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Philosophy of marcus garvey summary
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Marcus Garvey gave a speech during the Second International Convention of Negroes at the Liberty Hall in New York City in August 1921. He reminded the representatives present of the past hardships that led to the formation of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, the purpose to be achieved by the association, the character the members of the association should have when marching towards achieving the purpose, and the power they have in the number of Negroes willing to take part in the liberalization of Africa (Garvey 59). In his speech, he highlighted the reason for the formation of the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Marcus aimed at instilling the sense of commonness of the association’s roots and future undertakings. When people …show more content…
are fighting for a common course, they are together, and determination is enhanced to higher levels. The effort and unity portrayed in the association was a pillar for strength and might in the African spirit. Marcus outlined the purpose to be achieved by the association as the desire to free Africa from oppression (Garvey 59).
The success of the association since its inception was to be the foundation for scaling higher in the success ladder towards freedom of Africa. Reminder of success was meant to motivate the members into believing that the obstacles in the way could be overcome. Marcus pointed out the type of character and spirit the members should have in the process of fighting for liberation of Africa (Foner 345). Marcus noted that previous revolutions in the world in different parts were led by human beings similar to the Negroes. He did this to show the members of the association that human beings do not need special power to bring the change they want in the society. The human being aspect also meant that all races are equal regardless of the color of their skin and have the right to be free from rule by other men. Marcus revealed that the authority they were acting under was from God Almighty and His son, Jesus Christ (Garvey 60). Marcus is seen as a religious person, and he believes that victory in the quest for freedom of Africa will be achieved if the members of the association let God be the leader (Foner
501). Marcus showed the representatives the power in the number of Negroes in the world with the chance to participate in the struggle for freedom of Africa. Marcus estimates the total number of Negroes in the world to be 400 million, which is quite a large number to ignore in the march to freedom (Garvey 61). Marcus expresses the number to be large to show the members that the possibility of defeat is minimal. The speech portrays Marcus Garvey as an influential leader who knew how to evoke the inner spirit within the members of the association through reminder of the roots of the association, linking revolution with human aspect, acknowledging the presence of God’s reign, and showing the power in the total number of Negroes.
(People & Events: Universal Negro Improvement Association) Garvey began to wonder who was the voice for the African’s and why the black men and women didn 't have the oppeortuntinties that other people, not African, did. Where was the country that belong to the black men and women? If there was a form a government, how did it come to be? Who had control over the decision of all the black mend women? Who was the president or king for the black people? (People & Events: Universal Negro Improvement Association) These are all examples of questions he asked and wondered. Garvey decided to acknowledge these questions and give them an answer by founding the Universal Negro Improvement Association to give the black man a voice, a government, a country, and a
David Walker describes the fact that slaves are humans just as much as their White American masters are. He states the pressing matter is that “You [colored people] have to prove to the Americans and the world, that we are MEN and not brutes, as we have been represented and by millions treated.” (Page 33) He asks the question “How can those enemies but say that we and our children are not of the HUMAN FAMILY, but were made by our Creator to be an inheritance?” Although nowadays many people agree that black people have the same anatomy as whites do, but back then many people did not view blacks as equals to themselves.
Booker T. Washington was an African American leader who established an African-American college in 1181. Then in 1895 delivered the Atlanta Compromise Speech to an audience of mainly Southerners, but some Northerners were present. In his speech he made a few points. He said, “No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.” Washington believed that the African American race needed to learn first that manual labor was just as important as the work of intellects. He thought that until they learned this they were not worthy of becoming intellects themselves. The color line is thus important in teaching them this lesson. He also said, “It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercise of these privileges.” His opinion was that one day blacks would deserve to have equal rights with the whites, but right now in 1895 the blacks needed to be...
When talking about the history of African-Americans at the turn of the twentieth century, two notable names cannot be left out; Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois. They were both African-American leaders in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, fighting for social justice, education and civil rights for slaves, and both stressed education. This was a time when blacks were segregated and discriminated against. Both these men had a vision to free blacks from this oppression. While they came from different backgrounds, Washington coming from a plantation in Virginia where he was a slave, and Du Bois coming from a free home in Massachusetts, they both experienced the heavy oppression blacks were under in this Post-Civil War society. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois were both pioneers in striving to obtain equality for blacks, yet their ways of achieving this equality were completely different. W.E.B Du Bois is the more celebrated figure today since he had the better method because it didn’t give the whites any power, and his method was intended to achieve a more noble goal than Washington’s.
In 1903 black leader and intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois wrote an essay in his collection The Souls of Black Folk with the title “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others.” Both Washington and Du Bois were leaders of the black community in the 19th and 20th century, even though they both wanted to see the same outcome for black Americans, they disagreed on strategies to help achieve black social and economic progress. History shows that W.E.B Du Bois was correct in racial equality would only be achieved through politics and higher education of the African American youth.
