Overview
Marcus Garvey
(1887—1940) pan-African nationalist leader
Quick Reference
(1887–1940)
Jamaican Black leader. He organized the Universal Negro Improvement and Conservation Association (UNICA) in Jamaica in 1914 to encourage racial pride and Black unity with the slogan “Africa for the Africans at home and abroad”. In 1916 he went to the USA, promising repatriation of Black Americans to a new African republic (to be created out of former German colonies). He established four branches of UNICA in South Africa in 1921, which encouraged the growth of Black movements there in the 1930s. Deeply resented by William Du Bois, Garvey's followers clashed with more moderate Black people in the 1920s. Although personally honest and sincere, he mismanaged his movement's finances and was convicted (1923) of attempted fraud.
Subjects: History — Regional and National History
