Black nationalist and political activist. Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. was born on August 17, 1887, in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, to a family of modest means. His father was a stonemason, and his mother was a domestic worker. Growing up in Jamaica, Garvey was exposed to the social and economic conditions that shaped the lives of people of African descent. The island was still reeling from the effects of slavery and colonialism, and Garvey witnessed first hand the poverty, inequality, and racial tension that characterized Jamaican society.
As a young man, Garvey was influenced by the ideas of black nationalism and Pan-Africanism, which emphasized the unity and solidarity of people of African descent across the globe. He was particularly drawn to the work of Booker T. Washington, an African American educator and leader who advocated for the economic empowerment of black people through education and entrepreneurship.
Garvey recalled first encountering racism while in elementary school, sparking his lifelong activism. He attended school in his home of Jamaica before moving to London where he studied law and philosophy at the University of London’s Birbeck from 1912-1914. There, Garvey made a name for himself, working for a Pan-Africanism newspaper and leading regular discourse and debates about equitable rights.
After attaining his degree, Garvey returned to Jamaica and formed the United Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA), a black nationalist fraternal organization whose mission was to uplift the lives of people of African descent. Garvey’s personal intent for the organization was to “establish one grand racial hierarchy” for blacks, meaning unifying all members of the African diaspora and providing education and economic independence.
In 1916, Garvey moved to Harlem in New York City and established a chapter of the UNIA, where the organization gained popularity and invigorated the incipient Harlem Renaissance. He was struck by the racism and segregation that pervaded American society, and he quickly became a vocal advocate for the rights of African Americans. Garvey's experiences in the United States deepened his commitment to the cause of black nationalism and Pan-Africanism, and he began to build a movement that would have far-reaching consequences.
The UNIA's mission was multifaceted: To promote the economic empowerment of black people through entrepreneurship and cooperation, to advocate for the rights of African people globally, to foster a sense of unity and solidarity among people of African descent.
The UNIA grew rapidly, with chapters across the United States and internationally. At its peak, the organization had over 1,000 chapters in more than 40 countries, making it one of the largest black nationalist movements in history.. Reflecting a desire to unite and lift the African diaspora “New World,” Garvey glorified African civilization and Black superiority, and even began practical projects for repatriation to the continent.
Through the UNIA, Garvey created, among other things, a printing house, factories, trading companies and schools with the single aim of improving the life of Black people. Among his numerous accomplishments, was his weekly newspaper, The Negro World which enabled him to inform readers about UNIA activities and thus convey a Pan-African message. Actually, Garvey wanted to restore Black people’s dignity which slavery and colonization had tried to degrade.
He wanted Black people to stop thinking they were inferior beings and that they could acquire knowledge, technical and financial means to free themselves from the yoke of White people. What is more, Garvey became more and more involved in the back-to-Africa movement and created an international shipping company called the Black Star Line. It was, in fact, a shipping line belonging to Black people and operating by and for them – stocks were sold at UNIA conventions –, whose long-term main goal was the repatriation of AfricanAmericans, African-Jamaicans and other Black people of the Diaspora to their African homeland.
Today, everyone agrees that Marcus Garvey’s Black Star Line stands as a strong symbol of Pan-Africanism. Garvey saw himself as “Provisional President of Africa,” showing his strong belief in a personal destiny as the redeemer of Africa.
It is important to note that, racially speaking, Garvey argued for segregation rather than integration. He advocated separation between Whites and Blacks and was clearly against intermixed couples. He believed in “race purity” and accordingly in the principle of Africa for the Africans.
Following the examples of the USA, the United Kingdom (UK) and other European countries, Garvey promoted the establishment of a strong and powerful African empire for and governed by Africans, and put forward his person for the position of the eventual head of Africa.
Marcus Garvey responded to violence, racism and nationalism of the White society of the time with the same weapons, namely racism and xenophobia. But, such an attitude did not uplift the Pan-African movement; it completely undermined the credibility of it instead. Indeed, this could have had serious consequences such as the confusion between PanAfricanism and doctrines like those of apartheid or Nazism.
Moreover, this is worth noting that “in March 1934, in his magazine, The Black Man, Garvey recommended that his readers peruse Mein Kampf, expressing his hope that one day the Black race would produce its own Hitler.”
He also wrote the following disturbing words, “Hitler has a lesson to teach and he is teaching it well.” In fact, Hitler was not the only European leader whom Marcus Garvey admired; he also paid tribute to Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy, and Napoleon, the high priest of slavery and colonization. Last but not least, he even began a close association with the White racist group named the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), praising the Klan’s intention of making America a White man’s country.
