Harlem Renaissance: Marcus Mosiah Garvey

Marcus Mosiah Garvey was born in Saint Anns bay on the north coast of Jamaica on August 17th, 1887. He was the youngest of his siblings. He moved to Kingston, Jamaica at the age of 14. He helped set up The Watchman Newspaper, and was elected vise president of the compositors’ branch of printers’ Union, which closed up after the collapse of a strike earlier.

Marcus Garvey left to Central and Southern America to earn money only to see that Blacks everywhere were experiencing hardship and discrimination. After his travel he returned to Jamaica to appeal to the Jamaican government to help improve the plight of West Indian workers in Central America. His appeals gave way to little effort for change. Marcus Garvey traveled to England in 1911 to study in Birbeck College, where he met other fellow Blacks who had the same idea of black liberation from the colonial powers. He was also introduced to African Studies. Inspired by what he saw, he went back to Jamaica to fulfill his plans, which led to establishing the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).

After the birth of UNIA, Marcus sets his goal to the United States (with the idea of expanding the UNIA), he arrived on March 23rd, 1916. In June 1917, he organized the first branch of UNIA. By 1919, at his surprise, the organization grew to thirty branches and over one million members. Marcus did not feel as if Whites would ever agree to treat African Americans as equals, so he argued that the best way to solve the racial conflict was segregation rather than integration. His suggestion was that, Blacks should go back to Africa. He writes that he believes in the principles of Europe for Europeans, Asia for Asia tics and Africa for Africans.

Garvey staged a month-long convention in Harlem, New York, which was attended by thousands from twenty five countries and all forty-eight states. He presented a policy statement on “Back to Africa” program and proclaimed a formal “Declaration of Rights” for Blacks all over the world. Before the convention ended, the delegates voted to create an African government with Marcus Garvey at its head and to organize Black people of the world into a free republic to Africa.

In 1919, by encouraging the over one million UNIA members to purchase shares in the Black Star Line Steamship Company, he acquired three vessels and put them into service between New York, Central America and the West Indies. Few years later, Black Star Line became bankrupt. Marcus was arrested for mail fraud in connection with the sale of Black Star stocks, and convicted of the crime; he was fined, and ordered to serve a five-year jail term sentence at Atlanta penitentiary in 1925. Two years later, President Calvin Coolidge commuted his sentence, but ordered him to be deported to Jamaica. At this point, Garvey turned to Jamaican politics. He ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the legislative council. By the mid 1930’s, however, the Black inhabitant of the island had found their economic and political position so improved that they paid less heed to his proposals,

Marcus Garvey retired to London in 1935, where he died on June 10th, 1940 following a stroke. His plans had failed; but he captured the millions of Black people as no other leader had before him. He lived his life with a mission; he united the Black community together, which gave them pride in their race.




BIBLIOGRAPHY

Franklin, John H. Black Leaders of the Twentieth Century
1973, University of Illinois Press: Chicago. PP. 105-138

Ploski, Harry A. The Negro Almanac.
1971, Bellwether Publishing Company: New York. PP. 135-138 & 232

http:// bbc.co.uk/history

http:// pbs.org/wgbh/amex/garvey