Garvey Introduction
Marcus Garvey was born on August 17, 1887. in St. Anns Bay, Jamaica . He was born to parents Sarah Jane Richards and Marcus Garvey Sr .He was the last of 11 children to his parents. His father had a career as a stone mason and his mother was a farmer and a domestic helper.
Due to financial stress within his family, young Garvey was forced to drop out of school at the age of 14.
However, he was able to compensate for his absence by embarking on his first experience in the working world by becoming a printer’s probationer. It was around this time of his life that Garvey started becoming vocal as his awareness about racial injustice grew. He started partaking in union activities as well as going on strike for his company to pay higher wages to his co-workers. It was one of Garvey’s most powerful moments but despite him being granted a pay increase, he opted to break ties with his co-workers when they were refused. Taking action didn’t produce the change that Garvey wanted, but it was a stepping stone for better things to come as these experiences only accelerated the passionate side of him, pertaining to these social injustices.
Garvey formed the UNIA
Garvey established the Universal Negro Improvement Association (U.N.I.A) to help combat the ill-treatment of his people. The formation of the U.N.I.A came from the idea of having Africans become independent of a society that he felt was flawed and was not in favor of his race. Garvey’s objective was to unify all Africans around the world to inaugurate a country and government of their own.
Garvey Quotes
Source Credit : Kotchmagazine.com