Rupert Lewis was born on 24 February 1947 in Jamaica. He is a well-known author and professor emeritus of political thought at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica. He is a proud public educator of the work of Marcus Garvey and the Garvey movement. Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr, also a Jamaican citizen, was born in St. Ann's Bay on August 17, 1887 to the intelligent Marcus Garvey Senior and the thoughtful Sarah Jane Richards. Marcus Garvey possessed more traits than his father and had to take on many responsibilities after his mother's death in 1908. He was married twice, first to Amy Ashwood, then to Amy Jacques Garvey, who gave birth to their two children. He was a political leader, nationalist, journalist, editor, poet, playwright, lyricist, entrepreneur, visionary and speaker for black nationalism, equality and pan-Africanism. He promoted self-determination and self-reliance for the independence of Africa. In 1914 he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and the African Communities League. This organization played a huge role in leading the global mass movement known as Garveyism. Garvey died in London on 10 June 1940 and was declared a national hero in 1969. The topics of racism, political oppression, identity, religion and social integration will be discussed in this report. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay At the heart of the topic of racism, Garvey learned about it from an early age. She had a little white girl as a playmate, however her parents told her that they could not continue their friendship as Garvey was a "nigger". On page 14, Garvey first learned the difference between humanity, the races and each of them having their own separate and distinct social life due to this event. On page 36 it was shown that slavery created a political culture of racial separation with deeply held views of black inferiority among the white population that justified arbitrary lynchings and all manner of abuse. Slavery, introduced by whites, transformed blacks into an inferior and socially unacceptable race. This mentality held by whites then is still held by some now. Furthermore, as seen on page 62, Martin Morua Delgado introduced the Morua Law which prohibited parties based on race. This law was the foundation for the brutal repression and murder of three thousand Afro-Cuban peasant rebels by the Cuban authorities and the US Marines. This law only targeted the black population, thus demonstrating the racism prevalent at the time. Additionally, the formation of black newspaper organizations such as Blackman and Negro World was a way to publish information about blacks, however, as noted on page 65, police harassed vendors and postal workers in an attempt to delay immediate delivery of the newspaper. newspapers through the post office. This represented a clear oppression of the black race in attempting to communicate freely. Along with this oppression, farmers were exploited by large landowners through hawker licensing, market taxes, and water tariffs. The rural population also had to pay unfair parish taxes, from which they never benefited. This was noted on page 68. This shows that the rural class suffered a lot financially but still had to pay the little money they had to the big landowners. These taxes ensured that the upper classes maintained control of economic resources and then used it to oppress the rural population. This contributed largely to social stratification and is still observed today. TOpage 69 it was said that Garvey was to campaign for court reporters to ensure fairness in court proceedings. The fact that he had to campaign for judicial equality revealed the racial bias present in the courts. The protest depicted on page 77 of the 1928 League of Nations petition states: “We believe that the black republics of Haiti and Liberia… have to do with the white nations.” This statement represents the fact that the Black Republics were treated very differently than the White Nations. It showed that black republics had less chance of development and were therefore ridiculed and regarded less. It showed that socially white nations were more accepted than black republics. Along with racism, Garvey was an advocate for racial equality and Caribbean unity. In an effort to ensure racial equality, the Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World was drafted by the UNIA-ACL in August 1920. According to page 22, the declaration was intended to bring light to the inhumane conditions faced by blacks. globally and, therefore, framed the rights that were to be pursued for equal treatment between whites and blacks. He further noted that blacks are secretly discriminated against and denied the full rights of government afforded to white citizens. This further proved that blacks were treated inferiorly to whites, especially if they desired positions of greater authority. In the words of Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine of the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian newspaper, “financial power is still largely in the hands of white minorities in the region due to business models that have changed little over the centuries.” In the same article he referred to a study conducted in Barbados, which showed that in the Caribbean racial discrimination against Afro-descendants was linked to the dark color of their skin, poverty and