Marcus Garvey Research Paper
Our Caribbean region has benefitted from the invaluable contribution of leaders who have struggled to uplift their country, their people and the cohesive advancement of the region. The social, political and economic systems African Americans in the United States – who shared a historical past with the enslaved and emancipated blacks of the Caribbean, had a clear impact on political movements in the Caribbean. C.L.R James and Marcus Garvey were two Caribbean leaders whose common dominator was their “Caribbeaness” but their views and ideologies on the life they envisioned for the black and working class people, especially those in the Caribbean, were tangentially opposing.
C.L.R James (1901 – 1989) was a formally educated Trinidadian born …show more content…
cultural historian, writer and political activist who was a leading figure in the Pan-African movement. Pan-Africanism is a specific ideology which states that the survival of Africa and the diaspora should be studied and with active links being made to Africa as the motherland. This ideology originated in the 18th century, black people in the United States were trying to escape slavery as they felt that they were wrongfully kidnapped from their motherland. The main objectives of this movement were to promote a universal link that all black people share, raise black consciousness about Africa and promote integration of black people. James promoted the national unification of the entire Caribbean region, from Cuba and Belize in the west to Trinidad and Guyana in the east; His aim was “Caribbean nationalism”, the unification of the whole region into one Caribbean nation. The vision was to advocate radicalism in the lives of the ordinary men and women and for the class to struggle against the European bourgeois society for better working conditions and to demand a new arrangement in place of the repression they now experienced. James’s ideologies and belief arose from his commitment to the socialist ideals of Trotsky, Lenin, Engels and Marx.
Marcus Garvey (1887 – 1940) was a self-educated Jamaican social and political activist whose aim was to unite all of African Diaspora to establish a country and absolute government of their own. Garvey founded the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and the African
Communities League (ACL) with a view to promote the resettlement of persons of African ancestry in Africa and also to promote a separate black nation. Garvey was a newspaper writer who travelled extensively through the Caribbean, Central America, the United States and the
United Kingdom promoting his ideology; he published the widely distributed newspaper “Negro
World” to spread his message of “Garveyism”. The basic ideology of Garveyism being
“Whatsoever things common to man that man has done, man can do.”; Garvey believed that no race, no nation, no man has any divine right to take advantage of others; man shall be his own sovereign. He wanted Africa to be “the guiding star among the constellation of nations”.
Through his teachings Garvey encouraged black people to rise up, stand up for their race for which others led them to believe was unworthy and could not accomplish anything. “Up You
Mighty Race”. He encouraged his black people to uplift themselves and become leaders in government, to show the world that they cannot keep blacks down forever. His ideologies are deeply rooted in Christianity as is evidenced by his frequent references to this theme in his writings. James and Garvey believed that leadership meant everything and they both acknowledged that change must come for the black race. The only way to higher freedom, truer liberty and truer democracy was for his race to liberate itself – James advocated for this to happen through integration of the black person where they are now and to demand more consciousness for the working-class struggle; Garvey advocated for race separation and repatriation of black people to Mother Africa where his desire for them to help to build Africa as a Negro Empire. Garvey believed that education is not what is taught in the classroom, but daily life helps you take to understand others and to interpret your relationship to your Creator; Education could be in soul, vision, mind, and emotions. James, on the other hand, valued academic learning and encourages the working mass to seek education as a means to upliftment. Both shared the common view that black people should aim to become owners of business and build their way up to economic and financial independence as a means of protection against exploitation.
