The inspiration and manifestation of Marcus Garvey’s UNIA

IN UNFLATTERING circumstances Malcus Mosiah Garvey was born in St Ann’s Bay, St Ann on August 17, 1887. Somewhere along the journey Malcus was changed to Marcus. He became a printer’s apprentice, before moving in 1906 to Kingston, where he got involved in trade unionism and politics. He published his first newspaper, Watchman, about 1909.

In 1910, Garvey left Jamaica to find employment. He visited Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Chile and Peru, and in every one of them he observed racism and social injustice being carried out against black people. In February 1912 Garvey returned to Jamaica, where he worked at the Government Printing Office in Kingston.

By May 1912, Garvey was gone again, this time to London, England, where he worked on the shipping docks, and attended classes at the University of London’s Birkbeck College. In 1913, he visited other European countries, and did not like how black people there were being treated.

He conceptualised an idea to start an organisation that would advocate for the rights of black people all over the world. He decided to leave England right away. On June 17, 1914 he boarded the SS Trent at Southampton to Jamaica. He was only one of three third-class passengers onboard. While he was lying on his back in his cabin, Garvey came up with a name for an organisation – the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities (Imperial) League (UNIA-ACL), to improve the lot of black people the world over.

Within five days of his July-15-1914 arrival in Jamaica, Garvey formed the UNIA-ACL, with its main purpose to unite all Africans worldwide to establish a country and government of their own. Yet, to his great disappointment, he came up against significant resistance from upper-crust Jamaican society, some of whom were black, but considered themselves white. Yet, he succeeded to a significant extent in establishing the UNIA/ACL in Jamaica with help from prominent white friends

He was invited to the USA, after he wrote to Booker T. Washington and told him of his intentions. He had looked to Booker T. However, Washington died in the autumn of 1915. That did not stop Garvey from leaving Jamaica in 1916, and the decision to do so was to evolve into the biggest pan-Africanist movement in the world.

Garvey arrived in America at a time when there was a vacuum in black leadership. He underscored the need for blacks to interpret their own history and control their own destiny. Within a month the UNIA had more than two million members across the USA.

WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON

In 1918, nine years after the failure of his first newspaper, The Watchman, Garvey and the UNIA established The Negro World. Published on his birthday, August 17, The Negro World quickly grew from being a New York weekly into a worldwide phenomenon with a peak circulation of 200,000.

There was also discontent in the UNIA itself. As it grew in numbers, some black politicians began to turn the movement into a political entity. Upon realising that these politicians were not interested in his visions, Garvey had to get them out. They destroyed the organisation and reduced its membership to about 50. Garvey had to start from scratch twice. By June 1919 he had over two million members in 30 branches in different cities. In that same year Marcus Garvey established the first Liberty Hall at 120-140 West 138th Street in Harlem.

The UNIA established several affiliates including The Black Cross Nurses, who provided health and social services to the local black communities; The African Legion, an all-male paramilitary group; African Motor Corps, a female group trained in mechanics and military discipline; and The Juveniles, comprising children. The Negro Factories Corporation (NFC) was created in 1920. There were also various artistic and cultural groups.

In April 1919 Garvey announced plans to launch a steamship business, known as the Black Star Line Shipping (BSL) Company, as a way to transport cargoes of African produce to the United States. On June 27, 1919, the Black Star Line of Delaware was incorporated.

But, one of the saddest chapters in the story of Garvey and the UNIA is the demise of the Black Star Line. Almost from the beginning, the corporation faced deceit and trickery from merchants, crew, and even some UNIA officers. Unsound recommendations came from advisors, staff and outsiders stole money from the corporation, and the project in general was mismanaged. By April 1922, the Black Star Line Shipping Company was dissolved due to financial difficulties.

By the end of 1919, Marcus Garvey had built up UNIA branches all over the world. In August 1920, over four million people had joined the movement. And the UNIA was to have eight conventions in Garvey’s lifetime. The first convention was the most significant for it was the first real glimpse of the magnitude of the UNIA and Garvey’s influence. It was the greatest parade ever staged anywhere in the world by black people.

The convention adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World, one of the earliest and most complete documents advocating human rights and detailing the abuse against black people worldwide. But, the growth and influence of the UNIA did not sit well with many people, including US government officials. Much trouble was to come.