4 Lessons of Activism from Marcus Garvey

Yesterday, people around the world celebrated "Marcus Garvey's" day. On August 17, 1887 a great man was born. a man who restored the African pride to black people around the world. one of the most influential figures in the history of the black man, if not the most.

Usually when we think about black equality and civil rights around the world, we think of people like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Nelson Mandela, but it was Marcus Garvey who first promoted the issue significantly.

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At age 24, he had already earned a reputation as a local journalist and political activist in Jamaica. At 27 he started the 'UNIA' ( the united negro improvement association ), an international organization to help black people economically, to protect their culture and help people with all kinds of racial discrimination.

He founded the first black shipping company in history – the 'black star' and a "black" newspaper that distributed all over the world.

He Led the largest black movement in history, Which at its peak, has attracted millions of people worldwide.

His work influenced many black leaders in the 20th century, presidents and prime ministers Africans like Patrice Lumumba (Congo), Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) and Nelson Mandela (South Africa), and activist like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and Elijah Muhammad. Schools, bridges and parks around the world are named after him, and he is considered as a prophet among the Rastafarians.

Marcus garvey's beliefs

Above all, Marcus Garvey believed that race matters. He saw the black man oppressed all over the world by governments with diverse ideologies not because of his views, education, economic status or social status, but because of his race - simply by being black - and he was not wrong. Hence he began to preach that because the black man oppressed universally only because of his race, he must put race above all. because the whole world relate to black people in the same way just because of their color, black people from all over the world have to reunite as a race and put the interest of the black men and women over any other interest.

He reminded his followers that the slave ships brought no Jamaicans or Trinidadians, Americans or Belizeans - but Africans. Years of slavery and oppression displaced their African culture and traditions.

That’s why he started calling for counter-migration of black people from America, the Caribbean and from all over the world back to Africa to establish an African empire – where the blacks will benefit equal rights like the rest of the world.

"Where is the black man government? Where is his king and his kingdom? Where is his president, his country and his ambassador?? His army, his navy. His men of big affairs? I could not find them and then I declared I will help to make them."

Garvey obviously failed to realize many of his objectives : his 'black star' shipping company failed at the end. migration of millions of American blacks to Africa was too ambitious task and obviously was never implemented the way Garvey wanted. He was deported from the United States, and despite millions of dollars passed through his hands he did not die a wealthy man. But despite this, he made his mark in the world - he led the largest international black movement in history, and influenced similar struggles up till today - the civil rights movement in the United States up other internal conflicts around the world. He was a man who brought unification and strength to Black people throughout the world.

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What we as activists can learn from this great man?

1.It is all about timing.

the west indies in the late 19's and the early 20's was not an easy place for the african people who formed the majority of the in those territories. slavery had not long before ended in nearly all of the british islands and many of the black adults alive during young garvey's childhood would therefore have been slaves at some point of their lives.

The end of slavery had meant some relief from the harsher aspects of life under the system but it did not mean automatic equality with the white people - The situation was far from it. .

The vast majority of blacks were poor, most of them were farmers that worked in the fields and plantations belong to white land owners in Tough Working conditions and for low salaries - just like during the slavery time. 90 percent of the local population did not possess the right to vote or other political rights - rights that were reserved for whites only. Although governments have started providing educational services to black children yet still only about 20 thousand blacks out of quarter of a million blacks in Jamaica (where garvey was born) were illiterate.

Inequality between blacks and whites existed in all aspects of life, and the situation in Africa, South and Central America was even worse.. africa was in the last throes of european conquest and the black world was reeling from the murder of millions of Africans and near total annihilation of its independence.

africa was in the last throes of european conquest and the black world was reeling from the near total annihilation of its independence

In the United States there were segregation laws that separated blacks and whites in schools, residential areas, and in public places. Black people generally received lower wages than their white frien and violence by white people against blacks were most of the time justified in the courts.

Out of This grim reality Marcus Garvey we know today rose:

" i was determined that the black man would not continue to be kicked about by all the outher races and nations of the world, as I sew it in the west indies, south and central America and as I read of it in America. I sew before me then even as I do now, a new world of black men, not peons, serfs, dogs and slaves but a nation of sturdy men making their impress upon civilization and causing a new light to dawn upon the human race."

