Marcus Garvey A Biography

By Stephen Johnson

Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican-born black nationalist and originator of the "Back to Africa" movement during the 1900s, was a passionate and formidable orator and founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Garvey went on to become an inspiration for many future civil rights activists.

 

Marcus Garvey: A Biography by Stephen Johnson provides an in-depth look into the incredible life of this truly remarkable man, his vision for pan-Africanism, and his unrelenting fight for the right of self-determination and self-reliance for the African people.

 

Johnson's meticulously researched biography paints the complete picture of a controversial figure who stood in the spotlight during the early years of the battle for racial equality. Marcus Garvey went on to become an early pioneer in this struggle; admired by his supporters, respected by his adversaries, and feared by the government. Jamaica honored Marcus Garvey by declaring him its first national hero.

 

Johnson's work demonstrates how Garvey's message of black pride showed in every aspect of his life and continued even after his death. It brilliantly captures the true essence of a man Martin Luther King, Jr. called, "the first man, on a mass scale and level, to give millions of Negroes a sense of dignity and destiny, and make the Negro feel that he was somebody."

 

Stephen Johnson's work, Marcus Garvey: A Biography is an essential and fascinating read for anyone interested in African-American history or the history of the civil rights movement. It is a reference book you will need to have in your library.

• Language: English
• Publisher: MG Publishing
• Release date: Jan 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393325741

Stephen Johnson

Stephen Johnson has taken part in several hundred radio programmes and documentaries, including Radio 3's weekly Discovering Music series. He is also presented on the Classic Arts Podcast series Archive Classics. He has contributed as guest interviewee on BBC 4 coverage of The Proms, ITV's The Southbank Show and more recently, on BBC1's The One Show. Stephen Johnson is the author of several books, including The Eight: Mahler and the World in 1910 (Faber) and How Shostakovich Changed My Mind (NHE).

Book preview

Marcus Garvey

A Biography

By: Stephen Johnson

© Copyright 2019 - All rights reserved.

The content contained within this book may not be reproduced, duplicated or transmitted without direct written permission from the author or the publisher.

Under no circumstances will any blame or legal responsibility be held against the publisher, or author, for any damages, reparation, or monetary loss due to the information contained within this book. Either directly or indirectly.

Legal Notice:

This book is copyright protected. This book is only for personal use. You cannot amend, distribute, sell, use, quote or paraphrase any part, or the content within this book, without the consent of the author or publisher.

Disclaimer Notice:

Please note the information contained within this document is for educational and entertainment purposes only. All effort has been executed to present accurate, up to date, and reliable, complete information. No warranties of any kind are declared or implied. Readers acknowledge that the author is not engaging in the rendering of legal, financial, medical or professional advice. The content within this book has been derived from various sources. Please consult a licensed professional before attempting any techniques outlined in this book.

By reading this document, the reader agrees that under no circumstances is the author responsible for any losses, direct or indirect, which are incurred as a result of the use of information contained within this document, including, but not limited to, — errors, omissions, or inaccuracies.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter One: Youth and Heritage

Ancestry and Heritage

Birth and Childhood

Of Father and Son

An Introduction to Racial Bias

Youth and Garvey’s Journey Forward

Chapter Two: A Prelude to Political Activism

Purpose in the Capital

Garvey in Latin America

Return to Jamaica and His Journey Forward

Chapter Three: Garvey the Black Napoleon

Garvey Finds Love

The Birth of the UNIA

The Bridge of Education

Garvey Meets America

Parting from Washington

Garvey’s Nationalism

Chapter Four: The Universal Negro Improvement Association

Garvey Overcomes his Shortcomings

Garvey Rises Again

The UNIA’s Vision and Impact

Garvey’s Government

The Black Man’s Bill of Rights

The UNIA’s Early Critics

Chapter Five: A Black Nation is Needed

The Role of the Afro-American

Racial Rule

Liberia

The UNIA in Liberia

Chapter Six: The Black Star Line

Back to Africa with the Black Star Line

Internal Management

The UNIA’s Last Ship

Economic Downfall

Garvey Finds Love, Again and Faces Death

Chapter Seven: White Men versus Garvey

Edwin P. Kilroe

J. Edgar Hoover

The First Black Agent

Chapter Eight: Marcus Garvey and the KKK- Strange Bedfellows

Conceptualization

Garvey-ism Down South

Controversy and the Fall of Garvey

The Black Nation vs. Garvey: Letters and Replies

Chapter Nine: Garvey Imprisoned

The Build-up to the Charge

The Indictment

Garvey’s Wife and Warden

Chapter Ten: Garvey Fights for Justice

The UNIA Protests

A Commuted Sentence

Republican Politics

Republican Politics

Chapter Eleven: Forced Out – Garvey’s Exile

Garvey Waves Goodbye

The Void Left Behind

Garvey’s Legacy

The Men and Women of Garvey

Chapter Twelve: The Prodigal Son Returns

Rebuilding the New UNIA

Garvey’s New Political Foray

Garvey’s Breaks from America

Garvey’s Death and Beyond

Familial Unrest

Garvey’s Last Days

Conclusion

Introduction

Welcome and congratulations for downloading the book, Marcus Garvey – The Black Moses – where you are about to learn all about one of history’s greatest black leaders and Jamaica’s first National Hero.

