Marcus Garvey

Jamaican nationalist and founder of the UNIA, advocating for Black unity and return to Africa.

Chronology: 1887-08-17 – 1940-06-10

Origins & Early Life

Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (17 August 1887 – 10 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL, commonly known as UNIA), through which he declared himself Provisional President of Africa. Ideologically a black nationalist and Pan-Africanist, Garvey's ideas are known as Garveyism.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Garvey was born to a moderately prosperous Afro-Jamaican family in Saint Ann's Bay and was apprenticed into the print trade as a teenager. Working in Kingston, he became involved in trade unionism before living briefly in Costa Rica, Panama, and England. On returning to Jamaica, he founded UNIA in 1914. In 1916, he relocated to the United States and founded a UNIA branch in New York City's Harlem. Emphasising unity within the African diaspora, he campaigned to end European colonial rule in Africa and supported the continent's unification.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

He envisioned a unified Africa as a one-party state, led by himself, that would pass laws to promote black racial purity. Although he never visited Africa, he remained committed to the Back-to-Africa movement, arguing that part of the diaspora...

Source: Wikipedia