Marcus Garvey: From Jamaican Peasant To Potent Black World Leader By Stacy St. Hilaire

Gaining Prominence ~~~

The allure of the UNIA was not restricted to Harlem. Chapters of the UNIA got established in other places with large concentrations of black people—both in America and around the world. By 1919, the UNIA boasted to be two million strong, and Garvey began to make a name for himself as a Black Moses.

At the Association’s Liberty Hall, he spoke of a “New Negro,” one proud of being black. Pride in their race attracted many. Indeed the idea of a government that would defend them would be something new.

The Negro World 1

To cater to his following he began to publish The Negro World, a newspaper in which he furthered his ideas of Pan Africanism and told of the splendors of Africa. He showed the New Negro Black excellence and published the exploits of Black heroes.

“We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind.”

He firmly believed that no one would respect the Negro until Negroes became a race with economic power, who had their own government and could thrive on their own. Only when other societies had to bow down to the Negro would they recognize and respect the Negro as an equal race.

NegroWorld