NEWS
Marcus Garvey, His Pan-Africanist Legacy A Gift To The World
May 22
10:252015
By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa
During the Africa Month celebrations, it would be worth while to look back at the story of people of African descend, who have made valuable contributions to Africa and the African Diaspora.
One such figure is Marcus Garvey.
Garvey was a Jamaican-born black nationalist who created a ‘Back to Africa’ movement in the United States.
He was also a publisher, journalist, entrepreneur and orator who to was devoted to Black Nationalism and Pan-African Movements.
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr. was born in St Ann’s Bay, Jamaica on 17 August 1887, the youngest of 11 children. He inherited a keen interest in books from his father, a mason and made full use of the extensive family library.At age 14, he left school and became a printer’s apprentice where he led a strike for higher wages. From 1910 to 1912, Garvey travelled in South and Central America and also visited London.
He returned to Jamaica in 1914 and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).
In 1916, Garvey moved to Harlem in New York where UNIA thrived.
By now a formidable public speaker, Garvey spoke across America.
He urged African-Americans to be proud of their race and return to Africa, their ancestral homeland and attracted thousands of supporters.
To facilitate the return to Africa that he advocated, in 1919 Garvey founded the Black Star Line, to provide transportation to Africa, and the Negro Factories Corporation to encourage Black economic independence.
Garvey also unsuccessfully tried to persuade the government of Liberia in west Africa to grant land on which black people from America could settle.
In 1922, Garvey was arrested for mail fraud in connection with the sale of stock in the Black Star Line, which had now failed. (Although there were irregularities connected to the business, the prosecution was probably politically motivated, as Garvey's activities had attracted considerable government attention), according to the BBC.
In 1935, he moved permanently to London where he died on 10 June 1940 due two strokes. In 1964, his body was returned to Jamaica where he was declared the country’s first national hero.
Earlier in 1914, Garvey returned to Jamaica, where he organized the UNIA. In an article titled “The Negro’s Greatest Enemy”, published in Current History (September 1923), Garvey explained the origin of the organization’s name:
Where did the name of the organization come from? It was while speaking to a West Indian Negro who was a passenger with me from Southampton, who was returning home to the East Indies from Basutoland with his Basuto wife, I further learned of the horrors of native life in Africa. He related to me in conversation such horrible and pitiable tales that my heart bled within me. Retiring from the conversation to my cabin, all day and the following night I pondered over the subject matter of that conversation, and at midnight, lying flat on my back, the vision and thought came to me that I should name the organization the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities (Imperial) League. Such a name I thought would embrace the purpose of all black humanity. Thus to the world a name was born, a movement created, and a man became known.
Furthermore, the UNIA held an international convention in 1921 at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Also represented at the convention were organizations such as the Universal Black Cross Nurses, the Black Eagle Flying Corps, and the Universal African Legion. Garvey attracted more than 50,000 people to the event and in his cause. The UNIA had 65,000 to 75,000 members paying dues to his support and funding. The national level of support in Jamaica helped Garvey to become one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century on the island.
Schools, communities, colleges, highways, and buildings in Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and the United States have been named in his honor.
The UNIA, red, black and green flag has been adopted as the Black Liberation Flag.
The Black Business Network says of him, “Marcus Garvey’s built huge businesses, encouraged entrepreneurship, and got millions of people buying from Black-owned business. He taught us all to be proud of our race and to unite as a people. In his own words, he taught us all to “Be Black, Buy Black, Think Black, and all else will take care of itself!”. Those words have become a motto for the Black Business Network, almost a century later.
The impact of Marcus Garvey has been huge. Inspired by his ideas, over 30 African countries have declared their freedom, and many sport Garvey’s red, black and green colors in their flag.
Many Black leaders like the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Minister Louis Farrakhan and more, have all publicly stated that they were inspired by Marcus Garvey.
In 1969, the parliament of Jamaica proclaimed Marcus Garvey as the country’s first national hero.
Copyright 2015 African Journalist
SOURCE: The African Journalist