Mapping Pan-Africanism

Garveyism in Africa

Marcus Garvey was adamant that some groups of African people both prefer and should consider returning to Africa for the re-unification of the stolen people from said land. Through business connections and political influence, Garvey funded a ship line that could "[emigrate] of the best Negro farmers and mechanics from the United States to different parts of Africa." This venture would aim to reunite those who could benefit the areas of West African for the betterment of the emigrants and the Black race as a whole. Though this venture was not greatly successful (for a number of reasons) it showed how Garveyism saw a united Black people both within countries and across the world, going so far as to reunite the race where they originated. This ship line was called the "Black Star Line".

Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World

In 1920, the UNIA met to establish and notarize The Declaratino of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World under the influence and direction of Marcus Garvey. Through his influence and the influence of Garveyism, one of the most prominent aspects enumerated the right of a "negro nation" in Africa run by the African people. At this conference, Garvey reiterated his belief of a strong African coalition of Negros, even go far as to say that "the future of the Negro outside of Africa... will spell ruin and disaster." This ideology of Garveyism, then, doubles down on the idea that the single end-all solution relies on a centralized Black people in Africa.

Garvey Jailed in Atlanta

Marcus Garvey was arrested in 1925 on counts of mail fraud and other forms of fraud, primarily surrounding his "Black Star Line". This punishment was relatively harsh, showing partially that the treatment of Black people, especially Black revolutionaries, would not be tolerated in the United States from many individuals in power. After a few years, Garvey was able to remove himself from the United States with a return to Jamaica, whereupon his return he re-established the UNIA. His philosophy and the teachings, however, stretched across the globe with the creation of many different chapters of the UNIA, and its philosophical beliefs still resonate to this day, even if under a different philosophical name.

The Creation of the "New Negro Movement"

The "New Negro" Movement, which was colloquially known as the Harlem Renaissance, was a movement that gained steam along the same time of Garveyism. Specifically, the "New Negro" movement started after the first World War and coincided with the First Great Migration, where hundreds of thousands of Black Americans migrated from the Jim Crow South to northern Urban areas. The "New Negro" movement was, to contrast Garveyism and other Pan-African movements, a social one. That is, much of the movement centered around putting Black culture all around the world in the forefront and in the mainstream. These cultural components were those of fashion, literature, jazz, language, and other art forms. Its influence, while primarily in major cities in the United States, also expanded to cities all around the world.

Langston Hughes Poetry as part of the "New Negro" Movement

As stated before, many art forms within Black culture were put in the forefront as a way to show a balance of assimilation, differentiation, and pride among the Black communities around the world. Langston Hughes, a famous poet of the time, primarily lived in Northeastern cities in the United States. In support of the "New Negro" movement, Hughes wrote that much of the motivation surrounded Black people's want and desire "...to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame". It must be noted, however, that may did not agree with this coinage of the "New Negro" movement as new or revolutionary; many Black leaders believe this term is a white invention where many talented Black artists had been producing work going back decades. While this is definitely a contentious point, it is nevertheless true that at this time, Black artwork was, at the very least, making its way into popularity in the eyes of the White culture. This meant, in part, that economic freedom grew for many Black artists and elements of expressing yourself out of fear. For this reason, the normalization of Black artists was nonetheless a great thing, and can be attributed to this "New Negro" movement acceptance for Langston Hughes and artists, writers, and poets of all types. It must also be noted that Langston Hughes played a big role in the rise of religion for the Harlem Renaissance, as noted in many of his works.

The Harlem Renaissance Around the Country

It is important to note that while many of the leaders of the "New Negro" movement were based in the culturally-dense New York City, much of the Harlem Renaissance's influence did not originate there. In a number of stories recounting the public incorporation of Black culture into the mainstream, we see that different art forms that were popular in certain areas, like New Orleans or Midwestern cities like St. Louis or Oklahoma City, retained this same popular cultural showing.In San Francisco, for example, we saw a number of paint, drawing, and sculpture artists emerge into the forefront. San Francisco, especially at that time, did not much much or any "mainstream" cultural similarity to that of New York, but there was nonetheless and emerging popular Black artistic movement stemming from this area of the country. It must also be noted that much of the LGBTQA+ movement and its intersection with the Black community stemmed from this location in the 1920s. Though much of the Harlem Renaissance died out in the 1930s due to a number of reasons, there was nevertheless a great spike in the pride of Black artists stepping into the fold.

Negritude Origins

The term "Negritude" or "Blackness" originated as the name of the a movement from the mid 1930s in Paris, France. Similar to the previously mentioned "New Negro" movement, the rise in Negritude refers to the pushback of Black cultures to fully assimilate to the Western culture social norms and behaviors. In order to more-formally structure a movement of Negritude, L'Etudiant Noir , a Black publication, was created to help spread news of these movements. Interestingly, many of the teachings took from Garveyism and other Pan-Africanism movements through the pushback on taking the "White" lifestyle as the status quo. Though Negritude was, too, a social movement, it relied on many philosophies of a centralized and united "Blackness" around the world from both a social and political perspective. With the aforementioned publication comprising cultural and political initiatives, many strategies founded by other Pan-Africanism movements could now be more-realistically mobilized.

Negrismo/Negritude Around the Latin Americas

In popular South American and Central American countries, the writings of L'Etudiant Noir were especially popular on both a cultural and political level. Though many in these countries saw their own "Blackness" as slightly different, the idea that their own identity and cultural pride should not be attached to internal or external shame showed how Negritude as a philosophy was a unifying force. Many individuals then adopted much of the philosophy of Marcus Garvey through these means, even if they took more pride in unifying a strong Black equality movement in their own country instead of moving themselves back to Africa. Many of the leaders of "Negritude" were back in France, but each country had its own local publication to follow the theme of the others. In a way, the combination of Garveyism and the Harlem Renaissance (or "New Negro" movements) combine in the form of Negritude. The artistic leaders strove to have an equal footing in these countries, and by having their own publication, many were able to share the words and writings even further. It was with the globalization of this Pan-Africanism philosophy that it became clear that a unification of Black equality was a more realistic mission than a unified Negro people in Africa. Despite this emerging sentiment, we see a further increase in local Civil Rights movements that stemmed form these Pan-Africanism movements.