Born in St Ann's Bay, Jamaica in 1887, Marcus Garvey became the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement and Conservation Association and the African Communities League (UNIA-ACL ) after traveling many times and seeing firsthand how “Negroes lived, politically and otherwise.” Garvey led one of, if not the largest, African political movements through his vision of Pan-Africanism from which the slogan “Africa for Africans” derives. Marcus Garvey's Pan-African movement shaped a postcolonial Caribbean identity through the manifestation of African political-economic independence, racial consciousness, African-based religious and educational institutions, and literary works. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Pan-Africanism energized political independence for Garveyite Africans not only in Jamaica, but also internationally, primarily through the UNIA. The UNIA, which had nearly 100 divisions in the Caribbean, has been driven by politics since its creation. African political emancipation was demonstrated when UNIA-ACL delegates formulated the Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World in a convention in 1920. The declaration protested all unlawful acts and practices committed on or against blacks at the internationally, such as lynching and the shaving of the heads of African women and sought to ensure that these acts were claimed and addressed in all jurisdictions. Garvey dreamed of creating a political force in Africa and sought to realize this through the creation of a UNIA division in Liberia. However, this did not come to pass as the US government halted all efforts by Garvey to establish a base in Liberia as Liberia was “a client state of the United States and dependent on its capital”. The UNIA had other divisions in other African countries, and Garvey's message to Africans was spread through the Negro World newspaper. Garvey had an even more powerful political impact in Jamaica when he launched the People's Political Party in 1928. He promised to create similar parties in the French and British territories of the Caribbean. The party recorded three election victories, in Kingston, St Andrew Corporation and the Legislative Council in by-elections. Garvey's party attracted public attention as it sought to help the working and middle classes and identified their economic needs. He clearly stated his disagreement with the colonial policies and economic practices of the large landowners. He also campaigned for judicial fairness to be maintained by court reporters and for the protection of people to be lawfully represented in court if they were financially or otherwise incapable of having representation. The first political manifesto and constitution in Jamaica, and perhaps the Caribbean, were created by the PPP. Garvey pushed for better wages, education and working conditions to benefit Jamaican workers. His words motivated others throughout the Caribbean, even though he was referring specifically to Jamaica, as the 1930s brought riots and labor protests due to the impoverished conditions faced by people throughout the region. Garvey's political party did not win the 1930s elections because most of the middle class supported Britain while the rest of the electorate supported the United Fruit Company. The creation of the Black Star Line was symbolically a means to economic independence and enterprise for Africans around the world. the world. The ACL was “the commercial arm of the UNIA and had legal authorityto raise capital." The Black Star Line provided a means by which the African diaspora could return to Africa without aspects of racial discrimination from white-owned ships. There was a White Star Line owned by white men, so Garvey decided to call the black men's one the Black Star Line. In 1919, the Black Star Line was certified and registered and soon after purchasing its first ship, SS Yarmouth was subsequently renamed SS Frederick Douglass. The ship sailed between America, the West Indies and Africa. All Black Star Line ships had problems such as conflicts between officers and crew and there was corruption due to Garvey's misjudgment with poor hiring decisions and lack of business experience. In 1922, the Black Star Line was discontinued, although it was potentially a good commercial enterprise based in Africa, it however lacked adequate commercial prospects that would have prevented its downfall. Economic independence was also achieved through the Negro Factories Corporation (NFC) which Garvey founded owning grocery stores, restaurant chains, laundromats, publishing magazines, pamphlets, and newspapers. NFC also manufactured household appliances and devices, dealt in apparel, and bought and sold products. The NFC was established to employ Black people and produce for Black consumers, thus establishing a Black-owned business. By 1920, the company had acquired ownership of a Harlem laundromat and later the Universal Steam Laundry, creating a Universal Dressmaking and Tailoring Department, and the UNIA's uniforms and insignia were made here. The Kingston UNIA division owned a bakery and a bank and shares were available only to members. The UNIA's exploits helped give hope to hundreds of blacks who had been unemployed, although the NFC did not achieve the level of influence Garvey desired