Entries by Melafela

Marcus Garvey was born August 17, 1884 in the Parish of St Anns Jamaica, West Indies. His legacy is one of immeasurable influence on the socio-polical consiousness of black people throughout the African Diaspora. In 1914 Marcus Garvey established the The Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)

This movement, which moved it's base from Jamaica to Harlem New York has the distinction of being the largest ever organizational mass movement blacks in America. It is stated that any time during its peak it had 600,000 active members, by 1919 it has claimed over 2 million.

This is a prime example of the direct link between the Caribbean and the United States, particularly among peoples of African dissent. It also speaks to the fallacy of the idea that the designation of "black" is in reference only African Americans.

"Look for me in the whirlwind or the storm, look for me all around you, for, with God's grace, I shall come and bring with me countless millions of black slaves who have died in America and the West Indies and the millions in Africa to aid you in the fight for Liberty, Freedom and Life"-Marcus Garvey

Marcus Garvey's influence is still seen today and historically his impact is indelable. Malcolm X wrote that he attended UNIA meetings with is father as a child. The Black power movement and Black panther adopted the use the UNIA flag with its recognizable Red Black and Green.

This flag symbolizes the ongoing sentiment of black nationalism and has even been called the flag of black people , especially in the United States. It has been called the Pan-African flag, The Black Liberation flag and Black Nationalist flag.

• Red: the blood that unites all people of African  ancestry, and shed for liberation;
• Black: Black people whose existence as a nation , though not a  Nation-state is affirmed by the existence of the flag; and
• Green: the abundant natural wealth of Africa.*

Martin Luther King stated "was the first man of color to lead and develop a mass movement. He was the first man on a mass scale and level to give millions of Negroes a sense of dignity and destiny. And make the Negro feel he was somebody."

Malcolm X's own father , with whom ,as a child, he used to attend UNIA meetings was an active follower of Marcus Garvey's teaching.

Musicians , particularly reggae musicians , particularly Rastafarians , refer to Marcus Garvey in song. Burning spear in particular released an album titled Marcus Garvey in 1975. Countless hip hop artist as well as even popular artist like Sinéad O'Connor continue to refer to Marcus in Song.

Marcus Garvey had one major goa.l for the UNIA which he stated in plain language even speeches.

"The Universal Negro Improvement Association stands for the bigger brotherhood; the Universal Negro Improvement Association stands for human rights, not only for Negroes, but for all races. The Universal Negro Improvement Association believes in the rights of not only the black race, but the white race, the yellow race and the brown race.  The Universal Negro Improvement Association believes that the white man has as much right to be considered, the yellow man has as much right to be considered, the brown man has as much right to be considered as well as the black man of Africa. In view of the fact that the black man of Africa has contributed as much to the world as the white man of Europe, and the brown and yellow man of Asia, we of the Universal Negro Improvement Association demand that the white, yellow and brown races give to the black man his place in the civilization of the world."

*regarding the Black Liberation Flag of the UNIA (According to George Bornstein, however, Marcus Garvey included green in the design of the UNIA flag to symbolize the link between Black liberation and the struggle for Irish liberation.)

For more information See the following sites

Official Marcus Garvey Site

Official UNIA Site

Wikipedia

PBS

Watch Video documentary: