Marcus Garvey and the African-American Civil Rights Movement

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Marcus Garvey and the African-American Civil Rights Movement

The 1920’s were a period of struggle for African-Americans. Slavery was abolished, but blacks were still oppressed and were in no way equal to whites. However, at this time blacks were starting to make some progress toward racial equality. The Harlem renaissance started the first real sense of African-American culture through art, jazz, dance, and literature. There was also at this time the beginning of strong African-American movements to further the black race. A prominent movement was led by W.E.B Dubois that focused on educating blacks to create equality. On the other end of the political spectrum was Marcus Garvey, who led the movement for blacks to unite as a race against oppression. Marcus Garvey’s background had a strong impact on his beliefs, which acted as a catalyst for his life’s work. Garvey’s involvement had a strong influence on the black population and the African-American civil rights movement of the 1920’s.

Marcus Garvey was born and raised in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. Garvey wasn’t aware of any racial segregation during his young life. Garvey was raised in segregation of whites and blacks, but he had a few white childhood friends. However, at age 14, Garvey was called "nigger" by one of his white friends and was told that his white friends were not allowed to see him anymore (Sewell 18). This was his first taste of racism; Garvey’s eyes were opened to all of the racism surrounding him. After that, he was no longer close to any white people, and racism and inequality became prevalent forces in Garvey’s life. St. Ann’s Bay was an impoverished town made up of peasants (Stein 24). Garvey’s parents were intellectuals, but there was no work for them ...

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...ed by the struggle of blacks to gain political, economic, and social equality. He devoted his life’s work to end of these struggles. He developed a set of beliefs that influenced many people and encouraged many blacks to put forth extra effort to get ahead. Marcus Garvey and the UNIA is the largest African-American movement to date (Dumenil 296).

Works Cited

Dumenil, Lynn. The Modern Temper. New York: Hill and Wang, 1995.

Garvey, Marcus. The UNIA Papers Project. http://www.isop.ucla.edu/mgpp/lifesamp.htm. 1925

McKissack, Patricia and Frederick. W.E.B Dubois. New York: Franklin Watt, 1990.

Sewell, Tony. Garvey’s Children: The Legacy of Marcus Garvey. Trenton:Africa World Press, Inc., 1990.

Stein, Judith. The World of Marcus Garvey: Race and Class in Modern Society. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 1986.

UCLA. http://www.isop.ucla.edu/mgpp/facts.htm. 1995

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