control of economic resources. This, in my opinion, shows us that not much has changed from 1900 to today. Even though racism is not as overt as it was historically, it is still present in today's society. Throughout the early 20th century, one of the greatest obstacles Garvey faced was of course the systemic discrimination that kept blacks in subordination and supported historic American feelings of white supremacy: political oppression. These white elitist ideals were institutionalized in the laws of the United States, particularly in the late 1870s, when state legislatures passed "Jim Crow laws," which segregated African Americans and would lead to arrest or violent retaliation if some African American had challenged the status quo. . This conferred a status of second-class citizenship to the extent of inhibiting democratic rights among blacks and thus sought to keep them in a state of political oppression. During the Great Migration (1910-1920), blacks continued to face employment discrimination, segregation in schools and public facilities, and barriers to voting. In this book, however, Lewis addressed the implications of these limited rights for blacks, pointing out that internal migration became rampant as many of them fled the harsh conditions of the American South. The founding of the UNIA organization in 1914 was the first step towards the creation of an autonomous political reality for blacks. According to Lewis, Garvey sought the patronage of influential figures such as the governor, the colonial secretary, and a wealthy landowner. The book further highlights, on page 11, that one of the objectives of the founding of the UNIA was “To establish commissioners in the maincountries of the world, for the protection of all Negroes, regardless of nationality." Thus, the UNIA was conceived as a preliminary impetus that would challenge the white supremacist political framework of early 20th century America. Furthermore, this organization would have been crucial as the United States had no say in black leadership following the death of Booker T. Washington. Concurrent with calls for political and social reform was Garvey's emphasis on black pride and identity. Black pride was a central motif both in his speeches and in the literary works of his newspaper, “The Negro World.” Historically, the Caribbean and the United States embodied the functioning of a total institution whereby the colonial enterprise controlled every aspect of the lives of African workers and stripped them of their culture. It is also important to note that a racial ideology had long pervaded North America that depicted Africans as barbaric and pagan, ultimately serving as a driving force for institutionalized slavery. On page 9 of “Marcus Garvey,” the writer highlighted these negative views of the black world, stating that black West Indians often denied or denigrated their culture to escape the “lack of civilization” and “savagery” associated with Africa . Marcus Garvey ultimately sought to discredit these worldviews in an effort to wrest them from European subordination and engender pride among blacks. Rupert Lewis recounted this in his book on page 74, when he explained that in the 1930s Garvey wrote a variety of plays that spanned black culture and history, so Garvey became a playwright. Furthermore, he also stated that Garvey organized the Edelweiss Amusement Company which ran cultural and sports programs. Rupert further explained that Marcus Garvey not only promulgated ideologies of black pride, but was also in favor of Caribbean integration programs that would help unite Caribbean peoples and develop a sense of political homogeneity. It was during the 1930s that he made a particularly profound impact as a pan-Caribbean and Jamaican political leader. In addition to this, Lewis noted on page 81 that Marcus Garvey's teachings found great resonance with the Rastafari movement and some historians have even credited Garvey as the one who laid the foundations of this movement, as well as other movements, such as Bedward and Nation. of Islam. Along with the theme of identity, religion was also expressed. In my opinion, identity and religion are interconnected as Garvey's religion was part of his identity. Lewis indicated on page 3 that Garvey was baptized into the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1890 when he was only three years old. This meant that Garvey was raised as a Methodist from an early age. According to Lewis, Garvey's belief was strong and was prominent in his speeches, meditations, hymns and sermons, but he later converted to Catholicism. As Lewis recorded on page 74, Garvey organized the Edelweiss Amusement Company. It was there that he preached sermons and sang in choirs. This showed that Garvey was very vibrant in his religion and not only wanted to spread racial equality, but also spread the word of God. Although he was religiously active, he did not believe in or approve of religious-based social movements and their leaders. As illustrated on page 81, Garvey recognized the way Christianity had been used by Europeans to enslave Africans and this made him realize that the Bible cannot solve all of man's problems. He also showed him that historically the Bible was most capable of influencing man, but now, because societies and man have changed and become so sinister, the Bible alone cannot influence them. Garvey was seen to believe, a, 2002.