan-Africanism and Black self-determination. His influence can also be seen in the civil rights movement and in the works of many African-American leaders, including Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.
In the book The Defender: How The Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America, author Ethan Michaeli notes that Garvey originally visited New York City in 1916 to raise money for a Jamaican school modeled after Washington’s Tuskegee Institute.
“Immediately attracted to the thriving community of West Indian expatriates living in Harlem, however, he decided to base UNIA in this community. He quickly launched a series of businesses, including a clothes-cleaning service and several restaurants; but the most successful enterprise was a monthly newspaper, The Negro World, which, within a few months, achieved a circulation in the tens of thousands. All of Garvey’s businesses, including The Negro World, depended on irregular infusions of cash from UNIA members to stay afloat, but it didn’t matter—he had tapped into a deep well of sentiment within the African American community, which appeared willing to subsidize any and all of his efforts.”
Michaeli continues:
“In the fall of 1919, Marcus Garvey came to Chicago to promote his dream of a black Utopia on the continent of Africa, and galvanized the community with his message of racial independence. A native of Jamaica, Garvey had spent several years in London, where he mingled with scholars and revolutionaries. from colonial societies throughout the British Empire, studying African and Asian history as well as Booker T. Washington’s autobiography, Up from Slavery, from which he absorbed a strong self-help philosophy.”
Michaeli adds that it was while living in Jamaica that Garvey forged these ideas into the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), whose mission was to “take Africa, organize it, develop it, arm it, and make it the defender of the Negroes the world over.”
In 1919 Marcus Garvey in conjunction with the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) launched the Black Star Line, a shipping company formed with the intent of providing economic independence and self-sufficiency for Black Americans. It was viewed as a symbol of Black pride and self-determination as well as a means for transporting goods, services, and people between the United States, the Caribbean, and Africa.
The Black Star Line was initially funded by UNIA members who purchased shares in the company. Garvey raised over $1 million from UNIA members and other investors. The Black Star Line purchased two ships: the SS Yarmouth, which was purchased in 1919, and the SS Shadyside, which was purchased in 1920.
Unfortunately, the Black Star Line was plagued by financial difficulties and mismanagement. In 1921, the US government began investigating the company for fraud and mismanagement. In 1922, Garvey was convicted of mail fraud and sentenced to five years in prison. The Black Star Line eventually went bankrupt in 1922 and its assets were sold to pay off creditors.
Despite its failure, the Black Star Line is seen as an important symbol of Black economic and social empowerment. It was an important part of Garvey's vision of Pan-Africanism and Black pride, and it helped to inspire the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The legacy of the Black Star Line continues to be a source of inspiration for African Americans today.
Garvey revolutionary impact, rise and eventual demise is exquisitely well captured in the biography “Negro With A Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey.” This book chronicles Garvey's life from his humble beginnings in Jamaica to his rise as a leader of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League. It follows Garvey's journey from his early days in Jamaica and his involvement in the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, to his time in the United States and his eventual deportation.
The book also examines the impact of Garvey's ideas on the civil rights movement and his legacy today. It offers a comprehensive and detailed look at the life and times of Marcus Garvey, providing insight into the man and his beliefs. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the history of the civil rights movement and the life of Marcus Garvey.
