AAASM.ORG
IMPROVING THE LIVES OF BLACK PEOPLE THROUGH
AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION
IMPROVING THE LIVES OF BLACK PEOPLE THROUGH
AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION
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| AAASM Black History Research Project |
| Marcus Mosiah Garvey 1887-1940 |
Leader of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, first African-American leader in
American history to organize masses of people in a political movement.
Garvey was born in Jamaica and immigrated to Harlem in 1916 at the age of 28. In his
homeland he had been an admirer of Booker T. Washington's philosophy of
self-improvement for people of African descent and had formed the Jamaica Improvement
Association. When he arrived in America his ideas expanded and he became a Black
Nationalist. For him, Africa was the ancestral home and spiritual base for all people of
African descent. His political goal was to take Africa back from European domination and
build a free and United Black Africa. He advocated the Back-to-Africa Movement and
organized a shipping company called the Black Star Line which was part of his program to
conduct international trade between black Africans and the rest of the world in order to
"uplift the race" and eventually return to Africa.
Garvey studied all of the literature he could find on African history and culture and
decided to launch the Universal Negro Improvement Association with the goal of unifying
"all the Negro peoples of the world into one great body and to establish a country and
government absolutely on their own". The motto of the U.N.I.A. was "One God! One Aim!
One Destiny." The Negro World was the U.N.I.A. weekly newspaper founded in 1918. It
was published in French and Spanish as well as English. In it African history and heroes
were glorified.
The ranks of the U.N.I.A. were comprised of African "nobility" - knights of the Nile, dukes
of the Niger and Uganda; knights of Ethiopia, duchesses, etc. Garvey himself was the
"Provisional President of Africa" and he and the members of his empire paraded in
elaborate military uniforms. Harlem loved parades and street ceremonies, and the U.N.I.A.
gave the grandest. During their annual conventions, thousands of delgates from all over
the United States, the Caribbean, Central America and Africa marched up and down the
streets of Harlem with their banners, uniforms and colorfully decorated cars. Garvey
travelled throughout the United States speaking and meeting with African-American
leaders. In the post World War I economic crisis and with racial discrimination, lynching
and poor housing, the masses of Black people were ready for a leader who was
aggressive and had a plan to "uplift the race". The U.N.I.A. grew quickly. By 1919 there
were over 30 branches throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America and
Africa. Garvey claimed over a milllion people had joined his organization in 3 years.
In nine years Garvey built the largest mass movement of people of African descent in this
country's history. It began to fail after he was convicted of mail fraud and was deported
from the U.S. The Black Star Line failed because of purported mismanagement and lack
of sufficient funds. However, the U.N.I.A. still survives today and Garvey left a legacy of
racial pride and identification with a glorious African heritage for African Americans.
American history to organize masses of people in a political movement.
Garvey was born in Jamaica and immigrated to Harlem in 1916 at the age of 28. In his
homeland he had been an admirer of Booker T. Washington's philosophy of
self-improvement for people of African descent and had formed the Jamaica Improvement
Association. When he arrived in America his ideas expanded and he became a Black
Nationalist. For him, Africa was the ancestral home and spiritual base for all people of
African descent. His political goal was to take Africa back from European domination and
build a free and United Black Africa. He advocated the Back-to-Africa Movement and
organized a shipping company called the Black Star Line which was part of his program to
conduct international trade between black Africans and the rest of the world in order to
"uplift the race" and eventually return to Africa.
Garvey studied all of the literature he could find on African history and culture and
decided to launch the Universal Negro Improvement Association with the goal of unifying
"all the Negro peoples of the world into one great body and to establish a country and
government absolutely on their own". The motto of the U.N.I.A. was "One God! One Aim!
One Destiny." The Negro World was the U.N.I.A. weekly newspaper founded in 1918. It
was published in French and Spanish as well as English. In it African history and heroes
were glorified.
The ranks of the U.N.I.A. were comprised of African "nobility" - knights of the Nile, dukes
of the Niger and Uganda; knights of Ethiopia, duchesses, etc. Garvey himself was the
"Provisional President of Africa" and he and the members of his empire paraded in
elaborate military uniforms. Harlem loved parades and street ceremonies, and the U.N.I.A.
gave the grandest. During their annual conventions, thousands of delgates from all over
the United States, the Caribbean, Central America and Africa marched up and down the
streets of Harlem with their banners, uniforms and colorfully decorated cars. Garvey
travelled throughout the United States speaking and meeting with African-American
leaders. In the post World War I economic crisis and with racial discrimination, lynching
and poor housing, the masses of Black people were ready for a leader who was
aggressive and had a plan to "uplift the race". The U.N.I.A. grew quickly. By 1919 there
were over 30 branches throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America and
Africa. Garvey claimed over a milllion people had joined his organization in 3 years.
In nine years Garvey built the largest mass movement of people of African descent in this
country's history. It began to fail after he was convicted of mail fraud and was deported
from the U.S. The Black Star Line failed because of purported mismanagement and lack
of sufficient funds. However, the U.N.I.A. still survives today and Garvey left a legacy of
racial pride and identification with a glorious African heritage for African Americans.
| In His Own Words Play Now |
Hear the narrated words of Marcus Garvey on his
organization, the Universal Negro Improvement
Association (excerpt length: 2:05 min.); his Black Star
Line venture into commercial shipping (1:35 min.); and
his 1925 arrest (1:00 min.).
organization, the Universal Negro Improvement
Association (excerpt length: 2:05 min.); his Black Star
Line venture into commercial shipping (1:35 min.); and
his 1925 arrest (1:00 min.).