Jason Morrow American History II Prof. Bobo 2/18/16 Marcus Garvey is a renowned civil rights activist, who pushed for the betterment of the African people across the globe. Marcus was a very influential figure in his time, he came from humble beginnings. Marcus Garvey was born on 17 August 1887 in St. Ann 's Bay, St Ann Parish, Jamaica, to Marcus Garvey Sr and Sarah Jane Richards. Garvey was the youngest of 11 siblings, but only himself and one of his sisters survived to adulthood. In Garvey’s youth he proved to be a bright young man teaching himself to read on his own by reading books from his father’s home library. His teenage years proved to be Garvey’s most influential years, at the age of 14 he became a printers apprentice, during his apprenticeship, Garvey traveled to Kingston, Jamaica to take up work as a compositor at P.A. Benjamin Limited. While in Kingston Garvey was also an influential employee and, by 1907, was also elected the vice-president of the Typographical Union. Garvey 's first major role within the union was a printers strike in 1908. The strike was unsuccessful and lead to Garvey being fired. But his firing led him to a new horizon and love of political activism. Garvey’s main focus was to deal with the racial injustices Africans across the globe had to go through, and this led the creation of the “United Negro Improvement Association” (U.N.I.A) by Mr. Garvey in his mid-twenties. This foundation had a great following in its early stages but Garvey
Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey shared some similar ideologies, however to a large extent Washington’s philosophies contradict Garvey’s outlook on African American society. Washington was known for accommodating the white people’s desires. For instance, “he advised African Americans to accept segregation, work hard for the friendship of whites, and achieve economic equity”. Washington probably encouraged African Americans to accept their circumstances, because he knew that fighting against norms would be a difficult task to accomplish and he wanted the race to better themselves through hard work during an era of prejudice. This belief contradicts Garvey’s ideas, because Garvey believed that pleasing the white man was the issue that prevented African Americans from being viewed as equals in the society. Although both men believed that working hard would gain Blacks an advantage in their community, Washington advocated for satisfying the white man while Garvey’s thoughts of Black Nationalism lied in the separate rights of Blacks and keeping the white man out of their way to success. Garvey’s ideology to promote economic equality of the black race was not liked by the white race, and compared to Washington’s policy of accommodation and gradual progress, was more acceptable to whites.
Soon after World War I, Garvey concluded that the anger that engulfed many Black communities after the war could be used as a catalyst to end both imperialism in Africa and discrimination in the United States. He combined the economic nationalist ideas of Booker T. Washington with various Pan-Africanist idealists of the time. Garvey’s goals were modern and urban. He wanted to end imperialist rule and create modern societies in Africa. He formed black communities on three continents with his newspaper the “Negro World ,” and in 1919 he established the Black Star Line, an international shipping company to provided transportation and encourage trade among the Blacks in Africa and Blacks in the United States. In the same year he founded the Negro Factories Corporation to establish such
At the beginning of the book, Haley describes how Malcolm’s father, a Baptist Minister, played an enormous role in his life. He taught Malcolm how be a strong independent man and provided him with a structure of beliefs. Most of his beliefs came from the teachings of Marcus Garvey, the founder of the U.N.I.A (Universal Negro Improvement Association), which was dedicated to raise the banner of black purity and exhorting the Negro masses to return to their ancestral African homeland. Haley then moves on to explain how Malcolm and his family faced a lot of discrimination throughout their lives. X even drops out of school at age 15 because his teachers told him that a black man will never become a lawyer. Malcolm would then go down a slippery slope using and selling drugs.
African-Americans attempted to establish themselves and prove to whites that they were capable citizens. Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association emphasized racial pride and economic self-help, and Booker T. Washington, leading spokesperson for the plight of African-Americans, told blacks to ignore racial slurs and inferiority comments while working to build self-dignity and worth. Washington believed that in order to identify themselves, they had to cooperate with whites and gain respect over time. In Addition, many African-Americans began to define themselves as a race in the nineteenth century by leaving white churches and creating their own. They worshiped according to their own customs, chose leaders, managed religious affairs, and established a lifestyle of their own. The African-Americans as a race attempted to define themselves as dignified, economically independent citizens.
According to Marcus Garvey, the “Negro’s greatest enemy” were white people and politicians. Essentially, politicians, of every race, were blocking his efforts. Garvey communicated that there was no solution to this problem, unless black people created their own country. This would have given them economical and social freedom. Since God was their inspiration, it was always intended that everyone was free, and not was not to be enslaved by others. Garvey thought that no one should ever feel superior, when it came to race. Although, Garvey did not outright convey who the “enemy” was, it can be interpreted that white people were the enemy.
The 1920’s were a time of change for African Americans. They were beginning to retain a sense of pride in their background and culture, were becoming more independent socially and economically, and were becoming more militant. Part of this was because of the Great Migration, in which a proliferation of African Americans moved from the Southern states to the Northern states, and the excessive levels of racism and prejudice they faced during the process. African Americans were really starting to make their voices and identities prevalent, especially through movements like the Harlem Renaissance and Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). This mentality of independence and militance that African Americans adopted which is represented through the actions of Ossian Sweet is what makes up the 1920s cultural construct of the “New Negro” which allowed me to understand the realness and effectiveness of cultural constructs.
