Skip to main content

Who was Marcus Garvey and what organization did he create?

Marcus Garvey was a Jamaican-American activist who advocated for the rights of people of African descent around the world, especially in Jamaica and the United States. While he remained in Jamaica for most of his life, he is most known in the United States for his political activities in Harlem, the predominately black neighborhood in New York that had become a major hub of African-American culture by World War I. He advocated what many historians...

Marcus Garvey was a Jamaican-American activist who advocated for the rights of people of African descent around the world, especially in Jamaica and the United States. While he remained in Jamaica for most of his life, he is most known in the United States for his political activities in Harlem, the predominately black neighborhood in New York that had become a major hub of African-American culture by World War I. He advocated what many historians have called "black separatism," claiming that African-Americans needed to cultivate their own economic, social, and even political institutions. He even promoted what he called the "Back to Africa" movement that offered a chance for African-Americans frustrated with the racism endemic in American society to emigrate to destinations in West Africa. A businessman, he created the Black Star Line, a shipping line that would have offered its services to such people. The organization most closely associated with Garvey was the Universal Negro Improvement Association, which promoted his ideology of black economic and social uplift in Jamaica, the United States, and Great Britain.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What is the meaning of "juggling fiends" in Macbeth?

Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a... Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a sense of guilt, and that man tells him: Despair thy charm. And let the angel whom thou still hast serve...

What are some external and internal conflicts that Montag has in Fahrenheit 451?

 Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, faces both external and internal conflicts throughout the novel. Some examples of these conflicts are: External Conflicts: Conflict with the society: Montag lives in a society that prohibits books and critical thinking. He faces opposition from the government and the people who enforce this law. Montag struggles to come to terms with the fact that his society is based on censorship and control. Conflict with his wife: Montag's wife, Mildred, is completely absorbed in the shallow and meaningless entertainment provided by the government. Montag's growing dissatisfaction with his marriage adds to his external conflict. Conflict with the fire captain: Montag's superior, Captain Beatty, is the personification of the oppressive regime that Montag is fighting against. Montag's struggle against Beatty represents his external conflict with the government. Internal Conflicts: Conflict with his own beliefs: Montag, at the beginning of th...

In A People's History of the United States, why does Howard Zinn feel that Wilson made a flimsy argument for entering World War I?

"War is the health of the state," the radical writer Randolph Bourne said, in the midst of the First World War. Indeed, as the nations of Europe went to war in 1914, the governments flourished, patriotism bloomed, class struggle was stilled, and young men died in frightful numbers on the battlefields-often for a hundred yards of land, a line of trenches. -- Chapter 14, Page 350, A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn outlines his arguments for why World War I was fought in the opening paragraph of Chapter 14 (referenced above). The nationalism that was created by the Great War benefited the elite political and financial leadership of the various countries involved. Socialism, which was gaining momentum in Europe, as was class struggle, took a backseat to mobilizing for war. Zinn believes that World War I was fought for the gain of the industrial capitalists of Europe in a competition for capital and resources. He states that humanity itself was punished by t...