Marcus Garvey was born in Jamaica in 1887 as one of eleven children to a mason worker and a domestic helper. He gained a love of reading through a large library of books owned by his father. Garvey received a formal education up to the age of 14, and eventually became a printing apprentice. After joining a printers strike, he was black-listed in his trade and went onto travel in Central America. It was during these travels that Garvey became convinced that uniting Blacks was the only way to improve their condition. He was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, which inspired him to found the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) – under which he promoted the return of Blacks to their ancestral Africa. This led to “Garveyism†– a philosophy that spread globally and focused on the economic empowerment of Africa and called for the Black redemption of the continent followed by the exit of colonial powers. Garveyism reached both the Nation of Islam and the Rastafarians (which proclaims Marcus Garvey as a central prophet of their movement). He is still heralded as a national hero in Jamaica and revered by blacks and white alike for his tireless fight against oppression.