James’ career as a revolutionary Marxist started when he joined a Trotskyite group (Trotskyism – the theory of communism which he called for immediate worldwide revolution by the proletariat -“the international proletariat, as a result of the experience of our entire epoch and the current new war, proves incapable of becoming the master of society, this would signify the foundering of all hope for a socialist revolution, for it is impossible to expect any other more favourable condition for it”). James’ association was with small groups only, the notable exception being his associations in Trinidad with the Peoples’ National Movement and the Workers and Farmers Party. These groups were like study groups that were attempting to organize the working class. James’ major works included campaigning for independence of the West Indian nations and the Caribbean as a whole. He saw socialism and barbarism as the huge dilemma of humanity. In Belize, during the 1940s the working-class population was increasing the pressure and building its struggle against its British colonizers and colonial bosses. As a unified group the unions began organizing and advocating for changes through collective bargaining agreements to change the status quo – the workers did not want to leave where they were; they were simply demanding fair pay for the contribution they made, regardless of race. C L R James ideology that Caribbean people were equally indebted to Europeans and Africans for their contributions to our current reality and that the struggle between socialism and barbarism goes on within all of humanity continues to be more broadly embraced in Belize. Belize’s continued shared vision that Caribbean pride, unification and integration is necessary for regional advancement carries on and is demonstrated through its decision to integrate into the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) and the Caribbean Single Market Economy (CSME), despite being geographically located in Central America, promotes unification of the region and prosperity as a united whole. The CSME allows for the free movement of services, goods, people and capital across the member states of the Caribbean Community by removing barriers to trade and impediments which could restrict one’s right to provide services.
Garvey’s influence was also a powerful voice even before he began to demand equal civil right for all black citizens around the globe and was regarded as the first genuine mass movement among blacks.
Garvey’s influence was also present in Belize through the Black Cross Nurse Association, which was founded out of the UNIA movement in Belize, and became the impetus for the iconic Nurse Seay and Cleopatra White. His philosophy of uniting blacks universally was promoted in Belize largely through the newspaper “Belize Independent” and through the work of Belizean patriot and benefactor Isaiah Morter in the establishment of Liberty Hall. While Garvey’s black power movement was tangible in Belize, his ideology of repatriation to Africa was not as tangible. As working-class and employer relations improved in Belize the relevance of the Garvey movement dwindled. While the ideology of repatriation to Africa and the promotion of a separate black nation have faded, Garvey’s teaching of black pride, black race struggle, upliftment, self-determination and reverence for our African-Belizean roots lives on through music and the literary arts.
Both Caribbean icons – James and Garvey promoted a fundamental awareness of our shared black struggles, fostered a means of empowerment through their ideologies and encourage an awakening in blacks throughout the
Caribbean.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Trotskyite. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Trotskyite (accessed: April 06, 2014).
Marcus Garvey. (2014). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 02:24, Apr 08, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/marcus-garvey-9307319.The Marxism of C.L.R. James - Paul Le Blanc Via: http://www.solidarity-us.org/site/node/775Garvey 's Legacy in Context: Colourism, Black Movements and African Nationalism
August 17th, 2005
By Ayanna Gillian
Via: http://www.raceandhistory.com/historicalviews/2005/1708.htmlMarcus Garvey first visit to Belize 1921
Via: http://belizemusicworld.com/Marcus-Garvey-s-visit-to-Belize-1921-and-1929.htmlCARICOM Single Market and Economy
Via: http://www.belizeinvest.org.bz/caricom-single-market-and-economy/C.L.R. James: A Revolutionary Vision for the 20th Century originally published in booklet form (comprising pp. 9-43) by The C.L.R. James Institute and Cultural Correspondence, New York, in co-operation with Smyrna Press, April 1991. 44 pp. ISBN 0918266-30-0.It became the Introduction (pp. 1-22, notes pp. 418-419) to The C.L.R. James Reader, edited by Anna Grimshaw (Oxford, UK; Cambridge, USA: Blackwell, 1992).
Reprinted by special permission of Anna Grimshaw and The C.L.R. James Institute, Jim Murray, Director, 505 West End Avenue #15C, New York, NY 10024.Web page prepared by Ralph Dumain, Librarian/Archivist, 8 October 2000.
Web page (c) 2000 The C.L.R. James Institute. All rights reserved. This text may not be published, reprinted, or reproduced without the express written consent of The C.L.R. James Institute.
