The Universal Negro Improvement Association (Research Paper Sample)

The Universal Negro Improvement Association
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The universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and its founder Marcus Garvey was the largest mass movement in African American history. By early 1920s, Marcus Garvey and the UNIA had established 700 branches in thirty eight states, where they were spreading a Black Nationalist message of "back to Africa”. This message was not only able to reach New York and Chicago but also other smaller towns across the country as well CITATION Hil85 \l 1033 (Hill, 1985).
Marcus Garvey was born in 1887 in St. Anne’s bay, Jamaica. Since he was brought up in a poor family he dropped out of school due to family hardship and later on leaned the printing and newspaper business. It is at this point that he took a keen interest in politics and soon got involved in projects aimed at helping the underprivileged in society. Later on, he traveled to London where he was exposed to writings and ideas of a group of black colonial writers. These writers had come together in London around the African times and orient review. Ideas such as race conservation along with nationalism in both Ireland and Africa had a huge influence on Garvey CITATION Hil85 \l 1033 (Hill, 1985).
However, reading Booker T. Washington’s autobiography titled ‘up from slavery’ was the most influential experience of his stay in London. According to Washington, African Americans needed to improve themselves first in order to show the whites in America that they deserved equal rights. Washington was involved in politics but he often claimed that African Americans would not benefit from political activism hence he started an industrial training school that embodied his own philosophy of self-help. It is these ideas by Washington that inspired Marcus Garvey when he returned to Jamaica in the year 1914 to found the UNIA with the motto One God! One Aim! One Destiny! CITATION Ked13 \l 1033 (Kedourie, 2013).
At first, Garvey kept in line with Washington by encouraging his fellow Jamaicans of African descent to work hard whilst being of strong character and demonstrating good morals. He advised them not to worry about politics as a tool to advance their cause. Garvey did not make much progress in Jamaica hence he decided to visit America where he would see Booker T. Washington and gain knowledge about the situation of African Americans. However, by the time Garvey reached America in 1916, Washington had died, but he decided to travel around America in order to observe African Americans and their struggle CITATION Cro60 \l 1033 (Cronon & Frankline, 1960).
When Garvey observed the radical situation in America, he was convinced that integration would never happen because only success on the part of African Americans in terms of economic, political and cultural development would bring about equality and respect. It is with this goal that he established the headquarters of UNIA in New York in 1917, and began to spearhead the campaign on Black Nationalism and the eventual return to Africa of all people of African descent. UNIA nationalism had three components which comprised of unity, pride in the African cultural heritage and complete autonomy. Garvey envisioned that the people of African descent could establish independent nations in their ancient homeland Africa CITATION Cro60 \l 1033 (Cronon & Frankline, 1960).
UNIA, led by Garvey embraced the self-help message of Washington and adopted it to the situation that was unfolding in America. It involved taking an individualistic philosophy and changing it into an appropriate nation building message. Garvey acquired an auditorium in Harlem and named it liberty hall in the year 1919. This is where most UNIA meetings were held. Garvey launched a newspaper, ‘Negro World’, in the year 1918 and used to communicate his message to thousands of UNIA members. As a result, millions of people were directly affected by Garvey and his message CITATION Hil85 \l 1033 (Hill, 1985).
One of the key principles of UNIA was to promote unity among African Americans themselves and other Americans. Moreover, UNIA encouraged African Americans to be concerned with themselves first. Marcus Garvey stressed this by stating that the first dying that is to be done by the black man in the future will be done to make himself free. He urged African Americans to strike the blow and free themselves through their own effort CITATION Mar75 \l 1033 (Martin, 1975).
In addition, UNI...