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Aaliyah Green @02734610
Intro to Black Politics
Prof. Daryl B. Harris
October 4, 2016
Black Moses
Supreme Jamaican, black imperial wizard, Moses and Savior were some terms used to describe the attributed qualities of a man who personifies the core values of blacks throughout history. Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. was a leader in the black nationalist movement. Garvey aimed to organize blacks everywhere but achieved his greatest impact in the United States. He knew no national boundaries where blacks are concerned. He believed that the world is his province until Africa was free.
Garvey was born on August 17, 1887 in Saint Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. During his lifetime, Gravey grew up alongside both whites and blacks in his neighborhood. In his younger days, he was unaware of any racial differences. He was able to interact freely with the neighborhood children despite their color. He went to church, school and played with both races. At the time he was growing up, blacks weren’t called Negroes. Garvey had never heard the terms “Negroes” or “niggers” being used, until an experience he had at the age of fourteen. His childhood female friend moved away to Scotland as things were changing, she was told not to contact Garvey because he was a “nigger.” Garvey speaks on his experience, “It was then that I found for the first time that there was some difference in humanity, and that there were different races, each having its own separate and distinct social life.” (Garvey p.1) As Garvey matured, he realized how separate blacks and whites were. He and his white friends took different routes in life. The difference between both races became even more present in his eyes.
With Maturity Garvey started to take more interest in the politics of Jamaica. He then became aware of the injustice, and was not satisfied with the ways his race was being treated. This sparked Garvey’s interest for traveling. He wanted to determine if this injustice was taking part in other areas of the world. He started traveling to Central American, South America, Europe and other islands of the West Indies. What he came across was not different. Garvey speaks on his experience when he went to Europe, he reminisces, “I set sail for Europe to find out if it was different there, and again I found the stumbling block, you are black!” (Garvey p.3) He saw that black men were being kicked about by all other races and nations of the world. He saw it in the West Indies, South and Central America and Europe. He came across that blacks had no authority and no one to speak out for them. Garvey asked himself, “Where is the black man’s government? Where is his king and kingdom? Where is his president, his country, and his ambassador, his army, his men of big affairs?”(Garvey p.3) Since there were none Marcus Garvey decided to help make them.
At this time, Garvey had a young and ambitious mind. He was largely self-educated but had more than a perfunctory education. “I got my education from many sources, through private tutors, two public schools, two grammar or high schools and two colleges. Between school and work at fourteen I was strong and manly and I made them respect me” he declared.(Garvey p.2) Growing up he maintained a strong and manly character. His character along with knowledge and ambition helped him become the leader that he is known to be today. After traveling, in 1914 he went back to Jamaica. There, Garvey had a plan to unite blacks, he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League. He named it that to embrace the purpose of all black humanities. He mentioned that the goal of the organization was uniting all the negro peoples of the world into one great body to establish a country and government absolutely their own, and it eventually carried out these functions.
There was a lot of criticism passed upon him, from word of mouth, to newspaper headlines. He was criticized for openly using the word “Negro.” He was persecuted by both whites and blacks. It is ironic how they did not want him to use the word for a good cause, but blacks were being called “Negroes” in a degrading way. They felt that Marcus Garvey was not fit to lead because he was black. Black people were brainwashed, they believed that only white men possessed the characteristics to rule. Garvey succeeded in establishing the association in Jamaica with the help of a white Catholic bishop along with his white friends.
Marcus Garvey was able to get in touch with Booker T. Washington. Per biography.com, Booker T was one of the foremost African-American leaders of the late 19th and early 20th. He was invited by Washington to America. Washington wanted to help him with his work. Washington died prior to Garvey’s arrival to America. He arrived in the United States on March 23, 1916. After arrival in New York, he organized the New York division of the Universal Negro Improvement Association. This division was located in Harlem.