Nonetheless, Garvey’s vision for Negroes was that we can do anything that we set our minds to regardless of the circumstances that we could face. Garvey writes, “ Let no man pull you down, let no man destroy your ambition, because man is but your companion, your equal; man is your brother; he is not your lord; he is not your sovereign master”. (p.1003) Garvey’s vision to the Negroes was that man is not the one you live for, God is the one who will be their with you to the end and he will never leave you.
However, not everyone appreciated his views and techniques, and some black leaders called his philosophy rash. Some even thought that the UNIA was more radical and dangerous than the Ku Klux Klan. In fact, a famous black leader at the time, W.E.B. Du Bois called Garvey, “the most dangerous enemy of the Negro race in America,” and J. Edgar Hoover, former director of the FBI, felt threatened by Garvey as Hoover saw him as a “notorious negro agitator.” In 1922, Marcus Garvey was charged with mail fraud involving the Black Star Line, and after he was released, he was deported to Jamaica. Marcus Garvey’s legacy still lives on today as his message of freedom and pride influenced many civil rights movements in
After the end of slavery, blacks were free and had the right to vote, but they were oppressed by white supremacist and state laws that restricted their voting rights. Many great minds rose from the shadows and spoke against these injustice, but the one that stands out the most is Marcus Garvey. Garvey created a huge impact in the African-American history, but his stubbornness and ignorance lead to his self-destruction. As a young boy, in Jamaica, Garvey was inspired by the works of Booker T Washington especially by the book “Up from Slavery”. From a young age, Garvey believed that is was his destiny to speak in front of millions this was one of the many reasons why he became an activist. Throughout his lifetime he made enemies with other African- American activist, like W. E. B Du Bois, who criticized Garvey and his ideology. The first American branch of the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) was established by Garvey in September 1917; the main causes of this association was to improve the lives of African Americans around the world and to take back Africa from the grasps of the white men and claim it for the Africans that were scattered around the world. Marcus was put on trial on May 18 1923 this marked the beginning of the downfall of Garvey’s empire. In general, Marcus Garvey was an activist who wanted the best for his people but his downfall was cause by his own stubbornness and because he surrounded himself by incompetent people and his enemies.
African Fundamentalism is an essential life lesson by seeking to emancipate Africans or Afro-Caribbean from the manipulative viewpoint of mental slavery. Marcus Garvey states, “To emancipate
During the 1930’s, the Civil Rights movement was still fighting hard for the rights that everyone is granted today. Behind this, there were many outstanding men and women that were helping the movement along such as Amelia Boynton, A. Philip Randolph, and Roy Wilkins. These men and women spoke out and used their voices to help their friends and families gain the rights that they deserved. They have had an impact both during the 1930’s and still have one today in many subjects such as Civil Rights and the arts. Today these men and women are recognized as important figures in the Civil Rights movement.
In many ways it could be argued that Marcus Garvey was the most significant African American civil rights leader of this time because of his role in tackling the social issues African American’s faced. He aimed to improve the lives of African Americans by encouraging them to take control of their own affairs and education. His role surrounding this issue is illustrated by his founding of the UNIA. This Universal Negro Improvement Association was an organisation dedicated to racial pride, economic self sufficiency and the formation of an independent black nation in Africa. Through this and the magazine the ‘Negro World’ he urged African Americans to be proud of their race, and argued “a people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots”. It has been said that through Garvey’s dedication to social improvement for his race he managed to capture the imagination of many blacks for whom the American Dream was a dirty joke.
By the end of 1919, Garvey had a booming business and 3 million followers. His most prominent project was “The Black StarLine”, a shipping company that he envisioned for the people. However, in the following years, everything went downhill for Garvey. The Black StarLine investment failed because of internal corruption in his business, and it was on the road to bankruptcy in 1921. In 1923, Garvey and three of his close associates were arrested for mail fraud pertaining to The Black StarLine.
Marcus Garvey was a Pan Africanist who believed in unity of all Black people across the world and that all Blacks who were descendants from African were all one people. This was appealing to African American because Garvey preached of African Americans have a sense of pride even though white supremacy was riding unbound. Also, Garvey preached repatriation to Liberia in Africa.
The goals advocated by the UNIA include equal opportunities for the black population. The fulfillment of these goals would lead to equal treatment of the blacks in recruitment activities. This will improve their financial position, thereby, bringing crime rate, including hate crimes. The second issue is about discrimination and police brutality against the blacks as evidenced by incarceration of the latter. It goes without saying that some of these youths are engaged in crime for being idle due to lack of employment opportunities. In applying the Association goals to this issue, Garvey’s program would see the African population enhance societal values and increase participation in national administration (Garvey). In fact, the prevalence of unemployment in the black community has led to deprivation in decision making on many national issues. The government programs are developed by the people’s representatives who make laws to govern and guide implementation of government plans. Earlier, since the blacks used to elect white leaders to represent their interests, they were put to disadvantage by the latter; that used to divert sizeable portion of the budget for development of infrastructure and other activities which primarily benefitted the whites. The application of the UNIA program will help the matters in the sense that the black community will elect one of their own members to represent them. Through this representation, the black population stands in a better position in terms of accessibility to government services and involvement in developmental of