Marcus Garvey Influence

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Marcus Garvey was an incredibly influential man not only in Jamaica but worldwide. He was the founder of the UNIA which according to History.com was the largest secular organization in history. The founding of this organization was the crowning achievement of his career and for that reason it is important to look at its effect on the past and present. It is also important to consider how this organization was founded as well as what the purpose was for it. Before investigating how the UNIA started it is important to know more about Marcus Garvey as an individual. The BBC as well as many other sources provide that Marcus Garvey was born on the 17th of August in 1887. He was the youngest of 11 children which seems very interesting as we later …show more content…
According to the PBS page of Marcus Garvey and UNIA, “The U.N.I.A. was originally conceived as a benevolent or fraternal reform association dedicated to racial uplift and the establishment of educational and industrial opportunities for blacks” (PBS). This is very important to understand is it is what sits at the core belief of the entire association. Marcus Garvey and his co-founder Amy Ashwood aimed to improve the lives of African Americans by both establishing opportunities for them as well as cause them to embrace their race. This would see the most traction in the U.S when Garvey moved to Harlem in 1916. It was important that Garvey come to the U.S as there were many African Americans who needed to hear his message as well as the fact that one of his primary influencers was from the United States, Booker T. Washington. At one point Booker T. Washington had invited Garvey to come and meet him in the U.S but unfortunately Mr. Washington died shortly before that meeting would occur. Garvey was quite a fan of Booker T. Washington’s ideas of economic nationalism and found himself incorporating them into the UNIA. Following the addition of these ideas along with others the purpose of the UNIA began to …show more content…
He spent much of his time traveling the country and getting people to join the UNIA. He now spoke on ideas of urging African Americans to be proud of their race and even going as far as to advocate for the return of African Americans to Africa itself. He would later help to make this become a reality when in 1919 Garvey founded the Black Star Line which existed as a form of transportation for African Americans to return to Africa. According to the BBC he even went so far as to try and persuade the government of Liberia in west Africa to grant land on which African Americans could settle but this was not approved by the government. This is interesting as being a man from Jamaica it seems more likely that Garvey would have a connection with Ethiopia as Ethiopianism was an important part of the culture of the country, although he did spend many years outside of the country including when he moved to the U.S at the age of 29. Also, important to understand that Black Star Line did not ever send a single man, woman or child to Africa. Following this event was the continued evolution of the UNIA, but it did face quite a few
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