Research Paper On Marcus Garvey

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,

Before WORLD WAR I, military service represented a source of black pride. Black educators, clergymen, and the press frequently referred to Negro heroes of America’s past wars. After the Civil War, the U.S, Army maintained four regular Negro regiments –the 9th and 10th Calvary and the 24th and 25th Infantry. These units included veterans of the civil war and the frontier Indian fighting regiments. Retired sergeants often became respected, conservative leaders in their communities. This history set a foundation for black support and involvement in America’s future wars.

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

This paper will go on to describe the direct impact of the Great War on all African American migration, military service, and political protest. These three things would have combined to make the years of the Great War a major impact on African American history. When war first erupted in Europe in August of 1914, most Americans - African Americans included - did not see a reason for the United States to get involved, many viewing the bloodshed as petty in the activities of their everyday lives. This belief of neutrality amongst the people would only grow stronger as stalemates ensued, and death rates climbed higher. As the war raged on, the Black press would aim its papers to side with the French, because of their continued commitment for racial equality, as well as, their employment of African soldiers in their military. When the United States entered the war, it would have a great impact on many African Americans, particularly the many men, women, and children who embarked on the Great Migration - the largest movement of people in American history.

Before one woman refused to head to the back of the bus, before there was a voice to peacefully express the dream, before Jim Crow was scared away, there were organizations, fighters and events that contributed to the advancement of African Americans. As W.E.B. Du Bois provided the diving board that would allow blacks to dive into the pool of equality, he is found at the origin of the Civil Rights Movement. The Pan-Africanism movement, the rage following the Red Summer, and the Great Migration continued the efforts of W.E.B. Du Bois. The bold and striking words and actions of Marcus Garvey showed whites that blacks would not be called an inferior race any longer. Following World War II, many bounds toward racial equality were

Also during this time Marcus Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL), in which they both aimed to bring opportunities into the African American community. Not only did this help make African Americans feel proud of their race, but it also brought them together, not only in New York, but all over the country. They soon began to create a lifestyle for themselves that was equivalent to the White Americans and began to advance in the areas of jazz music, art, and literature. All this is what was starting to become known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Since the first slaves arrived in America in 1619, to Jamestown, Virginia in order to harvest tobacco , African Americans have been faced with many oppressions and have faced a long fight for freedom. After the abolishment of slavery due to the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865, formally the 13th Amendment, lead to the Reconstruction Era. The Reconstruction Era brought great hope for African Americans. This brought some change, many schools were establish and blacks were elected into public offices. This period became known as the “Negro Rule” Era, unfortunately, their progress was short lived.

Why does a 14 year old African American boy have to be brutally murdered for the Civil Rights Movement to be mobilized? Like most Americans in the Southern parts of the United States, they despised African Americans. Many don’t know why they do they just know they’re supposed to.

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.

Established in 1909 as an attempt to combat the racial hatred and discrimination that plagued the era the NAACP emerged. By supporting such cases such as Moore V Dempsey, Guinn V United States and Brown v Board Of Education, the group’s influence in both modern day and past civil rights movements is irrefutable. With this in mind this group has also had its pitfalls and has not always, still to this day, have the support of the entire black community for varying reasons. Marcus Garvey was a major activist voice that vehemently disagreed with the goals and tactics of the NAACP.

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.

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.

Garvey appealed to the masses, with his message of self-determination, despite socio-economic background. He stated himself, “… I appeal for four hundred million Negroes of the world, and fifteen millions in America in particular,” and thus, he did attract a very large audience. Dubois, on the other hand, saw the wealthy and well educated as the epicenter of black prosperity and growth, and thus proclaimed that “from [educated blacks’] knowledge and experience, [they] would lead the mass.” Because of this overt separation in viewpoints of the lower class blacks, many are lead to believe that only Dubois exuded scrutiny of blacks in America. Dubois frequently declared that poor blacks were in their situations by their own accord, and made statements such as “wealth is the result of work and saving and the rich rightly inherited the earth. The poor, on the