In the article Marcus Garvey, used this form of writing where he bolded each word he started his new paragraph with, and with each bolded word he would explain what it meant to him in his own words. He first started off the article with the word history; he started off with this word because history is what keeps people from forgetting about the hardships and trials. History tells the facts no matter how much the story gets changed around. Chance, Life, Criticism, Fear, Ambition, these are some of the words he used to go in depth with his point about the Negro race. While writing this article he talks a lot about awakening Africa and the Negros from Africa and restoring both to their former image of superiority and making Africa a mighty nation
The two races have lived here together. The Negro has been here in America since 1619, a total of 344 years. He is not going anywhere else; this country is his home. He wants to do his part to help make his city, state, and nation a better place for everyone, regardless of color and race. Let me appeal to the consciences of many silent, responsible citizens of the white community who know that a victory for democracy in Jackson will be a victory for democracy everywhere” (Medgar Evers in Jackson Mississippi, 2013).
“The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife, – this longing to attain self-consciousness, manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He would not Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message f...
Marcus Garvey is viewed as one of the primary “Race Men” of the Harlem Renaissance. He established the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), based upon a “Back to Africa” movement. Garvey argued that African Americans were fated to be a permanent minority if they remained in a white United States, so he suggested carrying back over four million African Americans to Africa, primarily Liberia, on his Black Star Line cargo ships. He claimed that an Africa for Africans was the only way for African Americans to have true equality and freedom. However, despite gaining great popularity amongst working-class African Americans, his plan was impractical, farfetched, and simply a delusion.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church also known as the AME Church, represents a long history of people going from struggles to success, from embarrassment to pride, from slaves to free. It is my intention to prove that the name African Methodist Episcopal represents equality and freedom to worship God, no matter what color skin a person was blessed to be born with. The thesis is this: While both Whites and Africans believed in the worship of God, whites believed in the oppression of the Africans’ freedom to serve God in their own way, blacks defended their own right to worship by the development of their own church. According to Andrew White, a well- known author for the AME denomination, “The word African means that our church was organized by people of African descent Heritage, The word “Methodist” means that our church is a member of the family of Methodist Churches, The word “Episcopal refers to the form of government under which our church operates.”
Nabrit, James M. Jr. “The Relative Progress and the Negro in the United States: Critical Summary and Evaluation.” Journal of Negro History 32.4 (1963): 507-516. JSTOR. U of Illinois Lib., Urbana. 11 Apr. 2004
It was not until his return to his hometown, St. Ann’s Bay Jamaica that Garvey realized that black people had to regain their power from the white man. In 1914, Garvey founded the United Negro Improvement Association or UNIA to focus on the economic independence of African people. Through his teachings he, wanted black people to feel that they were not inferior of any, but of equal value just as the white man. “I am the equal of my white man and I want you to feel the same (Broadcaster, 2015)”, quote from one of Marcus Garvey’s speeches, depicted in his documentary entitled Look for me in the World Wind: The Marcus Garvey Story, evoked that of equality among oppressed African Americans. It was through his oratorical skills and strength based approach, in which Garvey was able to reach thousands of African Americans, which later resulted in a mass number of
Equality for African-Americans! Before Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of it, Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. Du Bois fought for it. In the 1920’s, blacks and whites were still greatly separated both physically and mentally. Equal rights were strongly sought after by many people in various ways. The most effective of those methods came from two highly influential men: Garvey and Du Bois. After the push by Booker T. Washington, the most respected black man in America at that time, to accept being subhuman and not having rights, both men began campaigns to accomplish what they perceived Washington incapable of: civil rights. Although their methodology was sometimes questionable, and the results seemingly slim, Garvey and Du Bois did pave the way for future civil rights activists. During the 1920’s, both men affected change for sure…but just how influential were they?
He also mention that Negroes was divided and kept apart for over 300 years; yet, when the time has come for us to get back together, we shall do so in the spirit of brotherly love. Clashing with fellow leader W.E.B. DuBois over leadership question, Garvey believe that American and West Indies Negroes was above themselves so much which causes them to think that any readjustment in the affairs of the races should be placed in their hands. “ Negroes everywhere not to tolerate the infliction of race or class, but the desire of the self-appointed and self- created race leadership that we been having for the last fifty years”
Africa has battled the slave trade and the loss of so many of her valuable children. Africa has battled colonization of her land and the exploitation of her vast resources. The continent has come out of these battles beaten down and shaken up but still standing. With the help of Wangari Maathai’s “The Challenge For Africa” I hope to point out how Africa and its nation states can raise themselves to new levels of greatness, fight off the ills of neo-colonialism and achieve this beautiful dream of Nelson