Marcus Garvey : The Black Star Line

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.

This idea has taken on many different forms over the past century and a half, and its discourse has evolved alongside the major works of prominent figures like W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Delany, and Marcus Garvey. A common theme among these thinkers is the notion of historicizing the development of black culture relative to diasporic movements in the preceding centuries. However, they differ significantly in their visions and aspirations for the culture at large, as well as in their interpretations of how peoples of African descent should behave with respect to the dominant (primarily white) societies in which they live and function. In particular, earlier scholars like Du Bois tended to “sustain their faith in a partnership with white allies, wagering that [their] commitments to ‘civilization building’ ... would hasten the day when they and their race would be respected as equal partners” (Ewing 16). In contrast, Garvey, a contemporary of Locke, supported a radical agenda for African independence, and a mass migration to bring peoples of African descent back to Africa (Ewing 76).

Garvey’s life from 1887 to 1940 inspired many people around the world through many things that he created or supported. By making and helping with newspapers such as Negro World, African Times, and Orient Review. Founding a shipping company run entirely by African Americans, saying that the black population is not dependent on whites. He also craved having unity through the world with all people with an origin root that is African. He didn’t just support racial, but global, peace throughout the world. He also associated with many other known figures that were civil right activist like Booker T. Washington. In the long run Garvey was a sensation to the world, in many ways to many people.

Following the Civil War, America was seeping with racial tension. Jim Crow laws were on the rise, as were miscegenation laws and lynchings. This proved that while blacks were free of slavery, their struggle for equality was far from over. With racial integration out of the question, prominent black leaders were forced to pull their resources and rethink their political strategies. Some of these leaders were Booker T. Washington, W.E.B Du Bois, Alexander Crummell, and Marcus Garvey. These four men’s political philosophies played a vital role in revitalizing black nationalism, cultural pride, and civil liberties at a time when all of these things seemed out of reach.

Marcus Garvey came to the U.S. less than ten years ago, unheralded, unfriended, without acquaintance, relationship, or means of livelihood. This Jamaican immigrant was thirty years old, partially educated, and 100 per cent black. He possessed neither comeliness of appearance nor attractive physical

Marcus Garvey was the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). This association offered principles and a viewpoint for Negro self-reliance and African reclamation in the 1914’s. Garvey and a few of his followers organized events in New York City, the Harlem chapter of the UNIA. During one of his speeches, in August of 1921, also known as The Handwriting Is on the Wall, Garvey emphasized the need of the emancipation of the Negro race (p.31, pp. 2) when he said, “We have come to the conclusion that speedily there must be an emancipated Negro race everywhere…” He showed strength by telling his audience that he recognized how many before him fought to be accepted and not to be second citizens. He was fighting for the emancipation of all Negros from the thoughts and actions of others, which were influencing the actions of his “brothers”. He compared it to the Irish when he stated, “…the Irish are determined to have liberty and nothing less than liberty.” Garvey wanted the same for the African people, he would warn his followers during his speeches that “The handwriting is on the wall…,” meaning the Negro community needed to pay attention to what was going around them, and to know when to act and react. He further discusses his vision of the need of a united African community, so “…Africa could be free from coast to coast” (p/31, pp. 4). He pleaded for his followers, his “brothers”, his Negro community not to give up. His strength of showing them that he too

Marcus Garvey, Jr. was born in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, on August 17, 1887. He was born to Marcus Garvey,

Marcus Mosiah Garvey was born on August 17, 1887, in the seaside town of St. Ann’s Bay on the north coast of Jamaica. Marcus Garvey was self-educated and it is believed that his father was a great influence in his life. Marcus Garvey Sr. was his father and his mother was Sarah Jane Richards and they had a total of 11 children. Marcus Garvey Sr. had a very large library of books and this is where Marcus learned to read. Marcus Sr. was a stone mason and a grave digger. Marcus’ mother was a domestic worker and farmer. One story is told about a time when Marcus Sr. lowered his young son

Marcus Garvey was a significant African American figure that initiated the Pan-Africanism movement. He dedicated his life to improving the lives of numerous African Americans while they experienced adversity. Along with his ideas of Pan-Africanism, Marcus Garvey also promoted the idea of Black Nationalism, which called for blacks to separate themselves from the whites. Furthermore, he established the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) to further emphasize the need for blacks to return to Africa or create their own nation. Garvey’s philosophy and actions later influenced numerous others as well, such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, and Kwame Nkrumah. The establishment of the Black Star Line by Garvey also promoted his idea that

As a child, Amy Jacques Garvey grew up well educated and was provided with diverse resources. As she grew older, she became more than just Marcus Garvey’s wife. She created her own path in his movement and gave people of African descent pride. Jacques Garvey was born in Kingston, Jamaica on December 31, 1895. She was one of three children of her mother, Maudriana Thompson, and her father, Micheal Delbert Ashwood. She grew up in a fairly hard-working middle-class family that supported her getting an education so they made sure that she went to the most prestigious schools. Once she finished schooling Garvey came to Harlem, New York in 1917 with her family and went on to devote her life to the advancement of black people.

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.

Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican early civil rights activist was mostly known for his Back to Africa Movement were he believed all African Americans should migrate to Africa. He had many beliefs that extended into other reformed ideologies in the near future. To activists who spoke of separation and Black pride, Marcus Garvey was a very influential and convincing person. From the years 1954-1978 African American Civil Rights Movement Activists Stokely Carmichael, Malcolm X, and the Black Panthers’ actions were heavily influenced by Marcus Garvey’s ideologies. Stokely Carmicheal’s idea of Black Power was similar to Marcus Garvey’s idea of Black power as well as their approach.

Marcus Mosiah Garvey (1887-1940) was a Jamaican born Black Nationalist, newspaper printer, writer, orator, and political advocate. His ideas and activism influenced black communities and nationalist groups, the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, post-Colonial movements, and helped develop the pan-African movement. Garvey promoted African American self reliance, business development, cultural expression, and political independence rather than the integrationist ideals of the period. In addition to which Garvey was the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), Black Star Line and Negro Factories Corporation. Garvey sought to challenge white supremacy and economic imperialism by supporting black business leadership, promoting black political involvement thereby ensuring racial political representation via the establishment of their own institutions and eventually through the

Political leaders, such as the Jamaican, Marcus Garvey has organized a “Back to Africa” movement to promote universal black nationalism. The growing arrival of blacks in New York’s Harlem has permitted the blend of new ideas, being Jazz and Blues one of them. Through the medium of music, citizens outside of the social circle can understand the pains and joys of African Americans, fomenting a more unified environment that breaks with the sequelae of the Jim Crow laws. Likewise, this period has enabled its writers to celebrate their origins and explore questions of race in the United States. Prominent writers are, Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston whose excellent work challenges a past of exploitation and discrimination, portrays the still persistent longing for independence and dignity in social and economic settings. Their work will certainly have their place among the most influential and renowned literary productions in the country’s history, unlike the work of the popular author of “The Rise of the Colored Empires”, Goddam, that explains the absurd idea that the white race will be will be utterly submerged. His books, as well as any other instrument that encourages white supremacy goes against the true ideals that founded this country, they are unconstitutional and they are a