and closed negatively in 1921. Marcus Garvey and the UNIA helped raise racial consciousness and bring about racial redemption of Africans globally as white supremacy was vivid after colonization in the twentieth century. Garvey was exposed to racism at a young age as he had a white friend whose parents eventually severed their friendship. “White supremacy was institutionalized in law and Africans were considered subhuman.” After colonization, the idea that blacks were property was still ingrained in the minds of whites. Racism and classism were observed after World War I, when West Indian soldiers realized that there were European workers and farmers and not just plantation owners. Soldiers were promised the right to vote and receive land, but those promises were not kept, which led veterans to join Garveyism and create their own labor organizations in the United States and the West Indies. Garvey was not against whites as he also included their struggles in his speeches and also spoke to many white leaders. Garvey admitted that his first education in racial consciousness was given by Dr. Robert Love, a Bahamian-born Pan-Africanist who profiled his works through his newspaper Jamaica Advocate. Dr. TES Scholes, a Jamaican thinker and author, also influenced Garvey's racial views. During his stay in America, Garvey was exposed to riots due to interracial couples. Blacks were killed if interracial unions were heard of, and so African Americans believed that miscegenation would prevent their oppression. Garvey, however, argued that blacks should take pride in their race by accepting it and keeping it pure. Garvey realized that theRacial prejudice limited blacks even though they were wealthy and successful and therefore believed that the only way to treat Africans fairly was to create a government on the African continent that was strong enough to command the respect of everyone around the world. . This shows how far Garvey's vision for racial equality and the redemption of Africa has come. Garveyism contributed to the formation of religious and educational institutions with the help of the UNIA which had the motto "One God, One Goal, One Destiny". Religiously, the Nation of Islam and Rastafarianism were heavily influenced by Garveyism. Although Garvey was particularly critical of religious-based movements, he had such a strong faith in God that he frequently quoted from the Bible during some of his speeches, particularly Psalms 68:31, “The princes will come out of Egypt; Ethiopia will soon stretch out its hands towards God." Garvey spread his message of black Jesus and Mary to showcase his African beliefs and gave speeches in churches. Rastafarianism originated through Prince Ras Tafari Makonnen who called himself Haile Selassie, although Garvey was not fully a supporter of Selassie, he is considered a prophet in their religion. To this day, the Nation of Islam's core values ​​mimic those of Garveyism, where their revised version of the Muslim faith shows significant African influence and believes in segregation from whites. The School of African Philosophy was designed as a training ground for graduates to become representatives of the UNIA. Garvey replaces Eurocentric philosophy and offers students a different vision that would allow them to become proud blacks. The English stenographer from Garvey's organization sent the lessons to the school. The school had forty-two subjects based on the work of the UNIA and the ACL over the last two decades of the organization's existence. Garvey's literary works were a great factor which in turn benefited his mission. Marcus Garvey was not only known as a political leader, but was also an accomplished poet, editor, and journalist. From a young age Garvey was exposed to publishing as he became apprenticed to a composer at the age of fourteen. He published Garvey's Watchman, a weekly newspaper which he discontinued. He edited bilingual newspapers in Costa Rica and Panama during his travels as he had learned Spanish by working and living in Spanish countries. Garvey's speeches and newspaper editorials focused on the struggle for African democracy. When Garvey was sentenced to prison for mail fraud in 1923, he wrote many essays and poems including his most popular poem "Keep Cool" and many articles were published in Negro World. . “The Tragedy of White Injustice” is a long poem about slavery and the genocide of Africans resulting from colonization and white enterprise and this shows how vast Garvey's historical knowledge was. In the poem Garvey wrote: “Will there be freedom of liberal thought?” He also wrote letters to his wife, Amy Jacques Garvey, expressing his love and affection towards her during her harsh imprisonment. The "First Message to the Negroes of the World from Atlanta Jail" was also written by Garvey in which he wrote "After my enemies are satisfied, in life or death I will return to you to serve you just as I have served before" which is served to explain his feelings about his time in prison and his determination to continue with his mission regardless of being imprisoned. When Garvey was released from prison, Negro World was banned in Cuba and the UNIA was declared an illegal organization. This was one of the many ways in which the colonial authorities tried to prevent Garvey from/20698.