Person · 1887–1940

Marcus Garvey

The Jamaican-born organizer whose UNIA built the largest Black mass movement in history around pride and self-determination.

A forerunner of [[black-power]] and Pan-Africanism.

Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association drew millions with a message of Black pride, economic independence, and "Africa for the Africans." Though his Black Star Line steamship venture collapsed and he was deported, his ideas profoundly shaped later Black nationalism — including Malcolm X and the black-power movement.

Black Power Political Leadership

On the timeline

August 1920
Marcus Garvey and the UNIA
Garvey's movement for Black pride and self-determination draws millions worldwide.

Resources

Videos·1

Political Thought in the Harlem Renaissance — Crash Course #27

CrashCourse

Speeches·1

Speech· Primary

Marcus Garvey's Address to the Second UNIA Convention (1921)

Garvey in his own words on Black pride and self-determination.

Websites·1

Marcus Garvey (1887–1940) — biography

The founder of the UNIA and Black nationalist leader.

The web

Connections to other moments, systems, and investigations — the links rarely drawn together.

inspired·Person
Malcolm X
Garvey's Black nationalism shaped Malcolm X — whose father was a Garveyite organizer.