Marcus Garvey -- Jamaica
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, was a Jamaican political leader, publisher,
journalist, entrepreneur and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL). Garvey’s UNIA promised black economic uplift via self-reliance, political equality via self-determination, and the “liberation of Africa from European colonialism via a Black army marching under the Red, Black, and Green flag.
Garvey was unique in advancing a Pan-African philosophy to inspire a global mass movement and economic empowerment focusing on Africa. Promoted by the UNIA as a movement of African Redemption, Garveyism would eventually inspire others, ranging from the Nation of Islam to the Rastafari movement. His essential ideas were stated in an editorial in the Negro World titled "African Fundamentalism"
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr. was born in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica on the 17 August 1887 to Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Sr., a mason, and Sarah Jane Richards, a domestic worker. His family was financially stable and Garvey's father could afford to maintain a large library, he also attended the elementary schools in St. Ann's Bay during his youth. Sometime in 1900, Garvey entered into an apprenticeship with his uncle, Alfred Burrowes, who also had an extensive library, of which Marcus made good use.
In 1910 Garvey left Jamaica and travelled throughout the Central American region. He lived in Costa Rica for several months, and began work as editor for a daily newspaper titled La Nacionale in 1911. Later that year, he moved to Colón, Panama, where he edited a biweekly newspaper before returning to Jamaica in 1912. Later that year Garvey moved to London, where he studied Law and Philosophy at Birkbeck University, he worked for the African Times and Orient Review, published by Dusé Mohamed Ali. Garvey was influenced by Booker T. Washington, Martin Delany, and Henry McNeal Turner. It is said that Dusé Mohamed Ali’s influence shaped Garvey's speeches, and led him to organize the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in Jamaica in 1914.
Garvey arrived in the U.S. on 23 March 1916 to give a lecture tour and raise funds to establish a school in Jamaica modelled after Washington's Tuskegee Institute. Garvey visited Tuskegee, and afterward, visited with a number of black leaders. He Moved to New York, where he worked as a printer, and at night he would speak on street corners. On 9 May 1916, he held his first public lecture in New York City at St Mark's Church in-the-Bowery and undertook a 38-state speaking tour. In May 1917, Garvey and thirteen others formed the first UNIA division outside Jamaica and began advancing ideas to promote social, political, and economic freedom for black people. On 2 July, the East St. Louis riots broke out. Garvey delivered an address on 8 July, titled "The Conspiracy of the East St. Louis Riots", at Lafayette Hall in Harlem. During the speech, he declared the riot was "one of the bloodiest outrages against mankind".
Garvey next set about the business of developing a program to improve the conditions of those of African ancestry "at home and abroad" under UNIA auspices. On 17 August 1918, publication of Negro World newspaper began. By June 1919 the membership of the organization had grown to over two million and on 27 June, the Black Star Line of Delaware was incorporated by the members of the UNIA, with Garvey as President.
The first ship was named S.S. Frederick Douglass on 14 September 1919, during the first year, the Black Star Line's stock sales brought in $600,000. However, the next 24 months were problematic, with mechanical breakdowns and poor record keeping.
The District Attorney's office of New York County, began an investigation into the activities of the UNIA, but failed to find any evidence of wrongdoing or mismanagement. After being called to The District Attorney's office numerous times, Garvey wrote an editorial on their activities for the Negro World. The response lead to Garvey’s arrest and indicted for criminal libel but charges were dismissed following a published retraction. While in his Harlem office at 56 West 156th Street on 14 October 1919, Garvey received a visit from George Tyler, who told him that Kilroe, (the Assistant District Attorney) "had sent him". Tyler then pulled a .38-caliber revolver and fired four shots, wounding Garvey in the right leg and scalp, Garvey was taken to the hospital and Tyler was arrested. The following day, it was said Tyler had committed suicide by jumping from the third tier of the Harlem jail as he was being taken to his arraignment.