Via: http://www.marxists.org/archive/james-clr/biograph.htm
Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey edited by Amy Jacques-Garvey
The Journal of Pan African Studies 2009 eBook
Via: http://jpanafrican.com/ebooks/eBook%20Phil%20and%20Opinions.pdf
C.L.R James (1901 – 1989) was a formally educated Trinidadian born …show more content…
cultural historian, writer and political activist who was a leading figure in the Pan-African movement. Pan-Africanism is a specific ideology which states that the survival of Africa and the diaspora should be studied and with active links being made to Africa as the motherland. This ideology originated in the 18th century, black people in the United States were trying to escape slavery as they felt that they were wrongfully kidnapped from their motherland. The main objectives of this movement were to promote a universal link that all black people share, raise black consciousness about Africa and promote integration of black people. James promoted the national unification of the entire Caribbean region, from Cuba and Belize in the west to Trinidad and Guyana in the east; His aim was “Caribbean nationalism”, the unification of the whole region into one Caribbean nation. The vision was to advocate radicalism in the lives of the ordinary men and women and for the class to struggle against the European bourgeois society for better working conditions and to demand a new arrangement in place of the repression they now experienced. James’s ideologies and belief arose from his commitment to the socialist ideals of Trotsky, Lenin, Engels and Marx.
Marcus Garvey (1887 – 1940) was a self-educated Jamaican social and political activist whose aim was to unite all of African Diaspora to establish a country and absolute government of their own. Garvey founded the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and the African
Communities League (ACL) with a view to promote the resettlement of persons of African ancestry in Africa and also to promote a separate black nation. Garvey was a newspaper writer who travelled extensively through the Caribbean, Central America, the United States and the
United Kingdom promoting his ideology; he published the widely distributed newspaper “Negro
World” to spread his message of “Garveyism”. The basic ideology of Garveyism being
“Whatsoever things common to man that man has done, man can do.”; Garvey believed that no race, no nation, no man has any divine right to take advantage of others; man shall be his own sovereign. He wanted Africa to be “the guiding star among the constellation of nations”.
Through his teachings Garvey encouraged black people to rise up, stand up for their race for which others led them to believe was unworthy and could not accomplish anything. “Up You
Mighty Race”. He encouraged his black people to uplift themselves and become leaders in government, to show the world that they cannot keep blacks down forever. His ideologies are deeply rooted in Christianity as is evidenced by his frequent references to this theme in his writings. James and Garvey believed that leadership meant everything and they both acknowledged that change must come for the black race. The only way to higher freedom, truer liberty and truer democracy was for his race to liberate itself – James advocated for this to happen through integration of the black person where they are now and to demand more consciousness for the working-class struggle; Garvey advocated for race separation and repatriation of black people to Mother Africa where his desire for them to help to build Africa as a Negro Empire. Garvey believed that education is not what is taught in the classroom, but daily life helps you take to understand others and to interpret your relationship to your Creator; Education could be in soul, vision, mind, and emotions. James, on the other hand, valued academic learning and encourages the working mass to seek education as a means to upliftment. Both shared the common view that black people should aim to become owners of business and build their way up to economic and financial independence as a means of protection against exploitation.
