Universal Negro Improvement Association

Marcus Garvey, a charismatic leader and organizer, chaired the largest black nationalist movement in American history through his organization, the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). Initially founded in 1914 in his homeland of Jamaica, [Page 820]Garvey's UNIA was charged with the motto, “One God! One Aim! One Destiny!”

In 1916, in the midst of the Great Migration of African Americans from the South, Garvey arrived in the United States. After examining the racial situation in America throughout his year-long travels around the country, Garvey was convinced that integration would not occur and that only political, economic, and cultural success on the part of African Americans would bring about equality and respect. With this goal in mind, the American headquarters of the UNIA-ACL (Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League) was established in New York City in 1917. Within two months, the organization claimed a membership of more than 1,500.

Shortly after its founding, the UNIA-ACL split into two different organizations. Some black politicians attempted to change the organization into a political party or club. However, Garvey assumed leadership of the Harlem-based organization, and, to ensure that the opposing group would not use the name, he obtained recognition of the organization as a membership corporation under New York state law.

The UNIA was composed primarily of poor and working-class African Americans as a self-help organization for people of African descent. The goal of the organization was to organize people of African descent throughout the world, to instill racial pride and self-sufficiency through the creation of societies in Africa and the establishment of an independent black economy based on capitalism. The organization was a vehicle for spreading the message of black nationalism and the ultimate return to Africa for all individuals of African descent. The organization's mission and message quickly spread, and consequently there were more than 700 UNIA branches in 38 states, with more than 2 million members by the early 1920s. Many, but not all, of the chapters were established in large urban areas such as Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. The UNIA held nightly meetings to get their message heard. In addition, a newspaper, Negro World, was created to further spread the mission of the UNIA. By 1920, the newspaper had achieved circulation between 50,000 and 200,000.

Like other civil rights organizations of the time, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the UNIA campaigned against such issues as Jim Crow laws and lynching. However, the UNIA diverged from other civil rights organizations on how the issues should be addressed, in that Garvey believed that American whites would never consent to equal treatment of African Americans and argued for segregation rather than integration. The UNIA's message was composed of three primary elements: unity, pride in the African cultural heritage, and complete autonomy.

In 1920, the UNIA held its inaugural convention in New York City's Madison Square Garden. During that convention, the 20,000 attending UNIA members disseminated and publicized the “Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World,” which resolved such issues as the creation and meaning of a flag for people of African descent and an official hymn. Eventually, the UNIA also incorporated Garvey's idea for the Black Star Line, an all-black steamship company that would transport and connect the blacks of the Diaspora in economic relationships. Although the Black Star Line failed, the UNIA continued to increase its membership and to sustain itself financially.

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