History and Political Science: Marcus Mosiah Garvey - Essay Example

History and Political Science Marcus Garvey’s full is Marcus Mosiah Garvey, and he was born in Jamaica at St. Ann’s Bay to a mason father and a domestic worker mother. Marcus Garvey was of African descendant, and when he reached his teenage years, his white friends, whom he had played with, began shunning him. This was because he was a black African Jamaican, and this can be claimed to be orientation to racism and his desire to fight and overcome discrimination in society. His father and uncle’s collection of books sparked Marcus Garvey’s interest in education. He immersed himself into books in his quest for more knowledge to complement what he had gained from elementary school. Marcus Garvey’s quest for knowledge saw him travel widely in the Caribbean, Latin America and eventually he landed in London England. His education gave him an advantage over other people of African descent for he was able to secure employment in places where he visited. His position at different newspaper publishing companies gave him an insight into the prevailing conditions and circumstances under which people of African descent were experiencing. It is through his interaction with the outside world that Marcus Garvey became interested in advocating for minority human rights especially for those of African descent. The aim of this paper is to answer questions aimed at illuminating the role that Marcus Garvey played in the development of Pan-Africanism. Marcus Garvey’s exploits in the diaspora saw him attend the Birkbeck College in London where he studied law and philosophy. His wide travels availed Marcus Garvey the opportunity to interact with a wide range of people from different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. This experience gave him the chance to know and understand different people’s opinions and perceptions of the African race in relation to their lives. He was able to realize that there was wide spread discrimination against individuals of African descent even in the minority races. During his stay in London, he worked for a newspaper called the African Times and Orient Review that was published by Duse Mohamed Ali who is claimed to have had significant influence on Marcus Garvey. His desire to address the oppressed and diminished position of people of African descent in society saw him sometimes address public gatherings in London. Marcus’ talks are said to have been greatly influenced by Booker T. Washington, Henry McNeal and Martin Delany who advocated for minority groups’ equal representation in society. It is highly probable that Duse Mohammed’s Islamic principles played a critical role in influencing Marcus to form the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). UNIA was first established in his home country Jamaica in 1914 under the motto ‘One God, One Aim, One Destiny’. The factors that led to the formation of UNIA by Marcus Garvey were based on the ultimate goal of securing economic, social and political freedom for all people of African descent in the world outside and inside Africa. Marcus saw the need for a united forum through which individuals from minority groups could use to advocate for their rights and freedoms. In 1921, Marcus Garvey was able to garner support from most of the small African associations in a National conference. This strengthened his UNIA organization, which saw its membership swell to between 60 and 70 thousand members. This consolidation enabled him to gain a wider appeal and audience through representation by the different groups that UNIA had assimilated, and in turn furthering its agenda. His relocation to the United States of America furthered UNIA’s ambition because the realities of African-American oppression and discrimination were more pronounced than in Europe. This was particularly in London where he had a first hand experience of treatment and perception of people of African descent received from the whites. Marcus’ experiences in US prompted him to advance his organization’s goals to fighting for African-American unity, which he saw as the best way to advocate for their rights through a united front. Marcus Garvey’s extensive travels through different territories, in the world, enabled him to acquire a clear perspective of the position that people of African descent were accorded by different people from various socio-cultural backgrounds. His exploits in Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe contributed to the development of Marcus’ global or universal perspective on current affairs of the time. The short-term objective of UNIA was to create awareness of the need to form a common front to fight and advocate for their rights. Marcus Garvey was able to achieve this through his experience and exposure to different circumstances in his wide travels. This gave him the ability to identify with the different situations and circumstances that the people he met went through, a quality that endeared people to him and his principles. This influenced people to identify with the objectives of UNIA thus explaining its swell in membership numbers. UNIA’s long-term objectives were to see equality for all citizens in the US irrespective of their racial background or socio-economic status. Marcus Garvey advanced his key ideological beliefs by advocating for equal rights in political, economic and social aspects, in government. His key concern according to his philosophy, freedom for all people of African descent would allow them choose a governance system that would address the interests and needs. Marcus Garvey’s organization UNIA had a significant influence on African Pan-Africanism through his attempts to establish a permanent homeland for Africans in diaspora. He did this by launching a program to develop Liberia by building railroads, colleges, universities and industrial plants. Liberia was supposed act as a base of operations for the struggle against oppression for people of African descent in the diaspora. His efforts to develop Liberia as an operations base were thwarted by European nations, which had interests in the region. Despite this, there was a marked increase interest about his philosophy on equality in African nations. Some Africans were uprooted by the Frist World War’s activities from their native countries, and they had the opportunity to verse themselves to Marcus’ ideas of equality. This led to most of the uprooted Africans returning to their native homelands and starting similar movements as UNIA. These movements were aimed at breaking away from colonial rule, which had seen most African countries being annexed by European countries. The arrival of Europeans in Africa introduced education, which made it easier for Pan-Africanists communicate and coordinate their efforts to break the yolk of colonialism. Marcus Garvey can be termed as one of the most influential politicians of recent times whose efforts and activities changed the socio-economic culture of the world. His ideologies and beliefs led to the struggle for an end to oppression and discrimination on a racial basis. This saw the realization of an equal society where every person had equal opportunities. Work Cited. Hine, D. C., Hine, W. C. & Harrold, S. The African-American Odyssey, Volume 2. 4Th Edition. Pearson Education, Limited. 2009. Print Read More