Revisiting Marcus Garvey: His Resonance and Relevance in the Twenty-First Century

Although Marcus Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association—the largest and broadest political movement among descendants of the African diaspora in his time—scholarly attention to Garvey has been relatively scarce. This essay aims to help remedy that oversight, with specific attention to how Garvey’s early writings advance a complex vision of racial justice that differs from those of his more-famous contemporaries Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois. To do so, the essay examines how Garvey arrived in New York City from Jamaica in 1916 filled with faith in American opportunity, envisioning a robust cultural and economic partnership across racial lines. However, Garvey eventually pivoted away from this optimistic philosophy, rejecting racial cooperation in favor of racial solidarity. His reversal emerged from the gross discrepancy he witnessed between the promises of liberty and prosperity in the US and the oppressive practices he found directed against African Americans. In 2025, as Black communities in America continue to confront the challenges of racism and violence, Garvey’s evolving perspective on the US thus merits renewed attention.