Marcus Garvey’s Liberian Dream Deferred
Althea Mark-Romeo
Seabreeze Journal of Contemporary Liberian Writings
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, one of the most influential black leaders of the twentieth century, used his printing and oratory skills and charismatic personality to organize a Pan-African movement with the intention of returning disillusioned Black-Americans and recent immigrant West Indians to Liberia in the 1920s.
The Jamaican born promoter of the “Back To Africa Movement,” was born on August 17th, 1887 in St. Ann’s Bay, Saint Ann’s Parish, and died in London, England, on June 1940. He was one of eleven siblings born to Marcus Mosiah Garvey and Sarah Jane Richards.
He had a background in printing and published his first newspaper, The Watchman, in 1909. He later went on to edit the newspaper, `La Nacionalè in 1911, Colon, Panama, before returning to Jamaica in 1912. But he soon left for London in 1912 where he worked for the African Times and Orient Review.
According to Charlotte Phillips Fein, Marcus Garvey’s “Lifelong interest in Negro and African history was sparked by his acquaintance with African students, particularly Duse Mohammed Ali (publisher of the African Times and Orient Review), a half-Negro Egyptian nationalist . . . Garvey was inspired upon learning of Booker T. Washington’s plan for uplifting the Negro race, conceived of himself as a divinely appointed leader of the black masses. Returning to Jamaica in 1914, he sponsored the formation of the Universal Negro Improvement Association.” [1]
In his article “William E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, and Pan-Africa”, Ben F. Rogers, states that Garveys’ attempt in 1914 to set up a Universal Negro Improvement Association in Jamaica had been abortive. “New York City, however, seemed to have possibilities far beyond those of the West Indies and so in 1917 Garvey reorganized the U.N.I.A. and in the following year began publishing the Negro World, a weekly paper disseminating his Pan-African ideas. Negroes immediately began to flock to his banner, and there is little question that Marcus Garvey was the most popular Negro leader in the United States during the early 1920s . . . .In part, of course his dynamic personality, his great oratorical powers, and his shrewd understanding of psychology.” [2]
Marcus Garvey’s background in printing was a blessing because his publications became vehicles for spreading the vision of an African Homeland to many West Indian and Afro-Americans who dreamed of a less oppressive life. John L Graves in his paper, “The Social Ideas of Marcus Garvey”, mentions that “A large portion of the immigrants to America after World War 1 were Negro immigrants of English, French and Spanish tongues . . . Of these . . . some 10,630 or 86.6 percent of the total were Negroes from the West Indies . . . The West Indians were full of hope, as were most immigrant groups. They were usually very ambitious and intended to act upon the American ideal of equal opportunity for all.” [3] These hopes were soon dashed with the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and empty promises made by the American government. Black American soldiers and their families were hoping to reap the rewards of having fought to defend America in World War I. “American Negro disillusionment equalled that of the West Indian Negro and both existed in a plight of utter hopelessness of ever having full rights to freedom, let alone happiness, in America . . . Garvey relied on his stirring heroic propaganda and an emotional need among his people that amounted to a Messianic expectancy. This commenced one of the foremost Negro mass-movements in history.” [4]
Garvey through his speeches and newspaper was able to propagate black pride, black self-sufficiency and enterprise. His propaganda was so compelling that many people felt, “the only salvation then for American Negroes was to join Garvey’s organization and prepare to return to Africa where they could establish a government of their own strong enough to protect colored people everywhere. The machinery needed to create this so-called African Republic was set up in Harlem in 1921. Garvey became the Provisional President of Africa and surrounded himself with a newly created African nobility. There was also an African Legion, Garvey’s private army, resplendent in dark blue uniforms with red stripes. There were Black Star Nurses and bands and choirs. All the paraphernalia of the New Africa was ready for action whenever the master spoke.”[5]