In July 1922, he publicly said: From impressions, from my observations, from my understanding, the Ku Klux Klan is a mighty white organization in the United States of America, organized for the purpose of upholding white supremacy in this country; organized for the purpose of making America a white man’s country, pure and simple. The organization has absolutely no apology to make as far as its program is concerned – a program of making America a white man’s country. […] Whilst the Ku Klux Klan desires to make America absolutely a white man’s country, the Universal Negro Improvement Association wants to make Africa absolutely a Black man’s country. "
This alliance of Marcus Garvey with this racist group was more than controversial. It could be perceived on the one hand as totally insulting to Black people, and on the other hand as a real pact with the devil. Generally speaking, Marcus Garvey’s attitude towards the KKK as well as the European fascists mentioned earlier was totally irresponsible and contradictory for an alleged PanAfricanist. What is more, it could have contributed to legitimizing the enslavement and colonization which Marcus Garvey was supposed to fight against.
As a result of this Garvey’s philosophies brought a certain amount of criticism. While UNIA was exclusively made up of Black people, a more popular movement in the United States was the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which had a foundational commitment to multiracial membership.
Leading rights activist W.E.B. du Bois, a member of this organization, referred to Marcus Garvey as “the most dangerous enemy of the Negro race in America.” The reasoning for this was that Garvey and UNIA promoted the idea of racial segregation, which Du Bois argued was supporting the same argument as the Ku Klux Klan. The "Garvey Must Go" campaign (1922-23) was led by Du Bois and A. Philip Randolph, who saw Marcus Garvey as a divisive demagogue promoting racial separatism and "back to Africa" schemes that undermined integration efforts.
They were also upset over his authoritarian style, alleged fraud, and his 1922 meeting with KKK leader Edward Young Clarke, where Garvey sought alignment on racial purity and anti-miscegenation views, viewing the KKK as "honest" white supremacists.
Those with philosophical differences, however, were not the most dangerous of Marcus Garvey’s enemies. J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), the precursor to the FBI, wanted to deport Garvey as early as 1919, but could find no cause.
The BOI eventually charged him, and three other officers of Black Star Line, with mail fraud in 1922 for having an image of a ship that did not belong to the Black Star Line on a brochure cover and Garvey lost authority of the shipping line. Garvey was arrested in 1925 and chose to represent himself at trial, which did not serve him well. While the other co-defendants were found not guilty, his defense which was aggressive, suggested conspiracies and featured a three-hour long closing argument, led to him being sentenced to five years.
He was held at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary for two years until his sentence was commuted and he was deported on the orders of President Calvin Coolidge in 1927. Back in Jamaica, Garvey continued to fight for equal rights and founded the People’s Political Party (PPP) in 1929, which served as Jamaica’s first modern political party. The PPP administration worked on providing equal rights for workers, students, and providing necessary aid for poor people.
It's important to point out another inconsistency in Garvey's his life which lies in his attitude towards Christianity. It is common knowledge that Marcus Garvey was a Christian, a Roman Catholic first and then a member of the African Orthodox Church to be precise. He showed great respect for the Bible, the King James Version,– and often referred to the Holy Book in his speeches. Moreover, one of his favourite quotations was: “Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.”
The distinctive characteristic of his faith was that he believed in a Black God, the “God of Ethiopia” as he used to call him, and promoted an Afrocentric version of Christianity.
To support his beliefs, he used the few references to Ethiopia in the Bible as well as the following verse: “God created man in his image” Marcus Garvey being a Black man, so was God according to him. He also obviously denounced the Eurocentric interpretations of the Bible which, moreover, had contributed to the oppression and enslavement of Africans. In reality, his Afrocentric version of Christianity was absolutely comprehensible for it constituted a legitimate response to Christianity which played a significant role in slavery and colonization. Nevertheless, although it was an Afrocentric version of Christianity, the fact remains that it was Christianity, namely the religion of the colonizer.
This approach was in a way incoherent for a Pan-Africanist, especially a so-called uncompromising one like him. the very concept of Pan-Africanism is supposed to be intrinsically linked with the notion of African pride and to be proud of their African cultural heritage. So it would have been much more Pan-African for Marcus Garvey to return to the spirituality of his forefathers, namely religions such as Voodoo, Myal or even Rastafari, instead of embracing his torturers’ religion.
Though he faced political persecution and was eventually deported from the United States, Garvey’s impact remains undeniable. He continued his work abroad, speaking to the League of Nations in Switzerland on issues of race and justice and establishing the People’s Political Party in Jamaica, which focused on workers’ rights and the poor.
