Marcus Mosiah Garvey
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Born
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Marcus
Mosiah Garvey, Jr.
(1887-08-17)17 August 1887 St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica |
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Died
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Occupation
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Known for
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Children
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Marcus
Mosiah Garvey, III (born 17 September 1930) and Julius
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Parents
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Marcus
Mosiah Garvey, Sr.
Sarah Jane Richards |
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH
(17 August 1887 – 10 June 1940)[1] was a Jamaican political leader, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded
the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African
Communities League (UNIA-ACL).[2] He founded the Black Star Line, part of the Back-to-Africa
movement, which promoted the return of the African diaspora to their ancestral lands.
Prior to the twentieth century, leaders such as Prince Hall, Martin Delany, Edward Wilmot
Blyden, and Henry Highland
Garnet advocated the involvement of the African diaspora in African
affairs. Garvey was unique in advancing a Pan-African philosophy
to inspire a global mass movement
and economic
empowerment focusing on Africa known as Garveyism.[2] Promoted by the UNIA as a movement of African
Redemption, Garveyism would eventually inspire others, ranging from the Nation of Islam to the Rastafari
movement (which proclaims Garvey as a prophet). The intent of the
movement was for those of African ancestry to "redeem" Africa and for the European colonial powers to leave it. His essential ideas
about Africa were stated in an editorial in the Negro World titled "African
Fundamentalism" where he wrote:
"Our union must know no clime, boundary, or
nationality… to let us hold together under all climes and in every
country…"[3]
Garvey was born in Jamaica and immigrated to Harlem in 1916
at the age of 28. In his homeland he had been an admirer of Booker T.
Washington's philosophy of self-improvement for people of African descent and
had formed the Jamaica Improvement Association. When he arrived in America his
ideas expanded and he became a Black Nationalist. For him, Africa was the
ancestral home and spiritual base for all people of African descent. His
political goal was to take Africa back from European domination and build a
free and United Black Africa. He advocated the Back-to-Africa Movement and
organized a shipping company called the Black Star Line which was part of his
program to conduct international trade between black Africans and the rest of
the world in order to "uplift the race" and eventually return to
Africa.
Garvey studied all of the literature he could find on
African history and culture and decided to launch the Universal Negro
Improvement Association with the goal of unifying "all the Negro peoples
of the world into one great body and to establish a country and government
absolutely on their own". The motto of the U.N.I.A. was "One God! One
Aim! One Destiny." The Negro World was the U.N.I.A. weekly newspaper
founded in 1918. It was published in French and Spanish as well as English. In
it African history and heroes were glorified.
The ranks of the U.N.I.A. were comprised of African
"nobility" - knights of the Nile, dukes of the Niger and Uganda;
knights of Ethiopia, duchesses, etc. Garvey himself was the "Provisional
President of Africa" and he and the members of his empire paraded in
elaborate military uniforms. Harlem loved parades and street ceremonies, and
the U.N.I.A. gave the grandest. During their annual conventions, thousands of
delgates from all over the United States, the Caribbean, Central America and
Africa marched up and down the streets of Harlem with their banners, uniforms
and colorfully decorated cars. Garvey travelled throughout the United States
speaking and meeting with African-American leaders. In the post World War I
economic crisis and with racial discrimination, lynching and poor housing, the
masses of Black people were ready for a leader who was aggressive and had a
plan to "uplift the race". The U.N.I.A. grew quickly. By 1919 there
were over 30 branches throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Latin
America and Africa. Garvey claimed over a milllion people had joined his
organization in 3 years.
In nine years Garvey built the largest mass movement of
people of African descent in this country's history. It began to fail after he
was convicted of mail fraud and was deported from the U.S. The Black Star Line
failed because of purported mismanagement and lack of sufficient funds.
However, the U.N.I.A. still survives today and Garvey left a legacy of racial
pride and identification with a glorious African heritage for African
Americans.
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Role
He Played In Pan Africanism
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August
1887 – 10 June 1940)[1] was a Jamaican political leader, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded
the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African
Communities League (UNIA-ACL).[2] He founded the Black Star Line, part of the Back-to-Africa
movement, which promoted the return of the African diaspora to their ancestral lands.
