PAN-AFRICANIST MARCUS GARVEY

Iconic Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey died on born on this day (10th June) in London in 1940. In his 52 years on earth he became one of the most influential Pan-Africans to ever walk the earth. He inspired some of our favourites like Dr Kwame Nkrumah and Malcolm X, whose parents were Garveyites. Garvey was a political activist, publisher, journalist and orator. He founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL), a Pan-African organisation with branches in many countries. However, his dedication to African liberation during heightened racial oppression in the US put the arrow on his back. Due to his massive influence throughout the Americas and beyond, he was a target for soon-to-be FBI director J Edgar Hoover. He was tasked with destroying Garvey’s mass movement and, in 1920, sent an undercover agent to infiltrate the UNIA-ACL.
It led to Garvey serving jail time and sunk hopes of using his Black Star Line steamship to migrate Africans in America back to their ancestral home.
Despite this, Garvey was unwavering in his calls for a strong, sovereign Africa and for Africans to unite. It had a profound influence on independence struggles on the continent. Ghana, one of the first states to become independent in Africa, placed the black star, popularised by Garvey, in the middle of their country’s flag. Despite joining the ancestors 84 years ago his contributions to Africa and African people worldwide have been long-lasting.