The largest organized mass movement of Black people in recorded history
The Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s and the anti-apartheid movement that swept the globe in the 1980s are undoubtedly more well-known when it comes to mass action in support of Black empowerment around the world. However, Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association – African Communities League still holds the record for the largest and most successful attempt to organize Black people globally to advance their own interests.
Without relying on the support of wealthy white patrons or philanthropic institutions, Garvey and his followers built more than 1,000 chapters in 40 countries across three continents. At its height, the UNIA boasted 2-4 million members.
In the July 1988 issue of NAACP’s Crisis magazine, longtime Pan-African organizer Kwame Ture notes that “the idea of mass party itself, Nkrumah would tell all, came from the Honorable Marcus Garvey, who injected the mass character into the Pan-African struggle with the Universal Negro Improvement Association.”
In addition to political activism, UNIA was an economic engine that published a newspaper called Negro World in multiple languages, ran an international shipping company called the Black Star Line, and developed the Negro Factories Corporation, which “generated income and provided jobs by its numerous enterprises, including a chain of grocery stores and restaurants, steam laundry, tailor shop, dress making shop, millinery store (clothing, fashion, hats, accessories, etc.), publishing house and doll factory,” Black History Studies website reports. “In New York City alone, Garvey owned several buildings, owned a fleet of trucks and had over 1,000 Black people working in his businesses. Marcus Garvey’s U.N.I.A. also operated the Phyllis Wheatley Hotel.”
Anthony Madu, the 14-year-old Nigerian dancer from Lagos who gained admission to a prestigious ballet…
Actor-host Wayne Brady recently opened up about his early financial struggles in his now thriving…
Mia Arianna, also known as @mia.ariannaa on TikTok, helped her son become an honorary team…
Alvin Gauthier, a Grand Prairie USPS postman, recently went above and beyond to brighten a…
Maj. Gen. Fatuma Gaiti Ahmed is the first female commander of the air force and…
Benjamin E. Mays High School brought together its 272 senior class members for a meeting…
Afrika Owes' emotional response to learning that she had passed the bar exam on her…
A 49-year-old New York attorney was on April 26 sentenced to 10 years in federal…
During an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show on Wednesday, pop legend Cher opened up…
Authorities in Florida said an 11-year-old boy was accidentally shot and killed by his 14-year-old…
The famous Taylor Schlitz family is making headlines once more as the youngest of the…
Sony Pictures Entertainment has appointed Tahra Grant as its Chief Communications Officer. She replaces Robert…
Meet Ashley M. Fox, the founder of Empify and the first in her family to…
Tyra Banks, the iconic former host of Dancing With the Stars, has made a delightful…
A Brazilian woman named Érika de Souza, 42, is under investigation for manslaughter after authorities…