ABSTRACT
Marcus Garvey was the leader who spoke most directly to the hopes, dreams, and disappointments of the urban black population. Garvey urged African Americans to give up on integration and work to create a separate black nation in Africa, complete with an army to protect it. In the meantime, he stressed a program of self-help and racial pride to help American and Caribbean blacks to achieve economic and cultural independence. His message of black nationalism stressed that blacks were exploited throughout the world and could never count on whites for help. He preached a brand of racial pride that reverberated strongly in the black community. United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) was one of the most successful all-black organizations in history. Many African Americans closely identified with the dark-skinned Garvey, who insisted that 'black' stood for strength and beauty, not weakness and inferiority. He led grandiose parades in Harlem wearing a plumed admiral's hat, and his uniformed followers marched in formation.