Prior to the twentieth century, leaders such as Prince Hall, Martin Delany, Edward Wilmot
Blyden, and Henry Highland
Garnet advocated the involvement of the African diaspora in African
affairs. Garvey was unique in advancing a Pan-African philosophy
to inspire a global mass movement
and economic
empowerment focusing on Africa known as Garveyism.[2] Promoted by the UNIA as a movement of African
Redemption, Garveyism would eventually inspire others, ranging from the Nation of Islam to the Rastafari
movement (which proclaims Garvey as a prophet). The intent of the
movement was for those of African ancestry to "redeem" Africa and for the European colonial powers to leave it. His essential ideas
about Africa were stated in an editorial in the Negro World titled "African
Fundamentalism" where he wrote:
"Our union must know no clime, boundary, or nationality… to let us
hold together under all climes and in every country…"[3]
Garvey was born in Jamaica and immigrated to Harlem in 1916 at the age
of 28. In his homeland he had been an admirer of Booker T. Washington's
philosophy of self-improvement for people of African descent and had formed the
Jamaica Improvement Association. When he arrived in America his ideas expanded
and he became a Black Nationalist. For him, Africa was the ancestral home and
spiritual base for all people of African descent. His political goal was to
take Africa back from European domination and build a free and United Black
Africa. He advocated the Back-to-Africa Movement and organized a shipping
company called the Black Star Line which was part of his program to conduct
international trade between black Africans and the rest of the world in order
to "uplift the race" and eventually return to Africa.
Garvey studied all of the literature he could find on African history
and culture and decided to launch the Universal Negro Improvement Association
with the goal of unifying "all the Negro peoples of the world into one
great body and to establish a country and government absolutely on their
own". The motto of the U.N.I.A. was "One God! One Aim! One
Destiny." The Negro World was the U.N.I.A. weekly newspaper founded in
1918. It was published in French and Spanish as well as English. In it African
history and heroes were glorified.
The ranks of the U.N.I.A. were comprised of African "nobility"
- knights of the Nile, dukes of the Niger and Uganda; knights of Ethiopia,
duchesses, etc. Garvey himself was the "Provisional President of
Africa" and he and the members of his empire paraded in elaborate military
uniforms. Harlem loved parades and street ceremonies, and the U.N.I.A. gave the
grandest. During their annual conventions, thousands of delgates from all over
the United States, the Caribbean, Central America and Africa marched up and
down the streets of Harlem with their banners, uniforms and colorfully
decorated cars. Garvey travelled throughout the United States speaking and
meeting with African-American leaders. In the post World War I economic crisis
and with racial discrimination, lynching and poor housing, the masses of Black
people were ready for a leader who was aggressive and had a plan to
"uplift the race". The U.N.I.A. grew quickly. By 1919 there were over
30 branches throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America and
Africa. Garvey claimed over a milllion people had joined his organization in 3
years.
In nine years Garvey built the largest mass movement of people of
African descent in this country's history. It began to fail after he was
convicted of mail fraud and was deported from the U.S. The Black Star Line
failed because of purported mismanagement and lack of sufficient funds.
However, the U.N.I.A. still survives today and Garvey left a legacy of racial
pride and identification with a glorious African heritage for African
Americans.
Role He Played In Pan Africanism
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to
pay tribute to the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, arguably the greatest mass
organizer people of African descent have produced. Born August 17, 1887 in
St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, Garvey was the founder and President-General of the
Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League
(UNIA-ACL). Without question he was one of the most effective theoreticians
and practitioners of Pan Africanism the world has ever seen. Not only was he
a fervent devotee of the idea that people of African descent should unite, he
believed that the African homeland must be liberated from European colonial
rule and become the base for global Black Power. In one of his more notable
declarations he said, "Europe for the Europeans, Asia for the Asians and
Africa for the Africans at home and abroad." Beyond the theory of that
bold proposition, more than any proponent of Pan Africanism of his time or
since, Garvey built a mass based organization which resembled a nation and
government in waiting.
Inspired
by his message of African redemption, hundreds of thousands of Black people
flocked to the UNIA-ACL to establish hundreds of chapters throughout the
U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, Central and South America and Europe. As a
universal symbol of African unity, Garvey developed the Red, Black and Green
Flag which remains a part of his legacy today. Indeed, for several years, I
have advocated that August 17th be recognized as Universal African Flag Day,
an occasion where people of African descent all over the world should display
the Red, Black and Green in some form.
