Marcus Garvey and the African-American Civil Rights Movement

In the 20th century, a major driving force of the black nationalist movement was the creation of black-oriented religions that fueled enmity and hatred against whites, the foremost of which was the Nation of Islam, or the NOI. The NOI was formed in the 1930s by a Detroit peddler named W.D Fard. Fard influenced a young,

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.

Marcus Garvey, was born in Jamaica in 1887 and is considered to be the father of the Black Nationalism Movement. During the early 1900’s, after reading Booker T.

The Civil Rights Movement is oftentimes regarded as the largest social movement of the 20th century. This mass popular movement, which peaked in the 1950’s and 1960’s, helped African Americans gain access to more basic privileges,

The African American Civil Rights Movement officially “began” in 1954, but the ideas of Civil Rights had been brewing since the end of the Civil War, and even earlier. The Civil Rights Movement was centered on the idea of the equal, fair, and constitutional treatment of African Americans in the United States. The movement features some of history’s most prominent figures, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks. Throughout the movement, activists utilized protests, marches, boycotts, and strikes in attempts to change public opinion and governmental action on African Americans. The movement succeeded in overturning

African-Americans in the 1920’s lived in a period of tension. No longer slaves, they were still not looked upon as equals by whites. However, movements such as the Harlem renaissance, as well as several African-American leaders who rose to power during this period, sought to bring the race to new heights. One of these leaders was W.E.B. DuBois, who believed that education was the solution to the race problem. The beliefs of W.E.B. DuBois, as influenced by his background, had a profound effect on his life work, including the organizations he was involved with and the type of people he attracted. His background strongly influenced the way he attacked the "Negro Problem." His

African Americans were given a platform to stand up and fight for their civil rights, peacefully, with artistic expression. In doing this, they attracted the attention of not only other black folk but white Americans as well. The Harlem Renaissance played a role in ending racial discrimination because Americans started becoming more accepting to the black community and their culture. Writers, artists, and musicians during 1920's, Harlem significantly changed our country. During the 1920's, was the time when African Americans first began creating literature and claiming it as their own.

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.

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).

During the 1920’s and 1930’s African Americans began to face a reality that they were not first class citizens in America. This led to the the creation of the Harlem Renaissance movement that strove to promote African American in the Fine Arts. The African

The period between 1865 and 1945 saw some of the most dramatic social, political and economic changes in America. The key issue of black civil rights throughout this period was advocated and led by a range of significant, emotive and inspiring leaders. Marcus Garvey was a formidable public speaker and is often named as the most popular black nationalist leader of the early twentieth century. He believed in pan-Africanism and came nearer than any other black leader in mobilising African American masses. He was hailed as a redeemer and a “Black Moses” who tried to lead ‘his people back to freedom’. However, arguably although

There have been many cultural movements throughout history in this world. One of the greatest movements in this world was the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance movement is defined as a cultural movement that spanned in the 1920’s, at this time known as the Negro Movement; the movement also relied on white patronage. White patronage had a profound effect on the vitality of the Harlem Renaissance, and the evidence says the Harlem Renaissance would not have reached the heights it did without generous white contributions. The Harlem Renaissance spurred events that affected the African Americans society in areas such as migration, the work force, and also racial pride (www.yale.edu).

Marcus Garvey travelled though many different places including a majority of Central America, Europe, and the Caribbean where he