Full Screen View

MARCUS GARVEY AND MALCOLM X: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THEI R 'r HOUGH:l' by Anthony C. williams A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Humanities in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida April 1985 ~ Copyright by Anthony c. #illiams 1985 ii MARCUS GARVEY AND MALCOLM Xa A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ·r HEI R THOUGH by Anthony C. ~Villiams This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's thesis advisor, Dr. John O'Sullivan, Department of History, and has been approved by the members of his advisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of the College of Humanit ies and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Mast er of Arts. iii ABSTRACT Author a Anthony c. Nilliams Titlea Marcus Garvey and Malcolm Xa A Comparative Analysis of ·£heir ·r hought Institutiona Florida Atlantic University Degree a Master of Arts Year a 1985 This thesis examines the inter-relationship and significant effect of the ideas that Marcus Garvey and Malcolm x had upon their people. It also explores the common forces that affected these two black leaders. 'rhe comparative structure of this thesis allows comprehension of how influential ideas of black advocates were absorbed, reshaped, and perpetuated by Marcus and Malcolm on an international scale, in order to assist in the procurement of freedom and dignity for Africans at home and abroad. TABLE OF CONTEN TS ABSTRACT • • • . iv IN'TRODUC·riON • • . • • • • • . • • . • • vi CHAPl'ER ONE EARLY LIFE AND ENVIRONJ:V:!ENI' t t I I I t I I I I l CHAP'J:ER rwo PEER INFLUENCE • . 15 CHAPTER l'HREE PUBLICNriONS • Jl CHAPTER FOUR ORGANIZA.i'IONAL ROLE J4 CHAPrER FIVE APPEAL l'O IN'I'ERNA1'IO!'iAL BODIBS • . 41 CHAP£ER SIX JIARcus GArtVEr Is AND MALCOLM A: Is APPHOACH ·ro PAL'i-AFJ:tiCAl~ISNI . 45 CHAP'I'ER SEVEN CONCLUSION • • • . 49 BL3LIOGRAPHY • . 5J v INTRODUCTION This thesis will examine the inter-relationship and significant effect of the ideas that Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X had upon their people. It will also explore the common forces that affected these two black leaders. The special comparative structure of this thesis will allow comprehension of how influential ideas of black advocates were absorbed, reshaped and perpetuated by Marcus and Malcolm on an inter national scale, in order to assist in the procurement of freedom and dignity for Africans at home and abroad. vi CHAPTER ONE EARLY LIFE AND ENVIRONMENT On the seventeenth day of August, 1887, in St. Ann's Bay on the northern coast of Jamaica, Marcus Garvey was born to a direct descendant of the Maroons. Historically, the Maroons are known as the daring ex-slaves who challenged the oppression of the Spanish and British to maintain their freedom in the cockpit country of Jamaica during the seven teenth and eighteenth centuries.1 The descendant I speak of was known in his village as Marcus Garvey, Sr., a stocky, muscular, well-read man of African blood. Occasionally villagers inquired of' this self-taught scholar concerning matters of legality. 2 He was an assiduous reader who "stayed mostly in a room of his own, away from the family, where he had a collection of books, magazines and newspapers ... ) It was in this private library that his eleventh child developed a desire for knowledge about world affairs. Objecting to his wife's decision to name the boy Moses, Fa Garvey requested that he be called simply Marcus Garvey Jr., but, "eventually a compr'omise was reached and the child was baptized as Marcus Mosiah Garvey."4 It was Fa Garvey who sought to instill within Mosiah at an early age a sense of strength and fear lessness. These convictions were displayed by this bold black intellectual while he and his son were engaged in the practice of his trade, stonemasonry. There was a day that Mosiah l 2 recalled very vividlya He was helping his father build a vault for a planter's son who had died of pneumonia in England. When it was lunchtime, Pa proceeded up the ladder, and immediately pulled it up, leaving Mosiah in the un finished vault. When Mosiah shouted, 'Pa, Pal I am down here,' and got no answer, he decided that this was another test. He tried to stay awake, but his legs shook and he imagined he saw the dead man peeping down at him, so he prayed for sleep, which came as he was tired and hungry. When Pa woke Mosiah up later he told him in a rough voice, 'BoY-, this is a lesson to teach you never to be afraid.') The impact of a polemical father who prided himself in his self-teachings and Maroon heritage would soon be manifested in the career of his son. It was later in young Garvey's life that inherited characteristics from his father would be exhibited in his endeavours as a world-renowned black leader. It is well known that there is a dual force involved in every child's life which manifests itself later on in adulthood. A polarizing part of that force in young Garvey's life was Sarah, his mother. "Slim with fine features and large black eyes," Sarah was a direct descendant of unmixed African blood. 