Griffin Speaks

MARCUS GARVEY
(1887-1940)

I was engaged in conversation with a young black man the other day when I asked him if he had ever heard of Marcus Garvey. He said he had not heard of him. Of course I was astonished because I thought everyone had heard of Garvey. Upon more investigation I learned that many of my readers may know little or nothing about this great man. 

Marcus Garvey was born on August 17, 1887, in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, British West Indies, and the youngest of eleven children. He had very little formal education, although he received an excellent elementary education. Marcus Garvey was well read despite his lack of a formal education. He inherited from his father a strong love for reading books. In fact he was as well respected as many college-trained men of his time. At the age of fourteen he quit school and became a printer’s apprentice where he led a strike for higher wages. 

He was a black nationalist who is credited with creating the ‘Back to Africa’ movement in America. He would later become an inspiration for civil rights activists. In 1914 he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) an organization that once employed my father. In 1916 Marcus Garvey migrated to Harlem in New York where his organization was very successful. He was a great speaker and very charismatic. He gave speeches all across America. Garvey’s message to Black people was to be proud of your race and return to Africa. That message attracted thousands of Blacks throughout the country. 

To make this dream come true, Garvey founded the Black Star Line, to facilitate the return of Blacks to Africa. He also founded the Negro Factories Corporation to encourage black independence. Garvey also tried to persuade the country of Liberia to donate land on which American blacks could live. 

In 1920, Garvey claimed four million members in his UNIA organization. In the same year he held a convention in New York where Blacks from all over the world attended. The purpose of the convention was to uplift the Black race and redeem Africa. The convention’s universal anthem was a declaration of independence. Garvey was named “His Excellency, the Provisional President of Africa.” A huge mass meeting was held in Madison Square Garden with more than twenty thousand people in attendance. When Garvey addressed the crowd the applause was tremendous. He said in part: 

“We are striking homeward toward Africa to make her the big black republic. And in the making of Africa the big black republic, what is the barrier? The barrier is the white man who dominates Africa that it is to his interest to clear out now, because we are coming, not as in the time of Father Abraham, 200,000 strong, but we are coming 400,000,000 strong and we mean to retake every square inch of the 12,000,000 square miles of African territory belonging to us by Right Divine. 

In 1922 Marcus Garvey became a martyr when he was arrested for mail fraud in connection with the sale of stock in the Black Star Line which turned into a flop. While there were some problems with the business most saw the prosecution as being politically motivated. Garvey’s activities had the government’s attention. He was transported to federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia and later after a reduction in his sentence released and deported to Jamaica. 

In my opinion the Garvey movement failed because of an unsound financial structure and because Garvey was hated by too many whites and blacks. Nevertheless Garvey’s movement made millions of Blacks to feel proud of their blackness. Blacks were no longer ashamed of who they were, and to this degree the movement was a great success. I don’t think anyone will ever be successful in convincing a large scale of Blacks to leave America, because Blacks love America despite considerable suffering and hardships. Truth be told all Blacks know in their heart that anyone can make it in America if they really worked at it. You may have to run a little faster than the guy ahead of you, but if you can endure you will succeed.