The Contributions of Marcus Garvey.

Essay by sludeHigh School, 12th gradeA, May 2003

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There were many important people of the Harlem Renaissance. Aside from such renowned individuals such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, people are not aware of the many other influential people from the racial segregation time period. Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr., born August 17th 1887, also known as the "Black Moses" is one of those leaders most people are unaware of. It is a shame because he was a great man and through his actions, his beliefs, and the man he was he made many contributions to the Harlem Renaissance.

Jamaican and US black nationalist leader. In 1914 Marcus Garvey along with Amy Ashwood founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). After moving to the United States in 1916, he established branches of the UNIA in New York's Harlem and many other ghettos all over the country. Garvey was black and he was proud of it. By 1919 the rising "Black Moses" claimed to have an enormous amount of followers at about 2 million.

It was to these people Garvey spoke of a "new Negro," proud of being black. His newspaper Negro World, which was in circulation from 1919 to 1933 ("Encyclopedia of Black..." pg.342), stressed and believed, an independent black economy could exist within the framework of white capitalism. Garvey was one of the main people in establishing black-run businesses, one of which was the Black Star shipping line ("Marcus Garvey Timeline" pg.2). In 1920 he convened an international convention to unify blacks and encourage trade between Africa and the US. On September 10th, 1919 the British colonial secretary authorized the West Indian governments to introduce legislation to suppress The Negro World and other publications considered seditious. However all of Garvey's influence and power was shattered by accusations of mail fraud. Shortly thereafter Garvey was shot and...