Garvey, Marcus

Garvey, Marcus

▪ Jamaican nationalist
born Aug. 17, 1887, St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica
died June 10, 1940, London, Eng.
 charismatic black (black nationalism) leader who organized the first important American black nationalist movement (1919–26), based in New York City's Harlem.

      Largely self-taught, Garvey attended school in Jamaica until he was 14. After traveling in Central America and living in London from 1912 to 1914, he returned to Jamaica, where, with a group of friends, he founded (Aug. 1, 1914) the Universal Negro Improvement and Conservation Association and African Communities League (Universal Negro Improvement Association), usually called the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) (Universal Negro Improvement Association), which sought, among other things, to build in Africa a black-governed nation.

      Failing to attract a following in Jamaica, Garvey went to the United States (1916) and soon established branches of the UNIA in Harlem and the other principal ghettos of the North. By 1919 the rising “Black Moses” claimed a following of about 2,000,000, though the exact number of association members was never clear. From the platform of the Association's Liberty Hall in Harlem, he spoke of a “new Negro,” proud of being black. His newspaper, Negro World, told of the exploits of heroes of the race and of the splendours of African culture. He taught that blacks would be respected only when they were economically strong, and he preached an independent black economy within the framework of white capitalism. To forward these ends, he established the Negro Factories Corporation and the Black Star Line (1919), as well as a chain of restaurants and grocery stores, laundries, a hotel, and a printing press.

      He reached the height of his power in 1920, when he presided at an international convention in Liberty Hall, with delegates present from 25 countries. The affair was climaxed by a parade of 50,000 through the streets of Harlem, led by Garvey in flamboyant array.

      His slipshod business methods, however, and his doctrine of racial purity and separatism (he even approved of the white racist Ku Klux Klan because it sought to separate the races) brought him bitter enemies among established black leaders, including labour leader A. Philip Randolph (Randolph, A. Philip) and W.E.B. Du Bois (Du Bois, W.E.B.), head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Garvey's influence declined rapidly when he and other UNIA members were indicted for mail fraud in 1922 in connection with the sale of stock for the Black Star Line. He served two years of a five-year prison term, but in 1927 his sentence was commuted by Pres. Calvin Coolidge, and he was deported as an undesirable alien. He was never able to revive the movement abroad, and he died in virtual obscurity.

Additional Reading
Edmund David Cronon, Black Moses, 2nd ed. (1969, reissued 1987); Judith Stein, The World of Marcus Garvey: Race and Class in Modern Society (1986, reissued 1991); Rupert Lewis, Marcus Garvey: Anti-Colonial Champion (1988).

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Garvey, Marcus (Moziah) — born Aug. 17, 1887, St. Ann s Bay, Jam. died June 10, 1940, London, Eng. Jamaican born U.S. black nationalist leader. In 1914 he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association; after moving to the U.S. in 1916, he established branches in New …   Universalium

  • Garvey, Marcus (Moziah) — (17 ago. 1887, St. Ann s Bay, Jamaica–10 jun. 1940, Londres, Inglaterra). Dirigente nacionalista afroamericano nacido en Jamaica. En 1914 fundó la Asociación universal para el progreso de la raza negra; luego de trasladarse a EE.UU., en 1916,… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Garvey, Marcus (Moziah)Aurelius — Gar·vey (gärʹvē), Marcus (Moziah) Aurelius. 1887 1940. Jamaican Black nationalist active in America in the 1920s. He founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (1914) and later urged African Americans to establish an independent country… …   Universalium

  • Marcus Garvey — Garvey in 1945 Born Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr. 17 August 1887(1887 08 17) St. Ann s Bay, Jamaica …   Wikipedia

  • Marcus Mosiah Garvey — Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Surnom(s) The Black Moses (Le Moïse noir) Naissance 17 août 1887 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Marcus Mosiah Garvey — (* 17. August 1887 in St. Ann s Bay, Jamaika; † 10. Juni 1940 in London) war ein afroamerikanischer Politiker und Publizist, der als radikaler Panafrikanist und Begründer des sogenannten Black Zionism bekannt wurde. Marcus Garvey Leben Garvey… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • GARVEY (M.) — GARVEY MARCUS (1887 1940) Leader d’un des mouvements noirs les plus déterminants du début du XXe siècle, tant aux Amériques États Unis et Caraïbes notamment qu’en Afrique et en Europe, à l’époque de la Black Renaissance et des débuts du… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Marcus Garvey — Nombre M …   Wikipedia Español

  • Marcus Garvey — [Marcus Garvey] (1887–1940) a US leader of the campaign for African American rights, born in Jamaica. After moving to the US in 1916 he began the Universal Negro Improvement Association. He also began a ‘Back to Africa’ campaign to encourage… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Marcus Garvey — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Garvey. Marcus Mosiah Garvey …   Wikipédia en Français

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