Marcus Garvey Biography

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Biography Part 3 - Return to Jamaica and Establishment of the U.N.I.A.

Marcus Garvey returned to Jamaica in 1914 where he formally formed the Universal Negro Improvement Association (U.N.I.A.) along with co-founder Amy Ashwood, who he would later go on to marry and the African Communities League (ACL). Garvey stated that the goal of the U.N.I.A. was to "unite all people of African ancestry of the world to one great body to establish a country and absolute government of their own". As a result, the U.N.I.A. is commonly termed the "Back to Africa Movement", although this was a great simplification of the aims of the group. The group did encourage Africans throughout the world to return to Africa, Garvey had publicly stated that some black people would not be suitable for returning to Africa or, indeed, would not desire to. Another aim of the U.N.I.A. was to provide industrial and educational opportunities for black people and, in this regard, was modeled on the Tuskegee Institute, a school providing such opportunities for Black people in Alabama, USA.

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