By Paul Shepard on Aug 17th 2010 6:24PM
Filed under: News, Politics, Race and Civil Rights
Festooned in a regal military-style uniform outfitted in bright feathers and gold braid, many pictures of Marcus Mosiah Garvey bear a slightly cartoonish look when viewed today.
But there is nothing funny about Garvey, one of this nation's most important black leaders, who celebrates his 123rd birthday today.
Though Garvey's message of black repatriation to Africa was totally unworkable, unrealistic and doomed to failure, Garvey and his Universal Negro Improvement Association provided a sense of pride in black people barely out of slavery.
Born in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica (the same hometown of reggae legend and Garvey devotee Burning Spear) Garvey moved to America during the worst race rioting in this nation's history and used his great gift for oratory to develop a philosophy of racial pride and economic independence.
His message went far beyond America's borders and inspired black people throughout the world. The UNIA had hundreds of chapters around the world in the 1920s and threw a huge scare in to the white power elite. The Negro World magazine Garvey published was banned in some countries.
The UNIA ultimately fell under the weight of government harassment and Garvey's own misguided dream.
Garvey founded a steamship line, the Black Star Line, designed to boost black trade in the Caribbean and Africa and ultimately bring black Americans back to Africa, but the boats needed expensive repairs and Garvey's friends misspent and stole donations.
In 1922, the federal government hit Garvey with trumped up mail-fraud charges. A prison sentence was dropped when Garvey agreed to move back to Jamaica and never to return to the United States. His deportation ended Garvey's days as an major black influence.
Garvey died in 1940 in obscurity. But don't let his sad ending nor the silly ostentatious garb make you doubt the contribution of Marcus Garvey to black people in the early part of the 1900s. He was one serious brother who has never received his due.
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Comments: (5)
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By: suck ces on 8/18/2010 3:06PM
the reason why he never got his due, is because most blacks want to be white. meaning they have assimilated to the white culture and therefore, they can't like or admire anything that's pro-black. we use to call them sell-outs. but, now it's the norm. and because we are so awe-strucken by these so-called stars.lol whatever that maybe. not knowing our history is considered good for your job interview.
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By: bebe on 8/27/2010 3:07AM
That is a true statement. I am a teacher aide and the class teacher was going over the black history lesson . The person was marcus garvey. We were looking at the pages in the book showing him and the teacher said "ain"t he ugly"!. I was surprised and felt it was inapproriate of him to say that but he is a light skinned person and always talks about who is pretty and who is not.
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By: Alie on 8/17/2010 7:11PM
I believe he was regarded as the political philospher, there is a book non-fiction entitled i think "Negro With A Hat" by Colin Grant.
Infact Macus Mosiah Garvey, one of the 20th century's great black icons, rose higher and fell futher than most in his search for glory. In New York as the Harlem Renaissance was stirring into life, he found his place, hundred flocked to his Universal Negro Improvements Association, I would say he was a man ahead of his time, if you think about it he lived in the time of segration and racism not like what we see today, Sibohan Murphy writing about him put it like this Collin Grant approaches his subject care and a storyteller's flair, he offers a diligently researched account of Garvey, who emerges as a paradoxical, driven man with unshakeable belief in his vision, even when it reduced him once more to poverty.
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By: ADMR on 8/17/2010 11:10PM
Just The Type Of Black MAN Racists Fear...Apparently Like Rev Wright Amongst Others - GoODNite
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By: E. Will on 9/02/2010 1:50AM
I have mixed feelings about the piece you wrote on Garvey. The comment on his clothing and his views of African repatriation I believe are a little shortsighted. One can say that most clothing from any period in the past can be cartoonish if one looks back. Just look back at what people were wearing just from the early 90's. The back to Africa movement was a serious concept for a few hundred years and not just some crackpot idea, Google the country of Liberia. In the whole article I never heard you mention anything about Garvey's contribution to the philosophy of Pan-Africanism, something he's known as the father of and best known for. I do agree with you that he may not have received all the recognition he is due and he may not be as popular as MLK and Malcolm X. I feel you may have a limited understanding of Garvey and should really read some of his speeches and thoughts which are truly profound. I give you an E for effort with the article but a C in understanding and performance.
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