The UNIA: A Brief History

The UNIA-ACL (United Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League) was founded on August 1, 1914 by Marcus Garvey while he was in his home country of Jamaica. Based on Garvey's own teachings, the UNIA-ACL preached a doctrine of self-help, unity, pride, and equality. It aimed at uplifting the African race, in all parts of the world, by making them economically independent, unifying the worldwide African community through open communication and economic ties, and reviving the past glory of African empires such as Egypt so that future generations of Africans would have a source of pride to build off of. The UNIA-ACL's American roots began in New York with its founding in 1917. On August 17, 1918, The Negro World, a weekly newspaper, was published in order to express the group's beliefs. With an audience of 500,000, the paper helped the organization grow, and by 1919 the UNIA-ACL had enough support to help sponsor the Black Star Line Steamship Company. Shares of the company were sold to UNIA-ACL members for $5 dollars a piece, so that Africans would have the greatest share in the company, and thus keep their investment money in within their own community. With the investment from UNIA-ACL supporters the Company designed to take Africans from America on trips to Africa to promote unity as well as facilitate African American to African trade. The UNIA-ACL also invested in other ventures, such as the endorsement of the Negro Factories Corporation, which generated income and invested it in African owned businesses.

With these new economic enterprises the UNIA-ACL hit its golden age. It boasted hundreds of branches, most of which were in the U.S., and a support base of 4 million people. In 1920 the UNIA-ACL held its first international meeting, in which Garvey was named the president of the association. Eventually, however, the Black Star Line Company failed, due to expensive repairs, unhappy crew members, and corruption. In 1922 all Black Star Line activities were suspended by the federal government after Garvey himself was indicted on charges of mail fraud related to the funding of the Company. Followed closely by the Bureau of Investigation (the old FBI), Garvey was eventually deported to Jamaica in 1927 for the same mail fraud charge. Without its primary leader and source of inspiration, the UNIA-ACL never reached full strength again, and slowly declined, though it still exists today.

The UNIA-ACL can be considered to be the first organizations, along with the NAACP, that attempted to unify the African American population under a single name. However the UNIA-ACL was radically different from the NAACP, in the sense that while the NAACP aimed at making a place for Africans in America, the UNIA-ACL attempted to separate Africans from other races and make them their own, self-sustaining community. This strain of thought, sometimes referred to as 'Garveyism,' would later serve as inspiration for leaders like Malcolm X, and organizations that promoted Black Nationalism. Due to its separatist nature, the UNIA-ACL did not fight its battles in the courtroom, and never really participated in forms of civil disobedience. However the government, driven by a hysteria and fear of black organization, was constantly on the heels of the UNIA-ACL, trying to shut it down. This hysteria is most clearly captured in a letter that several 'concerned' whites wrote to Attorney General Harry Daugherty claiming that the UNIA was in cahoots with the KKK. Though the government did not go after Garvey and the UNIA under this charge, they were constantly keeping a 'special' eye on the organization, and waiting for any slip, despite the organizations lack of criminal record. Due to the governments actions and the overall hysteria of the people, this age can be characterized as one of legal repression.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIA