W. E. B. Dubois During The Harlem Renaissance

W.E.B. Dubois was the rivaling civil rights leader during the early 20th century. W.E.B. Dubois believed that through political action and education, full-citizenship of African Americans in America would be achieved. At first, he agreed with Booker T. Washington’s teachings, however through time Dubois realized flaws within Washington’s ideas. Dubois, in “Soul of Black Folk” writes, “The black men of America have a duty to perform, a duty stern and delicate, -- a forward movement to oppose a part of the work of their greatest leader. So far as Mr. Washington peaches

W. E. B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington were both highly intelligent African American men who wrote about the disparities between the lives of whites and blacks in the United States during the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries. Each man saw the way in which his fellow African Americans were being treated by the white majority and used their intelligence and persuasive skills to bring attention to this very serious issue. Both men fought for equality through nonviolent protest and the application of logical argument and reasoning in order to better their lives and those of their social and ethnic brothers. Despite their shared goal of racial and sociological equality, the two men had very different ideas about how equality would be achieved and about what the African American community should or ought to expect in terms of actually obtaining that equality.

Dr. W. E. B. DuBois was known as an African American hero who truly believed that a person's vocational calling should be dictated by ability and choice, not by race. DuBois, unlike Booker T. Washington, not only demanded an immediate change but also drastic change, and was not afraid to challenge both blacks and whites on social and educational issues to accomplish change because he knew at that point, something needed to happen now. His strong activism and courage set the stage for future changes in the African American and White American race relations.

Researching The Harlem Renaissance I’ve learned that African Americans have always strived to be great and live a successful life and moving away from the harsh conditions of the South was a very big part of that, many of African American writers came from the south in search for a place where they could freely express themselves in the poems they write and the music they sing like jazz and blues. The most interesting I’ve learned about The Harlem Renaissance was that people called it “New Negro” because included poets, novelists and Jazz singers creating their art out of Negro folk heritage and history black leaders like W.E.B Dubois fighting against corruption and for expanded opportunities for African Americans. But I think the term

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.

Here was a man who was happy to be black: not only happy but also proud. Garvey’s racial pride movement helped the Harlem Renaissance. Blacks started to express their feelings and thoughts through art and music. This was a time when whites really took a look at black art and culture. Garvey’s most extreme movement was the "Back to Africa" movement. He called all blacks to return to their true homeland, Africa. To help make this possible Garvey created the Black Star Line in 1919 to provide transportation. He also started the Negro Factories Corporation to encourage black economic independence. Garvey attracted thousands of supporters and had two million members for the UNIA. Garvey’s rise to fame was amazing; speaking to an audience in Colon, Panama in 1921 Garvey said "two years ago in New York nobody paid any attention to us. When I use to speak, even the policeman on the beat never noticed me." Depending on whom you talked to Garvey was the new Moses of blacks or a complete madman. In "After Marcus Garvey---What?" an article in Contemporary Review, Kelly Miller writes that:

He authored Black Folk Then and Now, to shed light on the often untold history of Africans and the transatlantic slave trade and, in fact, died and was buried in Ghana where he was living by the personal invitation of Kwame Nkrumah. Equally impassioned by the cause for black rights in the international arena, Garvey’s work toward this end was reflected in the name and practice of his “Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities (Imperial) League”. Like Du Bois, Garvey spoke fervently on behalf of the interests of blacks both in the United States and internationally. It was the express mission of this organization to bring together the people of what Garvey called “the African race”. He too participated in the Pan-African Congresses and a cornerstone of his movement was “pride in the race’s African heritage.” This concept of the interconnectedness of blacks across the globe, with African heritage as their anchor, was a unifying aspect of Du Bois’ and Garvey’ ideologies.

Marcus Garvey was a very important figure and public speaker for the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements. He founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), the largest secular organization in African-American history, and African Communities League. He was the inspiration for a global mass movement, Garveyism, which inspired the Nation of Islam and the Rastafari movement. This Jamaican-born Black Nationalist was an inspirational figure for other civil rights leaders. Garvey’s ideals of racial unity and Pan-African liberation had a profound impact upon black Americans, leaving some groups to regard him as a prophet.

The Harlem Renaissance was the flowering of African American culture, a significant celebration of blackness that supported a sense of racial pride. The continuation of this movement fueled vital works of art, music, and literature into the 1930s and beyond (Berg). Numerous writers and musicians were the heartbeat of the Harlem Renaissance, assisting in making the Harlem a social and cultural magnet. Langston Hughes was one of the brightest and most admirable poets during this movement. Hughes wrote poetry on the triumphs of blacks and overcoming adversity while struggling with keeping American dreams alive. In contrast, W. E. B. Du Bois was an African American writer who flourished before Langston in the Renaissance. However, Hughes admired De Bois for his stance on segregation before the movement. Through analyzing motives and publications from Hughes, it is evidently identifiable that W. E. B. Du Bois influenced Hughes’ writings.

Marcus Garvey was the answers to many African American’s prayers in his day. Countless African American lived lives of depression and a lack of hopefulness; many had low self-esteem and had been told and treated as though they were all the problems of this world. The African American people as whole need someone to come and act as a savior and restore hope in their somewhat weak and helpless lives. Marcus Garvey exemplifies the true definition of a well-educated powerful leader. He embraced this role with much vigor and utilized it in a positive way to reflect upon the people how one voice can change the masses.

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

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

Marcus Garvey is arguably one of the early pioneers in Pan Africanism, black consciousness, and political radicalism. Garvey is regarded for his speaking on race tensions, economic inequality and the plight of Native Africans in America. Not widely and prominently known like the images of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Elijah Mohammad, but should be regarded for paving the way for those individuals. In this paper we will discuss three notable moments that developed Marcus Garvey into the leader and activist he is proven to be; the formation and importance of The Universal Negro Improvement Association, The Negro World, and lastly The Black Star Line.

focusing on the role that activist art played during the civil right movements. Coming into this class, I was skeptical about the possibility of art actually playing an active role in political and social issues, but evidently activist art has contributed to numerous activist movements. Thus, this paper will aim to dispute such skepticism and analyze the impact of activist art during the civil rights movements to prove how this kind of art has and can contribute to political movements. As discussed in class, a revision and reformation on the image of African Americans was a vital component for the civil rights movements of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Consequently, African American artists during the time aimed to

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