I
recently had the opportunity to discuss the state of Pan Africanism at the
World African Diaspora Union (WADU) Summit in Atlanta. I took the opportunity
to suggest that Pan Africanism, the principled unity of people of African
descent around the world, is imperative if we are to realize Garvey’s
vision of Black power. A cursory survey of the world scene clearly indicates
that despite ethnic and cultural differences, Europeans have managed to form
the European Union and various regional grouping are in formation in Asia.
With the creation of the African Union and the existence of regional
organizations like the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in East
and West Africa there is some progress towards building
functional/operational unity on the continent. However, the state of Pan
Africanism is a far cry from what is required if the resources of the richest
continent on the face of the earth are to be utilized for the development and
empowerment of African people on the continent and in the Diaspora.
The
problem is that the implementation of Pan Africanism faces a number of
obstacles, not the least of which is neo-colonialism, the lack of visionary
leadership and ethnic strife. With rare exception, the economies of African
nations are still in the stranglehold of the former colonial powers. They
have "flag" independence, meaning that the government controls the
political sphere but has little control over the most vital aspect of national
development - the economy. Kwame Nkrumah, another legendary Pan Africanist
and a student of Garvey, warned that neo-colonialism would be the "last
stage of imperialism."
Unfortunately,
the debilitating process of neo-colonialism is often aided by self-aggrandizing
leaders who are simply content to hold political office for the purpose of
lining their pockets at the expense of the masses of the people. Lacking a
vision beyond "national liberation," ending the direct rule of the
colonizer, these leaders have not moved their nation to the stage of
"national reconstruction" as revolutionaries like Franz Fanon,
Amilcar Cabral, Julius K, Nyerere, Ahmed Sekou Toure and Kwame Nkrumah
envisioned it. National reconstruction is the total "decolonization"
of the structures of governance, economy and social systems such that the
masses of the people become the beneficiaries of the resources of the nation.
For example, it makes no sense for people to be living in unspeakable poverty
and misery in the Delta region of Nigeria in the shadow of oil rigs and
refineries which fill the coffers of foreign corporations and the bank
accounts of corrupt government officials with incredible riches/wealth. We
see this sad saga of poverty in the face of abundant natural resources/wealth
being played out across the continent.
Dr.
Leonard Jeffries reminds us that the process of decolonization must also
include the African mind, the creation of an African centered consciousness
so that the interests and aspirations of African people are the foremost
concern of the leaders of African nations. The lack of African centered
vision contributes to the perpetuation of neo-colonialism and renders nations
vulnerable to ethnic tensions/strife. Foreign powers are obviously eager to
fuel ethnic strife as a means of advancing their political and economic
interests. The tragedy is that African leaders are sometimes willing to
employ the same scheme in collaboration with foreign powers, or on their own,
for personal gain. Greed and the thirst for power foster the "leader for
life" syndrome, where presidents and heads of state are willing to do
virtually anything to cling to power, irrespective of the welfare of the
people and the nation. Leaders so infected are not likely to want to
implement the kind of Pan Africanism that will require yielding a degree of
power to a larger body like the African Union to promote the common good of
the continent, including holding leaders of member nations accountable.
Marcus
Garvey would not likely be pleased with this picture. But just as the
Diaspora in his day played a leading role in defining the vision and mission
of Pan Africanism, today I believe Garvey would be encouraging the Diaspora,
the Sixth Region as designated by the African Union, to lead the way in rearticulating
the moral and ethical imperatives of African leadership in the 21st Century.
It is the Diaspora which will have to build relations with people based
institutions and organizations on the ground throughout the continent as the
foundation for compelling leaders to engage the process of "national
reconstruction" as the order of the day.
This
is an appropriate role for WADU under the wise leadership of veteran Pan
Africanist and former Foreign Minister of Jamaica, the venerable Dudley
Thompson. We in the Diaspora must once again take the lead in imagining the
possibilities of Pan Africanism and connect with our sisters and brothers on
the continent in mobilizing/organizing to push African leaders and the
African Union to tap the collective potential of African people to achieve
Black Power! In the spirit of Marcus Garvey, let our watch words continue to
be: "Up you mighty race, you can accomplish what you will!"
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