6 She was recognized in the village as a gentle person, businesslike, and possessed of a strong religious character. The gentleness of this woman was frequently displayed in her relationships with those who surrounded her.? Once when young Garvey disobeyed his father's requests, he was immediately shielded from chas tisement by his mother. On the day of the biannual garden party attended by the local villagers, Mosiah was sent by his father to purchase two cigars and some white rum. After ac quiring these goods, "The feeling of stepping out and posing J big made him go round by the banana patch and taste the rum, one sip, then another sip. He attempted to stand up and walk, but his head was swimming so he had to lay dGwn and sleep took charge of him."8 A period of time elapsed before Mosiah was finally discovered by his mother. "She had to get help to put him in bed and lock the door so that his father could not flog him."9 This is one incident which illustrates the flowering of the humanitarian concepts which were to develop as part of Garvey Jr.'s philosophy of aiding others. Not only did young Garvey receive some of his humanitarian char acteristics from his mother, but he also gained knowledge of business from her. Fortunately, mother Sarah was part owner, with her brother Benjie, of inherited family property. As a result of Moses working on this land, income was produced for the family whether his father was employed or not. 10 These humanitarian, business, and religious concepts practiced by Sarah were em- bodied within the mind of Garvey and aided in the maturing of his fundamental ideologies. Another black leader who shared similar background with Marcus Garvey was none other than Malcolm x. It is not coincidental that the concepts of these two men correlated so readily in their inspiration of the -Black diaspora. Malcolm Little later changed his name to Malcolm X, after recognizing his true African identity and the falsity of his European given name. Malcolm explaineda "The Muslim's 'X' symbolized the true African family name that he never could know."11 4 Consistent in this belie£, Malcolm rurther clarified by sayinga "For me, my 'X' replaced the white slavemaster name or 'Little' which some blue-eyed devil named Little had imposed upon my paternal rorebearers."12 One or his immediate rorebearers was the Reverend Earl Little who could be best described as a big six-root-four, very black man with one eye.1J Reverend Little, born in Reynolds, Georgia, migrated to Omaha, Nebraska in the early nineteen hundreds. He fathered eight children from his first and second marriages. Eventually the ramily moved to Lansing, Michigan where Rev. Little introduced his seventh child to the teachings and philosophies of Marcus Mosiah Garvey.14 This seventh child, Malcolm X, was born May 19, 1925. He was or di££erent skintone than his brothers and sisters.15 With red hair and pecan-tan complexion, Malcolm was given special attention by his rather who singled him out to attend with him the meetings or the Garveyist, Universal Negro Improvement Association.16 It is evident that Rev. Little, rearing that Malcolm would one day stray £rom an identification with his people as a result of the favoritism he would experience because or his skintone, sought to inculcate within him Garvey's philosophy of black awareness. As a traveling Baptist minister, Rev. Little exhibited the characteristics of a shouting and root stomping Negro preacher. However, the disposition or Malcolm's father was not that or an apathetic Christian preacher. As a matter or fact, this racade was cast aside when he was engaged in matters concerning the wel£are of his black people. 17 5 Malcolm describes the transformation in his father and his associates at the U.N.I.A. meetings thusa "I noticed how different they all acted, although sometimes they were the same people who jumped and shouted in church. But in these meetings both they and my father were more intense, more intelligent and down to earth."18 An extremely bold and fearless man, Rev. Little was open with his Garveyite teachings.

Load more