Marcus+Garvey

Marcus Garvey is a man whose life was so invaded with controversy that he is almost a mythical being in historical text. He encouraged people of African descent all around the world (what is described as the "[|African Diaspora]") to be proud of their heritage. He instructed to have so much pride as to rise up and return back to Africa, the "Motherland". People under the "African Diaspora" had always been under hard times and Marcus Garvey was, to many, the main leader for a perioud of years with his "Back to Africa" message. Many historical texts will not even mention Marcus Garvey, however he is well worth mention among the most influential African descendants of all time.

__**Early Years**__ Marcus Mosiah Garvey was born in Saint Ann, Jamaica on August 17, 1887. He was the youngest of eleven children; however, nine of these children died during childhood. Marcus went to school in Saint Ann and was a very good student, completing all of the coursework available in the school by age eleven. His early academic success was nurtured a great deal by his father, who maintained a small private library that he often encouraged Marcus to delve into. It was during these early years that Marcus got his first taste of racial inequity through books such as [|Uncle Tom's Cabin] and // Twelve Years A Slave //. Later, Marcus was tutored privately by his godfather, Alfred Burrowes. Burrowes also ran a print shop, and he offered Marcus a spot as an apprentice in his shop when Marcus was 14. While working at the print shop, many political ly active members of the community would come in to print informational flyers or to simply talk politics with Burrowes, and Garvey often overheard and sometimes participated in these discussions. These discussions helped breed a sense of rebellion and discordance with those who placed the "Negro" in such a demeaning position.


 * __Garvey Gets Involved__**

Garvey's first taste of the greater organization of people came about during a 1908 worker's strike. The strike was unsuccessful and Garvey lost his job and he was even blacklist ed by the private printing houses in Kingstown so he would not be able to find work in that field again. Garvey's conclusion from this experience was that the common black worker was being treated very unfairly in the larger picture, and he began to print a newspaper in his off-hours stating these concerns. This paper was called //The Watchman//, and it began publication in 1910, but did not last long. However this paper was the beginning of a long tradition of speaking out against social wrongs for Garvey. By 1914, Garvey began to develop a clearer picture of what must be done to save the black people of the world: they must return to Africa and reclaim their homeland. He founded the Universal Negro Improvement and Conservation Association (UNIA) and African Communities League (ACL), appointing himself president of the group. The purpose of the group was to promote unity among black peoples, thus the group adopted the motto [|One God! One Aim! One Destiny!.]The mission statement made Garvey's aim abundantly clear: the UNIA/ACL sought to unite "all the people of African ancestry of the world into one great body to establish a country and Government absolutely their own." In 1919, the organization had grown to incredible size, having more than three //million// members worldwide and 1,100 branches spread across North America , South America , Europe , and Africa. Garvey saw the great possibility in this group and began to envision a "black nation," with businesses owned, operated by, and patronized by black people. To this end, in 1920 he organized an International Convention of Negro Peoples of the World in Madison Square Garden in New York City. Over 25,000 black people from all over the world attended the meeting, where Garvey laid out his plan for a black nation with its own independent government, free from any sort of colonial control.


 * __Later Life__**

Given Garvey's radical plans, it became clear to many that he was a great threat to the status quo. Even contemporary African-American activists such as W.E.B DuBois found Garvey's plans to be far too radical, and thus Garvey made many enemies in the United States. Eventually, the authorities saw their chance, and on February 8, 1925, Marcus Garvey was arrested and convicted for mail fraud and imprisoned in Atlanta. Garvey was the godfather of many movements that were yet to come. Many of his ideas about racial equality and the power of black s were reborn during the civil rights movements of the 1960 s and still live on today in many forms, such as the strong identification many African-American s have with their Africa n brethren. Garvey was a man before his time. His radical ideas inspired many people, but he created too many enemies for himself. But that is the price for change.