Africa was not a dark
and degenerate continent; instead it was a place of which to be
proud.
To demonstrate this, Garvey adopted African clothes and hair
style long before they became popular. The black bourgeoisie was
shocked and ashamed by his blatant display. Whites were totally
incapable of understanding why anyone would try to glorify
blackness and the African heritage. To them, he seemed merely a
clown. However, to the black masses who had no hope of achieving
middle-class respectability, his pride in blackness came as a
release. Instead of a life buried in shame, he offered them pride
and dignity. Instead of being considered "nobodies," he gave them
a sense of identity. In place of weakness, he offered solidarity
and strength. These ideas spread through the ghettoes of large
American urban centers like a fever. In 1920 the Universal Negro
Improvement Association held its annual convention at Madison
Square Garden in New York City. There were 25,000 delegates in
attendance. Garvey told them that he planned to organize the four
hundred million blacks of the world into one powerful unit and to
plant the banner of freedom in Africa.
Pages:
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268