The self-educated journalist spent his life with political activism and the freedom of Black people.
By Chinyere Ibeh — Written on Sep 03, 2020
Marcus Garvey was an activist who worked tirelessly to inspire and uplift the Black community. The most powerful Marcus Garvey quotes are still relatable today as we continue the fight for racial justice.
Born in 1887 in St Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, Garvey was an orator for the Black Nationalism and Pan Africanism movements. He moved to Kingston, Jamaica, where he began to be involved in union activities. In 1907, Garvey participated in an unsuccessful printer’s strike and that kindled his political activism.
After the printer’s strike, he traveled through Central America as a newspaper editor and he wrote about the exploitation of the workers in plantations. He later traveled to London where he attended Birkbeck College and wrote for the African Times and Orient Review, which advocated for Pan-African nationalism.
He returned to Jamaica and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (U.N.I.A). The ultimate goal of the U.N.I.A was to unite all of the African Diaspora to “establish a country and absolute government of their own.”
Garvey later corresponded with Booker T. Washington, the African American leader and educator who founded the Tuskegee Institute. In 1916, Garvey boarded on a ship to the United States, where he embarked on a 38-city tour.
While in New York, he authored the “Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World.” This declaration was ratified at the U.N.I.A at Madison Square Garden and Garvey was named “Provisional President” of Africa.
Motivational Marvin Garvey quotes.
1. “If you haven’t confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won before you have started.”
2. “God and Nature first made us what we are, and then out of our own created genius, we make ourselves what we want to be. Follow always that great law. Let the sky and God our limit and Eternity our measurement.”
3. “Never forget that intelligence rules the world and ignorance carries the burden. Therefore, remove yourself as far as possible from ignorance and seek as far as possible to be intelligent.”
4. “Let no voice but your own speak to you from the depths. Let no influence but your own raise you in time of peace and time of war. Hear all, but attend only that which concerns you.”
5. “The only protection against injustice in man is power...physical, financial and scientific.”
6. “Up, you mighty race, accomplish what you will.”
7. “Progress is the attraction that moves humanity.”
8. “Whatsoever things common to man, the man has done, man can do.”
9. “Take advantage of every opportunity; when there is none, make it for yourself.”
10. “The Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness.”
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Chinyere (sha-near-ruh) is a writer who covers entertainment and pop culture news, along with the zodiac signs.