Back to Africa Movement

Marcus Garvey – Black Nationalism Marcus Garvey was born in 1887 in Jamaica. At that time, Jamaica was an island in the Caribbean. 90% black. a colony of the British Empire. In 1901, at fourteen, Marcus Garvey left school, and got a job as a printer. From 1912 to 1914, he lived in London.

A Nationalist He joined nationalist groups that sought Jamaican independence from the British Empire. A nationalist always calls for change. But what kind of change? Political change - Asia and Africa began calling for independence, 1919 Cultural change - The Harlem Renaissance, 1920s Social change - The Civil Rights movement, 1955 Economic change - This was Marcus Garvey. The 1920s was a time of roaring prosperity in the U.S. Marcus Garvey, a businessman at heart, wanted prosperity for African Americans.

The UNIA – Founded in 1914 In Jamaica, Marcus Garvey founded the UNIA - Universal Negro Improvement Association. It was a combination of black nationalism and black capitalism. A Newspaper Marcus Garvey began his working life as a printer. He now became a publisher. He published the weekly newspaper, The Negro World. Membership By the early 1920s, the UNIA had two million members in the U.S. 700 chapters in 38 states. several hundred chapters world-wide.

Black Pride Black is beautiful The UNIA was wildly popular because Marcus Garvey was the first to express: "Black is beautiful.” This was a break from the past: He did not accept the conventional wisdom that African Americans were inferior. "Garvey was one of the first to say that instead of blackness being a stigma, it should be a source of pride.” - Charles B. Rangel, Congressman from New York City.

Moved to New York In 1916, at the age of 29, he set up a chapter of the UNIA in New York City. He regarded it as a business: He set up a business charter and incorporated it in the state of New York. The Harlem Renaissance Marcus Garvey lived in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance. It was a great cultural flowering of African American artists, novelists, and poets. Thanks to Marcus Garvey, for the first time, people began to identify with their African roots.

Parades in New York City A lot of people don’t understand the parades run by Marcus Garvey. First off, New York City has always had parades for ethnic groups: The St. Patrick’s Day parade is for the Irish, the Columbus Day parade is for the Italians, etc. They are a matter of ethnic pride.

Black Capitalism A Businessman Investors You cannot understand Marcus Garvey unless you understand his desire to become a businessman. He needed investors - an impossible task for an African American in 1914. Or was it? Investors He was hoping to raise consciousness and raise capital. He asked black investors to invest in black-owned businesses.

A Shipping Line In 1919, Marcus Garvey formed the Black Star Line. It was a shipping line designed to transport products from his businesses. (Negro Factories Corporation, 1920). passengers between the U.S., the Caribbean, and Africa. Its flagship, the S.S. Yarmouth, made its maiden voyage in 1919. In 1920, two more ships were added. The Black Star Line was a symbol of black enterprise.

Factories A University In 1920, Marcus Garvey incorporated the Negro Factories Corporation. Given time, he was going to set up factories to produce products at home and abroad. A University In 1923, the UNIA bought Liberty University in Claremont, Virginia. Marcus Garvey had always wanted to set up an industrial training school, like Tuskegee Institute. Its graduates could run the black-owned factories.

Back to Africa The Motherland Marcus Garvey preached that African Americans should regard Africa as their home. “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.” - The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

A Break From the Past Until then, African Americans were made to feel ashamed of their African heritage. Marcus Garvey did the reverse; he told people to be proud of their African heritage. Dissatisfaction The Garvey movement was powerful because he offered new hope. For those who were dissatisfied with America, Garvey offered Africa as a new hope. In some ways, you see, Garvey despaired of things improving in the U.S. He believed that a country with a white majority could never give justice to the black minority. (W.E.B. Du Bois came to believe the same thing. In 1961, he moved to Ghana.)

Liberia 1822 1922 In Africa, the country of Liberia was founded in 1822. It was founded by former slaves from the U.S. The U.S. President was Monroe, so the capital city was named Monrovia. To mark the 100th anniversary, Marcus Garvey came up with an idea: If life was hard in America, why not go back to Africa? If people wanted to go, the ships of his Black Star Line were ready to take them. In 1921, he sent his first delegation to Monrovia, Liberia.

A Fatal Mistake In 1922, Marcus Garvey met with the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Marcus Garvey was, once again, thinking outside of the box. The KKK agreed with Marcus Garvey: African Americans should return to Africa! By doing this, Marcus Garvey lost many supporters. Difficulties - Marcus Garvey was running against the tide.

What Was it Like in the U.S.? In 1918, when World War I ended, there was unemployment. In 1919, there were race riots in many U.S. cities. In 1921, Congress began cutting off immigration. Marcus Garvey applied for American citizenship in 1921. In 1922, the Ku Klux Klan was in its heyday.

The Federal Government In 1922, the federal government cracked down on Marcus Garvey. The government said he made false claims when selling stock to investors. This may have been true, but it was odd: Throughout the 1920s, stock brokers did this on Wall Street. Which is why the stock market crashed in 1929.

Imprisoned in the U.S. Marcus Garvey was In 1935, he moved to London indicted on mail fraud. sentenced to prison. deported to Jamaica in 1927. In 1935, he moved to London Hitler and Mussolini were driving Europe toward World War II. Marcus Garvey was horrified when Mussolini’s Italy invaded Ethiopia. At the time, he was critical of Haile Selassie, the king of Ethiopia. He died in 1940 and is buried in National Heroes' Park in Kingston, Jamaica.

His Impact Malcolm X Rastafarians Malcolm X, the leading black nationalist of the 1960s, had no trouble understanding Marcus Garvey. To him, black nationalism and black capitalism went hand in hand. Malcolm X told people to set up and patronize black-owned businesses. Rastafarians In Marcus Garvey’s home country of Jamaica, he has had a major impact. Today, Rastafarians regard themselves as citizens of Africa, not of Jamaica. Symbol today - Today, many places and events are named after Marcus Garvey.