AFAS 255
8/17/16
Marcus Garvey
Through his affiliation with the Pan-Africanism movement, The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA), and The Black Star Line, Marcus Garvey will forever be considered one of the most prominent reformers in Black History. It is difficult to make a difference in this world. You are just one person in a world of seven billion. With seven billion humans on this earth, one may ask themselves how one person can possibly make a difference. How is one person going to affect the lives of seven billion? Seems like the odds are not in your favor. What if I told you that you are still that one in seven billion, but you also have no rights, no respect, heck, some people …show more content…
“Garvey was unique in advancing a Pan-African philosophy to inspire a global mass movement and economic empowerment focusing on Africa known as Garveyism.” Garveyism is an aspect of black nationalism that focuses on the social, economic, and political policies of Marcus Garvey. At this movement's peak of popularity, “Garveyists” (followers of Garveyism) numbered in the millions. The ideology behind Garveyism is the unification and empowerment of people of African American extent. Pan Africanism may have never reached its peak without Marcus Garvey behind it. He was the one that really placed the idea of Pan Africanism in his fellow African Americans heads. By Garvey founding the UNIA and getting these thousands of African Americans together and unified, he allowed the push for Pan Africanism to exist. If Garvey never unified the African Americans and educated them on the importance of rallying against racism as a whole, Pan Africanism may have fell right on its face. Garvey explains, “The thing to do is to get organized; keep separated and you will be exploited, you will be robbed, you will be killed. Get organized and you will compel the world to respect you.” Garvey had the presence of mind to unify a black community. Garvey knew individually they were not powerful nor respected. But as a unit, they were a solid force to be reckoned with. To prove how influential Garvey was to the Pan African movement, the Pan Africanism movement adopted the flag from the UNIA which was Marcus Garvey’s movement. The flag was made up of three horizontal stripes of red black and green. The meaning behind this flag is “ Red is the color of the blood which men must shed for their redemption and liberty; black is the color of the noble and distinguished race to which we belong; green is the color of the luxuriant vegetation of our