#BlackHistoryFacts | Marcus Garvey

Black history fact #8

Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) was a political leader, orator, and proponent of Pan-Africanism and the black nationalist movements. Born in Jamaica, Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in 1912 with the goal of uniting all people of African descent to establish a country and absolute government of their own. In 1916, after moving to New York City, he founded the newspaper

Negro World, 

a UNIA chapter in Harlem, an international shipping company called Black Star Line, and the Negro Factories Corporation. He advanced a philosophy---Garveyism---that combined the economic and black nationalist ideals of Pan-Africanist and Booker T. Washington. Garveyism inspired a global mass movement. During the 1920s, the UNIA was the largest black secular organization in black history, with approximately a million men and women from the US, Caribbean, and Africa. He sought to use black wealth and solidarity to end discrimination in the US and imperialism in Africa and to create modern African societies. He also urged black Americans to proud of their race. Garveyism would eventually inspire others, including the Nation of Islam and Rastafari movement.

Thank you Marcus Garvey for reminding us that blackness is powerful!