Despite the mass of contradictions Garvey's message of black nationalism and self-reliance continues to inspire activists and leaders today. His legacy is complex and multifaceted, with both critics and admirers acknowledging his significant impact on African American history and culture.
Garvey's influence can be seen in a range of social and cultural movements, from the Civil Rights Movement to contemporary Black Lives Matter activism. Garvey's Pan-African philosophy inspired a global mass movement, known as Garveyism. Garveyism would eventually inspire others, from the Nation of Islam to the Rastafari movement.
Dubbed the “Black Moses,” Marcus Garvey, is often favorably portrayed as an apostle of “race pride” and “racial uplift.” Parks, school buildings and even school curricula are still named in his honor. He created the popular African Black Liberation flag. of red, black, and green, is believed to have coined the phrase “black is beautiful,” and collaborated in the formation of the nationalist African Orthodox Church.
Among a wide variety of famous Pan-Africanists and Black nationalists who have claimed to take their inspiration from him are Malcolm X Dr. Martin Luther King Jr,.Kwame Nkrumah – the first President of independent Ghana in 1957 –, Leopold Sedar Senghor – the first President of independent Senegal in 1960 and father of the Negritude –, Patrice Lumumba – the first Prime Minister of independent Congo in 1960 –, Julius Nyerere – the first President of independent Tanzania in 1962 –, Jomo Kenyatta – the first President of independent Kenya in 1964 –, Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X, the Nigerian singer Fela Anikulapo Kuti and the Jamaican reggae stars Burning Spear and Bob Marley to name just a few.
It also must be stressed that the Rastafarian movement, has been clearly influenced by Marcus Garvey’s ideologies. Moreover, according to Robert Hill, an authority on Marcus Garvey, “the Rastafarians have more than anyone kept alive his memory after his death in 1940.
This last point is very interesting because Marcus Garvey was very critical of the one they consider their God, whom they call Jah then Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie I, though the latter was a key figure in Pan-Africanism. Seeing himself as eventual President of Africa, Garvey probably saw Haile Selassie as his rival.
Garvey left Jamaica for England in 1935. Despite being removed from the centre of his UNIA, he continued to advocate for Black empowerment. His failing health, that began whilst in prison made it difficult for him to do so with the same vigour he had built his movement on. In January 1940, he suffered a stroke which left him paralysed. He died on June 10, 1940, at the age of 52 from a second stroke.
Because of travel restrictions, Garvey’s body was transported back to his homeland twenty years after his death. Today Garvey’s body rests in the National Heroes Park in Kingston, Jamaica.
To conclude, Marcus Garvey undeniably played an important role in Pan-Africanism, especially with the UNIA, the Black Star Line and the back-to-Africa movement, which definitely gave him credit, which must be the reason why he was proclaimed Jamaica’s first National Hero in 1964. And earlier this year, more than 100 years after Garvey’s conviction, he was granted a full Presidential pardon by Joe Biden.
Nevertheless, his personality remains complex, multifaceted whose controversial actions and beliefs continue to be debated. He is a complex figure whose legacy is both celebrated and criticized .Some of his ideals were certainly outlandish and divisive for his problematic relationships with white supremacists and his harsh rhetoric.
But his legacy is that his advocacy and promotion of Black pride is at the centre of Black identity around the world today. He has been immortalised by his words and the imprint of his vision amongst the Black global community. He remains to many a visionary leader who passionately championed empowerment for the black community.
Garvey encouraged African people around the world to be proud of their race and to see beauty in their own kind. His central belief was that African people in every part of the world were one people and that they would never progress if they did not put aside their cultural and ethnic differences. Garvey's ultimate dream was for the creation of a United States of Africa. Garvey set the precedent for subsequent black nationalist and Pan-Africanist thought.
Garvey wished to inspire a global mass-movement and-economic empowerment focusing on Africa, where he sought to end imperialist rule and create modern societies. He argued that black people would be respected only when they were economically strong and proposed an independent black economy. : Although Garvey was a supporter of racial separatism, he believed that humans were all equal and did not wish to create a hostile atmosphere with white people. The purpose of separatism was to empower black people and to enable them to find an identity.
His teachings and actions have since ignited a powerful sense of self-worth and cultural pride, motivating countless individuals to embrace their roots and face challenges with resilience. While his famous words, “Up, you mighty race, accomplish what you will,” can still continue to serve as a rallying cry for those committed to Black empowerment and liberation.
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