Arinze Ture

Marcus Garvey was a key figure in Black Nationalism, promoting the idea of a unified, independent Black nation, particularly through the concept of returning to Africa. His movement, the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), aimed to foster racial pride, economic independence, and self-determination among people of African descent worldwide. Garvey's influence extended to the Black Power movement and continues to inspire movements for social justice and Pan-Africanism. 

 

Garvey's ideology blended Pan-Africanism, which emphasizes the unity and solidarity of all people of African descent, with Black Nationalism, which seeks self-determination and independence for Black people. 

 

Garvey advocated for the repatriation of African Americans to Africa, establishing the UNIA headquarters in Harlem in 1917 and aiming to create a powerful Black nation in Africa. 

 

Garvey believed that economic self-sufficiency was crucial for Black Liberation, and he promoted Black-owned businesses and industries through organizations like the Black Star Line. 

 

Garvey's ideas significantly influenced later Black Nationalist movements, including the Nation of Islam, Malcom X, and the Black Power Movement of the 1960’s.

 

Black Nationalism is an ideology that expresses the need for Black People to control the social-cultural institutions in their community, the economy of their community, the politics and politicians in their community. 

 

The Black Panther Party (BPP) embraced Revolutionary Black Nationalism because it combines elements of Black Power and revolutionary socialism. In addition, the BPP adopted it because it emphasized collectivism and people power to address the community’s needs. Revolutionary Black Nationalists maintain that African Americans cannot achieve liberation within the existing political and economic system. Therefore, they call for revolution to rid the society of capitalism, imperialism, racism, and sexism. It is this call for revolution that distinguishes Revolutionary Black Nationalism from Black Nationalism. For those who are looking to join a revolutionary organization, remember that just because an organization has “Revolutionary” in its name, this does not mean that it is a revolutionary organization. If the organization’s political ideology explicitly calls for revolution to replace the existing unjust political/economic system with a new just political/economic system, it is a revolutionary organization. If this is not the case, the organization is not a revolutionary organization.

 

In his book entitled “Revolutionary Suicide”, BPP Co-Founder, Dr. Huey P. Newton stated in regards to revolutionary struggle “I do not think that life will change for the better without an assault on the Establishment, which goes on exploiting the wretched of the earth. This belief lies at the heart of the concept of revolutionary suicide. Thus it is better to oppose the forces that would drive me to self-murder than to endure them. Although I risk the likelihood of death, there is at least the possibility, if not the probability, of changing intolerable conditions.”