In the spirit of black enterprise and in the fulfilment of the dream of returning to Africa, where they could take pride in their race, fund-raising began. “Claiming a following of two million by 1919, Garvey founded the Black Star Steamship and the Negro Factories Corporation, both designed to simulate Negro-owned commerce and trade,”[6] Funding was raised through members who “had to pay an annual fee of $1 to the central office, and Garvey reminded his readers that . . . in order ‘to be financial, you MUST pay this assessment. . . ’ He sold tickets to most of his speeches, pictures of himself for 50c a dozen. The greatest of all his fund-raising drives, however, was the promotion of the Black Star Line, a steam company whose boats would be owned and manned by Negroes and would eventually be the means of transporting American negroes to Africa at the time of the great migration.” [7]
Garvey then set his sight on Liberia, with plans to build colleges, industrial plants and railroads. His ambition, however, was so large scale and threatening to Liberian sovereignty that the Liberian government as well some European powers thwarted his efforts. According to Tony Martin in his “The International Aspect of The Garvey Movement”, “Had Garvey succeeded in his attempt to transfer headquarters from Harlem to Liberia, his followers would, at one swoop, have exceeded the total Liberian electorate. For it was Garvey’s intention to take with him several thousand Afro-American and West Indian families, far more than the less than 5,000 persons allowed to vote in Liberia at that time.” [8] Ultimately, as Ben F. Rogers suggests, “. . . the Liberian government was so worried for fear the U.N.I.A. would take over their country that they warned all of their American consuls to deny visas to any of Garvey’s followers. Two ex-presidents of the country were members of the Association, and the mayor of Monrovia held the title of High Potentate of Africa in Garvey’s Provisional Government. This initial attempt at migration failed not so much because of American Negro’s apathy as because of the Liberian government’s opposition which Garvey called ‘treachery of the lowest order.” [9]
The dreams of the “Back to Africa Movement” did not end there, despite the Liberian government’s opposition to their plan, and Marcus Garvey’s conviction and imprisonment for mail fraud relating to his UNIA steamship company in 1925. In the late 1930’s, followers of the “Back to Africa Movement”, which included Garvey’s UNIA and other off-shoots of his organization, aligned themselves with an American Senator and white supremacist. Senator Theodore G. Bilbo, “who is remembered as the nation’s vilest purveyor of white-supremacy ” [10], and who is noted for stating, “ if they keep this lynching bill before the Senate much longer, I am going to succeed in getting the negroes deported to Africa,” [11] became the champion of their cause. The senator had also recommended the “deportation or repatriation” of the African American population to Liberia. [12] Strange bed-fellows indeed, but Senator Theodore G. Bilbo promised to propose a bill and get financial assistance from the government if the “Back to Africa Movement” supported him. Michael W. Fitzgerald in his article, “We Have Found a Moses”, states that “In May 1938 Bilbo presented an amendment to House Joint Resolution 679, a work relief bill. The amendment would have repatriated African American volunteers under age forty to Liberia and provided them short-term support. Because Liberia was too small to absorb the whole African American population, Bilbo proposed that England and France cede to it their West African colonies and that in return the U.S. forgive their World War debts.” [13] Michael W. Fitzgerald further states that “In September, Garvey ordered the UNIA to circulate petitions in favour of the bill, directing that the signatures be sent to Senator Bilbo.” [14] Mitte Gordon, another “Back to Africa” advocate, and former member of UNIA, “received two thousand dollars from . . . The American Colonization Society. The money funded a delegation to Liberia, and two emissaries met with President Edwin Barclay in December. Barclay avoided a firm commitment to welcoming immigrants, but his letter to Mrs. Gordon did solicit ‘selected immigration’ from the United States.” [15]
