Marcus Mosiah Garvey is a Jamaican Political activist, publisher, journalist, and entrepreneur born in Saint Ann’s Bay. Garvey is referred to as a hero in his homeland for being the first black man to awaken the pride of black people in Jamaica, his home country, America and Africa. In Africa, he is renowned for contributing to the Pan-African movement in collaboration with African leaders like Kwame Nkurumah of Ghana. Being the first black nationalist, he founded the Universal Negro Association and African communities league, commonly abbreviated as UNIA. It was through this association that Garvey gained popularity and boosted his political work. Marcus Garvey was a publisher who authored various workbooks, an entrepreneur, and a great nationalist who championed the independence of African countries and brotherhood among the black race.
Garvey was one of the children born to Marcus Garvey, Sr., and Sarah Jane Richards. His father was a stonemason, and his mother was a domestic worker and farmer. His father was known to have an extensive library where young Garvey learned to read. At age 14, Garvey became a printer’s apprentice. In 1903, he traveled to Kingston, Jamaica, and soon became involved in union activities. In 1907, Garvey took part in an unsuccessful printer strike, and the experience kindled his passion for political activism. Three years later, he traveled throughout Central America, working as a newspaper editor and writing about the exploitation of migrant workers in the plantations. He later traveled to London, where he attended Birkbeck College (University of London) and worked for the African Times and Orient Review, which advocated Pan-African nationalism.
Marcus Garvey is one of the non-African Pan-African officials. Pan-Africanism is an ideology that championed for freedom of Africans both in the continent and Diaspora. Though he never visited Africa, Garvey was vibrant in the movement alongside other officials like W.E.B. Dubois and Kwame Nkurumah (Oloruntoba, 2020). Through UNIA, he could convey Pan African Message, leading to the movement’s formation. In addition, he is also the founder of the Blackstar line movement as an embodiment of his dream to link all the black people around the globe with the continent of Africa. In this context, the Blackstar Line Movement was a part of Garvey’s effort to promote Blacks’ economic reliance and self-determination. However, in this context, the Blackstar line movement transported emigrants back to Africa to establish a black nation.
Marcus Garvey is the founder of the Universal Negro Association and African communities league, commonly abbreviated as UNIA, which he launched in 1914. The association declared its will and commitment to civilizing African societies and promoting a spirit of Black race pride. The association’s motto was “One aim. One God. One destiny.” The UNIA and the A.C.L. emphasized unity, work, religion, and especially Black property and business ownership. The UNIA and the A.C.L. was the instrument through which Garvey visualized Black people worldwide working toward the liberation of Africa and forming a worldwide Black nation. In addition, UNIA had taken root in some areas more than others, specifically in Ohio, Akron, and Barberton. Through the UNIA, Garveyites in Akron and Barberton actively participated in the struggle against systemic antiblackness, white supremacy, and colonialism. (Theresa, 2020). Generally, Garveyism through the UNIA is one of the mechanisms that contributed to the liberation of people of the black race.
Philosophy and Opinions by Marcus Garvey is one of Marcus Garvey workbooks. Garvey spells out his opinions on topics such as love, death, Nationhood, education, and others in this publication. One of the main concerns in the book is Garvey’s opinion on Nationhood. According to Marcus, the only means by which modern civilization can completely protect itself. In the book, Garvey appeals to people of the black race to be proud of their race like their fathers did in the days of yore. In the bargain, he claims that the power that holds Africans is not divine but human. Because of that, Africans should understand they have a beautiful history and should create another one in the future that will astonish the world. Furthermore, the book attracted attention from scholars like Theodore Vincent, Shawna Maglangbayan, Tony Martin, Emory Tolbert, Robert Hill, Judith Stein, Randall Burkett, Rupert Lewis, Liz Mackie, and John Henrik Clark hence paving the way for the growth of the Garveyism by writing more balanced monographs that discussed Garvey and the ideologies of the movement seriously (Theresa, 2020). The book led to the study of Garvey’s opinions globally and appealed to the blacks to accept their race.
Marcus Garvey was the editor of the Negro World newspaper. The Negro world was a weekly publication with broad coverage of pan-African and anticolonial news. Not only did the paper cover politics, but it also spotlighted poems from different contributors globally (Davies,2022). Besides, the newspaper is said to have reached approximately 200,000 people in the world, making it the most widely circulated African American Newspaper compared to other African-American publications like The Crisis and The Messenger People whom the paper’s message caught their attention were influenced by the message even to form local branches of UNIA. The publication grossly advocated for the Nationhood of the blacks and equality of the black race with the whites.
Garvey’s doctrine of racial purity and separatism brought him enemies among black leaders like A. Philip Randolph and W.E.B Dubois. Later, Marcus Garvey became a target for the Bureau of Investigation due to his activism. Therefore, Garvey’s influence declined even after he and other UNIA members were convicted of Fraud in 1922 concerning the sale of stock of the Black Star Line. For that reason, he was imprisoned five years. However, in 1927 the then president of the U.S., Calvin Coolidge, commuted his imprisonment, serving imprisonment of two years of the five years term. Although Calvin Coolidge pardoned him, he ordered him deported as an alien. With his imprisonment and deportation, the Marcus Garvey movement lost much of its momentum and did not revive. In 1940 he suffered a stroke that left him largely paralyzed, causing his demise (Jones, 2022). Garveyism declined with Garvey’s imprisonment, deportation, and demise.
Marcus Garvey was a publisher who authored various workbooks, an entrepreneur, and a great nationalist who championed the independence of African countries and brotherhood among the black race. His workbooks portray him as a lover of justice and independence for the black race. By founding the UNIA movement, he raised awareness among blacks for self-determination and independence. For instance, though he did not visit Africa, he was a radical diaspora member of the Pan-African Movement that highly advocated for the independence of African Countries hence acquiring the name “Black Moses.” Though Garveyism declined and Collapsed after Garvey’s imprisonment, the movement had sold its ideas globally and called upon people of all tribes, especially the blacks, to unite and work for the blossoming of the black race.