What About Marcus Garvey?

Every once in a while an oddity occurs. An individual arises with such a message that it creates an internal commotion in the psyche of millions. A leader appears, and speaks such nuances, that it stirs the soul, and motivates the masses. An orator presents an idea with such fervor, and conviction, that the collective response surpasses the status of a renaissance, the person penetrates the exterior and tugs at the very fabric of so many souls, that the indivual’s following is forced to be dubbed a revolution. Sure Jesse Jackson, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther king made monumental strides in the ever-present arms race that is black advancement in America, but what about Marcus Garvey? An innovator to the core, while others were fighting for us to be deemed as equals, Garvey promoted the notion that we were better. At a time when many sought to be accepted by assimilating, Garvey urged blacks to not only embrace their uniqueness but to demand respect for it. Marcus Garvey spoke with such a brilliant audacity, for his time that his constant eloquent scathing of white America began to set ablaze the tempers of the powers that be, which later led to an unsuccessful assassination attempt. Garvey spread his ideas all over “to unite all people of African ancestry of the world to one great body to establish a country and absolute government of their own”; these words would soon evolve into the movement known as pan- Africanism, and would also lead to the back to Africa movement. Though all his intentions were positive, some blacks disagreed with his idealogy, and as a result they were met with the same harsh words, as the anglo- saxon oppisition, for example, when criticised by W.E.B. Duboise, garvey reffred to him as ““purely and simply a white man's nigger" and "a little Dutch, a little French, a little Negro … a mulatto … a monstrosity.” Garvey was also a radical pioneer for fighting to improve the black economic structure, he promoted the idea of developing and supporting black buisness so that they could mature into industries, and sucessfuly compete with white companies. Listing the ideas and succeses of marcus garvey could consume countless pages, but his contributions to the black community are evident in almost evrey afro movement in the americas. If you have any doubt that Marcus Garvey had the greatest impact on black advancement in america, you should ask yourself these questions. Was it not at a UNIA meeting( an orginization which Garvey founded) that a young man named Earl Little and a young lady named Louise met and later married to have a child by the the name of Malcolm ( later known as Malcolm X)? Was it not Martin Luther King who stated that Garvey “was the first man of color to lead and develop a mass movement. He was the first man on a mass scale and level to give millions of Negroes a sense of dignity and destiny. And make the Negro feel he was somebody”? perhaps the most impressive thing about garvey was his relentless efforts at establishing the black collective as a force to be rockened with, and his incredible esteem in regards to the capability of the black man. Garvey devoted his life to relaying a message to his people ( ironicly his middle name was Mosiah) , and for that alone, we all owe him thanks.