The bill, finally named “The Greater Liberian bill expanded Bilbo’s previous proposals. It authorized negotiations with European powers for the cession of West African lands, in addition to whatever lands Liberia might provide. The American military would govern the cession for up to two years, setting up a civil administration that could then govern for up to four more years. The territory would then gain 'complete autonomy' as a commonwealth of the U.S, but the bill maintained for U.S. officials the option of either seeking inclusion for the commonwealth in the state of Liberia or granting it full independence." [16]
The Greater Liberian bill also stipulated that “Americans between twenty-one and fifty could seek removal, but only those eligible for Liberian citizenship, that is, those of African decent. Settlers would receive land grants of fifty acres and grants-in-aid until their farms or businesses were self-sustaining. The bill set a one billion dollar initial maximum for federal expenditures. More could be appropriated, and Bilbo eventually envisioned a commitment of fifteen to twenty billion dollars over the next forty years.” [17]
The threat of an outbreak of a second world war (WW11) soon diverted the attention of politicians from the proposed bill. According to Michael Fitzgerald, “ The UNIA leaders had always been calculating in their approach to repatriation, so they took the defeat of the Liberia bill with relative stoicism. James R. Steward, Marcus Garvey’s successor as the head of UNIA, actually admitted the international situation foreclosed the venture. Moreover, Garvey’s death in June 1940 removed a spokesman for the measure and diverted the organization to internal power struggle.” [18]
In the end, Marcus Garvey never did set foot on Liberian soil himself, but his wife Amy did, in 1946. She also travelled to Sierra Leone where she visited the grave of Dr. Wilmot Blyden and met his family. Some of Marcus Garvey’s followers took on the endeavour themselves and travelled to Liberia, where they settled and contributed in their individual ways to the development of the country.
Marcus Garvey has since influenced many movements, including the Nation of Islam; the “Black Power Movement” of the late 1960s and early 1970s that propagated black pride and the acknowledgement Black Americans’ African ancestry; and the Rastafarian Movement that evolved in Jamaica and produced Reggae music. He has also inspired political leaders in Africa and the Caribbean in their struggle for independence against colonialism and apartheid. Marcus Garvey did not live to see his dreams fulfilled but his influence, however, is still dynamic.
Footnotes
[1] Charlotte Phillips Fein, “Section C: Marcus Garvey: His Opinion About Africa,” The Journal of Negro Education, Vol.33, No.4, (Autumn, 1964), pp. 446-449.
[2] Ben F. Rogers, “William E.B. Dubois, Marcus Garvey, and Pan-Africa,” The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 40, No.2. (April, 1955) pp. 154-165.
[3] John L Graves, “The Social Ideas of Marcus Garvey,” Current Trends in Negro Education and Shorter Papers, The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 31, No.1. (Winter, 1962), p. 65-74.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ben F. Rogers.
[6] Charlotte Phillips Fein.
[7] Ben F. Rogers.
[8] Tony Martin, “The International Aspect of The Garvey Movement,” Afro-American Red Star, Washington D.C.: February 20, 1993. Vol. 101, Iss 26, p. A6.
[9] Ben F. Rogers
[10] Michael W. Fitzgerald, “We Have Found a Moses: Theodore Bilbo, Black Nationalism, and the Greater Liberia Bill of 1939”, The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 63, No. 2. (May, 1997), pp. 293-320.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Ibid.
Bibliography
Charlotte Phillips Fein, “Section C: Marcus Garvey: His Opinions About Africa,” The Journal of Negro Education, Vol.33, No.4. (Autumn, 1964), pp, 446-449.
Michael W. Fitzgerald , “We Have Found a Moses:” Theodore Bilbo, Black Nationalism, And the Greater Liberia Bill of 1939, The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 63, No. 2 (May, 1997), pp. 293-230.
John L Graves, “The Social Ideas of Marcus Garvey,” Current Trends in Negro Education and Shorter Papers, The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 31, No.1. (Winter, 1962), pp. 65-74.
Tony Martin, “The International aspect of The Garvey Movement,” Afro- American Red Star, Washington D.C.: February 20, 1993. Vol. 101, Iss 26,p. A6
Ben F. Rogers, “William E.B. Dubois, Marcus Garvey, and Pan-Africa,” The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 40, No.2. (April, 1955) pp. 154- 165.
Copyright © Althea Romeo-Mark
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