So, what should you expect?

Everything.

Marcus Garvey lead an exciting and awe-inspiring life, spanning over three continents and numerous cities, he built and ran movements the likes of which were never seen in Black history again, and at the same time he failed hopelessly in many arenas. And lucky for you here in Marcus Garvey – The Black Moses, we deal with it all!

Don’t believe us?

Why don’t we give you a rundown?

Starting from Garvey’s early childhood, where we come to learn what an amazing role his Maroon heritage held, how activism and fighting for freedom was a part of his heritage and ancestry, the book then goes into the circumstances of the UNIA leader’s birth, the financial poverty, and then subsequent racial bias he deals with, giving us a clear idea into the mind of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, and also gives you a better understanding of how all of this propels Garvey forward and the slow build of activism in his life.

But Garvey’s isn’t quite jumpstarted on his tiny island nation, in fact in order for the true notion of rights to settle in the young activist he would first have to move to Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, and later on to London, where he would struggle and educate himself in a bid to better his lot. It was his education that would later open his eyes to the depth of the discrimination the black race would face, and it was just years later, in Costa Rica, that he would finally rebel and try to appeal to the higher white authorities to help the black struggle.

Disappointed by the lack of response from the white nations, Garvey took it upon himself to improve the lot of black people around the world and just years later, after having found love and purpose, Garvey formed the Universal Negro Improvement Association, commonly known as the UNIA, which was a massive organization encompassing multiple industries and companies, including the famous Black Star Line which would ultimately become Garvey’s biggest venture and his most monumental failure. Hunted by FBI agents and J. Edgar Hoover for years, Garvey would then simultaneously deal with the internal managerial failure of the Black Star Company, and the intensified efforts of the U.S. Government in the wake of World War I and finally end up facing charges for mail fraud, for which he was indicted.

In the meantime, Garvey did a lot more than just sit around and wait to get arrested, he had not only formed the first black government, but he’d also created a Blackman’s bill of rights. His ventures with the Black Star Line had led him to Liberia, where he was trying to build and customize his own private Black nation.

Once in jail, the man kept going writing songs and editorials, and it was impossible to stifle this man and upon his release, he went back to his homeland to reform the UNIA.

Garvey’s life is an intense roller coaster, where there is constantly something happening and lucky for you we cover all of that in this intense tell-all novel, based on the life and times of black history’s most daring if not influential leader of all time.

If you are doing absolutely anything, we encourage you to finish it before you scroll further; for once you start going through his life and times you will undoubtedly struggle to stop reading.

The Messiah of the Black nation may have begun from humble thatched houses in Jamaica, but in the end, this is the story of the man who inspired Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammad, Louis Farrakhan and even the iconic race rights activist Nelson Mandela, and as such you will be hard-pressed to breathe much less do anything else.

Just remember as you go on, while Garvey’s circumstances and views may have been narrow in certain ways, his philosophy was not, and even the people of today, and that includes you, still have much to learn in terms of his racial progression, his notions of justice and equality and the importance of structured power against foreign forces.

Ready?

Here we go then!

Chapter One: Youth and Heritage

Marcus Garvey is perhaps the most underrated Black nationalist of all time. Having singlehandedly reared up an institution, which in its heyday was easily bigger and more impactful than the Civil Rights Movement, it is no reach to claim that Garvey was the biggest Black Leader in documented history.

Ancestry and Heritage

With his grandfather and great grandfather both being born slaves, it was only from his father, Marcus Sr.’s generation that the concept of freedom or emancipation began to blossom. However, their concept ofliberty was tinged with the concept of innate freedom, which defined creole cultures. Such was possibly a result of the fact that they themselves were the descendants of Mende and Maroons, the latter group being the first Jamaican freedom fighters, a fact that Garvey highlighted in his later sermons, when he spoke of the UNIA and its goals, going as far as to state that he was very proud of his pure black blood.

But even this freedom was not unfettered.

Marcus Garvey, despite not having been born into slavery, was born into the British implemented transition period, whereby, the British decided that in order to process claims from slave-holders and to allow former slaves to adjust, a four-year period was needed.

During this period, slaves or former slaves as they now were, were required to work for their former owners, a minimum forty hours a week, without pay. Any work that exceeded the set hours was to be paid, for a mutually negotiated sum of money. Such a form of

Reviews for Marcus Garvey A Biography

[Iyasu Tafari · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Enlightening quick read makes me want to know more about this great man