The time was right, garvey appeared on the scene when the need was greatest.

2. Not to act, speak or write about topics we are not mastered in

Garvey understood that when one deals with a subject he is not properly versed in it there will always be an ideological opponent that could embarrass him and reject his claims. He was also wise enough to realize that the personal experience of a person was not enough to give him the knowledge he needs so he must acquire his knowledge from the experience of others as well

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Garvey did not stop reading. He read and studied the depth of the history of the black man, he studied disciplines of social sciences, humanities and industry. He learned  about struggles and ideas already forgotten from the world and drew relevant conclusions that led to the modern struggle. He was not afraid to read texts of white intellectuals or intellectuals that he opposed to their ideas.he did it when he remembers that they were for their own interests - the text is not sacred.

3.Give hope

Garvey knew his people – the black people. He taught and inspired them.

He gave his people hope and provided them with a goal to achieve – a free and redeemed Africa. A world of black men and women proudly and fiercely equal to the rest of humankind. And he earned the right to criticize them.

He criticized them for being too weak and for begging for equal rights from those that suppress them instead Instead of demanding it.

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"Babylon did it. Assyria did. France under Napoleon did it. Germany under Prince Von Bismarck did it.  America under George Washington did it. AFRICA WITH 400 MILLION BLACK PEOPLE CAN DO IT".

Garvy teaches us that hope is the power that motivates people to rise up and bring the change they want to bring to the world. "There is a light at the end of the tunnel" he shouts. But we must not afraid of criticize ourselves and our partners in order to improve and move forward towards the light.

4. Never despair. Never give up.

Each individual who seek revolution and trying to change the existing system or the ideas that dominates the world will always encounter opposition from the ruling powers of that time. This law existed from the dawn of history, and probably will continue to exist forever: the prophets in the biblical period, Jesus, Maimonides, Galileo, the leaders of the French Revolution, the Northern forces in the American Civil War, Marcus Garvey, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Fidel Castro, Nelson Mandela and many others – they all fought for revolution and they all were suppressed by those who opposed the change

Common to all these mentioned above and the difference between them and the people we are not familiar with their names, is that they did not give up. despite many attempts by the authorities to suppress them, they continued their struggle no matter what - some of them stopped only when murdered.

Marcus Garvey, was criticized from within and without, he was charged with false charges by the United States government and expelled from the country, he received death threats demanding him to give up his ambitions. He never stopped.

Unlike leaders like Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela who died after the victory of their struggle. He died in the midst of the struggle - so when he died the governments still tried to erase his ideas and the legacy  he left behind after his death.

Everything was done to wipe out the record of garvey's phenomenal career. A whole generation of schoolchildren grew up in the West Indies, afro-America and Africa who never saw the name of marcus garvey mentioned in their history books.

The man who had led the largest international political movement among Africans in history, disappeared from the pages of history. Where he was mentioned it was usually in a very few sentences suggesting that he was probably a crock, criminal and a fool.

In 1964, two years after Jamaica became independent – the jamaician government proclaimed him the country's first national hero.

He didn't give up. he didn't stop. his ideas didn't come fulfilled in his lifetime, , but due to his devotion to the task, some of them were fulfilled after his death.

I believe that we as modern social and political activists can learn a lot more from Marcus Garvey. Even during his lifetime the ideas he promoted was heavily criticized from within and without and today most of them are seen as irrelevant at all. But his ideas is not the main lesson. It is his influence that evident to this day - he gave hope to millions of blacks and gave them a reason to stand up and claim their rights, to demand a better life. He gave pride and self-esteem to those who looked in the mirror and found it difficult to love themselves.

Marcus Mosiah Garvey was a man that lived a life with a mission. Although his journey may have seemed impossible, his never-ending strength and dedication caused many people’s dreams and wishes to become realities

He was responsible for putting forward ideas that helped to advance the political consciousness of blacks worldwide and influenced social movements around the world.  He changed the life of millions.

"Look for me in a whirlwind or a storm! Look for me all around you! For with God's grace, I shall come back with countless millions of Black men and women who have died in America, those who have died in the West Indies, and those who have died in Africa, to aid you in the fight for liberty, freedom and life!...

Can we do it?We can do it?

We shall do it.  "

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