James’ career as a revolutionary Marxist started when he joined a Trotskyite group (Trotskyism – the theory of communism which he called for immediate worldwide revolution by the proletariat -“the international proletariat, as a result of the experience of our entire epoch and the current new war, proves incapable of becoming the master of society, this would signify the foundering of all hope for a socialist revolution, for it is impossible to expect any other more favourable condition for it”). James’ association was with small groups only, the notable exception being his associations in Trinidad with the Peoples’ National Movement and the Workers and Farmers Party. These groups were like study groups that were attempting to organize the working class. James’ major works included campaigning for independence of the West Indian nations and the Caribbean as a whole. He saw socialism and barbarism as the huge dilemma of humanity. In Belize, during the 1940s the working-class population was increasing the pressure and building its struggle against its British colonizers and colonial bosses. As a unified group the unions began organizing and advocating for changes through collective bargaining agreements to change the status quo – the workers did not want to leave where they were; they were simply demanding fair pay for the contribution they made, regardless of race. C L R James ideology that Caribbean people were equally indebted to Europeans and Africans for their contributions to our current reality and that the struggle between socialism and barbarism goes on within all of humanity continues to be more broadly embraced in Belize. Belize’s continued shared vision that Caribbean pride, unification and integration is necessary for regional advancement carries on and is demonstrated through its decision to integrate into the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) and the Caribbean Single Market Economy (CSME), despite being geographically located in Central America, promotes unification of the region and prosperity as a united whole. The CSME allows for the free movement of services, goods, people and capital across the member states of the Caribbean Community by removing barriers to trade and impediments which could restrict one’s right to provide services.
Garvey’s influence was also a powerful voice even before he began to demand equal civil right for all black citizens around the globe and was regarded as the first genuine mass movement among blacks.
Garvey’s influence was also present in Belize through the Black Cross Nurse Association, which was founded out of the UNIA movement in Belize, and became the impetus for the iconic Nurse Seay and Cleopatra White. His philosophy of uniting blacks universally was promoted in Belize largely through the newspaper “Belize Independent” and through the work of Belizean patriot and benefactor Isaiah Morter in the establishment of Liberty Hall. While Garvey’s black power movement was tangible in Belize, his ideology of repatriation to Africa was not as tangible. As working-class and employer relations improved in Belize the relevance of the Garvey movement dwindled. While the ideology of repatriation to Africa and the promotion of a separate black nation have faded, Garvey’s teaching of black pride, black race struggle, upliftment, self-determination and reverence for our African-Belizean roots lives on through music and the literary arts.
Both Caribbean icons – James and Garvey promoted a fundamental awareness of our shared black struggles, fostered a means of empowerment through their ideologies and encourage an awakening in blacks throughout the
Caribbean.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Trotskyite. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Trotskyite (accessed: April 06, 2014).
Marcus Garvey. (2014). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 02:24, Apr 08, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/marcus-garvey-9307319.The Marxism of C.L.R. James - Paul Le Blanc Via: http://www.solidarity-us.org/site/node/775Garvey 's Legacy in Context: Colourism, Black Movements and African Nationalism
August 17th, 2005
By Ayanna Gillian
Via: http://www.raceandhistory.com/historicalviews/2005/1708.htmlMarcus Garvey first visit to Belize 1921
Via: http://belizemusicworld.com/Marcus-Garvey-s-visit-to-Belize-1921-and-1929.htmlCARICOM Single Market and Economy
Via: http://www.belizeinvest.org.bz/caricom-single-market-and-economy/C.L.R. James: A Revolutionary Vision for the 20th Century originally published in booklet form (comprising pp. 9-43) by The C.L.R. James Institute and Cultural Correspondence, New York, in co-operation with Smyrna Press, April 1991. 44 pp. ISBN 0918266-30-0.It became the Introduction (pp. 1-22, notes pp. 418-419) to The C.L.R. James Reader, edited by Anna Grimshaw (Oxford, UK; Cambridge, USA: Blackwell, 1992).
Reprinted by special permission of Anna Grimshaw and The C.L.R. James Institute, Jim Murray, Director, 505 West End Avenue #15C, New York, NY 10024.Web page prepared by Ralph Dumain, Librarian/Archivist, 8 October 2000.
Web page (c) 2000 The C.L.R. James Institute. All rights reserved. This text may not be published, reprinted, or reproduced without the express written consent of The C.L.R. James Institute.
Via: http://www.marxists.org/archive/james-clr/biograph.htm
Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey edited by Amy Jacques-Garvey
The Journal of Pan African Studies 2009 eBook
Via: http://jpanafrican.com/ebooks/eBook%20Phil%20and%20Opinions.pdf