Philosophy and opinions of Marcus Garvey Book

In 1919 the militant Marcus Garvey, president and founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) created the Black Star Line, a shipping company whose goal was to help black people wishing for it to leave the racist USA to go and settle in Africa. To do so, obviously, he needed ships; and so he encouraged members of his associations to mail him money for investments. All went well, until one of those ship never got sold to him, investors lost their money, and the transaction went bust. Since it had all been made through mail, he was accused of fraud and sentenced to five years in prison. So much for the big dream!

The case was crucial, for it crystallised opinions regarding his person. Was he a genuine militant at the service of 'his' people, but so naïve an utopian that he got ripped by unscrupulous business men? Or just a scammer finally caught for his cheats? Once in jail, his wife Amy Jacques Garvey decided to fight for his honour: she went on to publish his speeches, letters, and notes to show who he truly was, his thoughts, his dream. The first volume of such endeavour was published in 1923, the second in 1925, both are here reunited in one single tome. Here we go: the ideas of one of the most famous (infamous?) Black man then alive...

For him it all started from a simple statement of fact: white people will never consider black people as their equals. Whose fighting for integration are, as far as he is concerned, mere uncle Toms; naïve, meek, clueless when it comes to racial issues. W. E. Du Bois, especially, gets criticised mercilessly... The solution, for him, lies in fact in segregation. If all 'races' are equal and capable of cooperating when necessary (eg trade) they must not mixed with each other, less interbreed. You get it: here's racism, defended by someone who should have known better. There is no excuse - when W.E. Du Bois is labelled 'a monstrosity' for being mixed race, or, again, you remember his negotiations with the KKK, you guess what to expect of his 'opinions'...

His ideas, for sure, are shocking and populist. However, one have to put them back into the context of their time. First, his racism. Being Jamaican, he just transplanted the mindset of a British colony, obsessed with skin colours and race, to the USA. Then, on the racial issue in America. The Reconstruction era was undeniably an utter failure; even decades later, during WWI, when black people went on to fight and die in Europe for their country it changed absolutely nothing for their rights back home. As such, his views were surely simplistic and crass, but they reflected a then boiling anger and frustration. Hence the reason he supported anti-colonial movements. Hence the reason why he would support the ideal of colonising Liberia. Hence the reason why the 'Back to Africa' exodus will have its share of popularity and gain some sort of momentum.

Populist leader and entrepreneur at the head of a movement that will count hundred of thousand of members worldwide, it's quite obvious he was considered as a problem - both for white segregationists, and, black people who had nothing to do with such delusion but campaigned for integration. His trial (those transcripts are reproduced in here) were then the perfect opportunity to get rid of him. Cunny politics surely, but then what? In my opinion, there's not much to gain from this book. It's long -more than 500 pages- and unsurprisingly and boringly repetitive. He nails his 'philosophy' again and again, the same points bashed like an old refrain which shows, bottom line, how poor his ideas truly were. Populism is an intellectual vacuum, whether black or white, regardless of the context. He played upon prejudice, especially racist, he could then, ultimately, only failed.

Here's a must read to understand him, but don't expect something deep and challenging!