Marcus Garvey

At the behest of Booker T. Washington, the self-educated Garvey, who labored as a printerÆs apprentice, journeyed to the U.S. His arrival occurred after the death of Washington, and Garvey began extensive travel throughout the U.S. The America of 1916 was experiencing a prosperity that few nations ever witnessed. The bourgeoning industrial revolution was transforming the American landscape and economy. It was not, Garvey felt, transforming the situation of Black Americans whose influence decreased in proportion to the increase in the power of wealthy capitalists. Garvey formulated a nationalist plan to develop the collective interests of African Americans. GarveyÆs ability to galvanize millions of African Americans to support his plans f

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resettle in Africa and create their own country also threatened the labor source and a disruption of the status quo. Though Garvey struggled to find the resources to pursue his ambitions for African Americans, as his success grew so did his opposition within the white power structure. As McGill (2000) argues, ôHe had reached the height of his public popularity, but he also became a dangerous figure in the eyes of the U.S. government. By 1920 the U.S. Justice Department had begun their persistent attempts to get Garvey deportedö (18). The roles played by racism and economics in efforts to undermine GarveyÆs pursuits cannot be underestimated. The society of the 1920s in America did not admit notions of political correctness or rainbow coalitions. Tony Martin (2001) labels Garvey a ôcasualtyö of his era mainly because ôhe was too black and too strongö (26). Garvey being ôtoo blackö might not have been viewed by the white power structure as such a threat if his being ôtoo strongö did not extend to his economic pursuits for African Americans. Garvey not only was proposing ideas that challenged the status quo, but in implementing them he was also directly competing with the status quo. In many instances, from HooverÆs and the D
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Approximate Word count = 3978
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page)

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