Marcus Garvey: A Revolutionary For African Success

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Marcus Garvey: A Revolutionary for African Success By Mary Janousek Professor Williams LITR324 B001 Fall 10 14 November 2010 Mary Janousek Professor Williams LITR324 B001 Fall 10 14 November 2010 Marcus Garvey: A Revolutionary for African Success Stemming from the sights of inequities as a child, Marcus Garvey grew into a man of heroic proportions. Using his talents as an author and leader, Garvey was propelled to the position of one of the most influential, yet most controversial, figures during the Harlem Renaissance as an agitator for the rights of the Negro. While infamous for his radical philosophies, a moderate doctrine actually emerged in his work; a message of success for the African people (“Marcus Garvey” 1-6). This traditional aspiration was often disguised by the means to which Garvey suggested achieving personal success and racial uplift. His “Africa for the Africans” or “Back to Africa” philosophy, as it is also referred, derived from Garvey’s aspiration to create a great nation in Africa for the Negro people of the world, believing; “The time has really come for the Asiatics to govern themselves in Asia, as the Europeans are in Europe and the Western world, so it is wise for the Africans to govern themselves at home. Africa shall develop an aristocracy of its own, but it shall be based upon service and loyalty to race” (Garvey 999). This exclusive view and belief in the superiority of race was a polarizing force for many during Garvey’s lifetime and continues into the present. I, myself, even became entrapped initially by the superficiality of such views and the brazenness of his words. However, in the course of further study and insight into the mind of Marcus Garvey through his work, it became apparent that this plan is merely a means to an end, a means for the African people to raise themselves up and triumph
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