Garvey, Marcus Mosiah

1887-1940 · Contribution: 1914-1927

Black nationalist leader; founder of the African Orthodox Church

Developed a theology of a Black God and co-founded the African Orthodox Church; fused Christian religious practice with Black nationalist organizing in the largest Black mass movement in American history

Religious & Spiritual Leadership: collage image
Religious & Spiritual Leadership

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Quick facts

Born
1887, Saint Ann's Bay, Jamaica
Active since
1914
Category
Religious & Spiritual Leadership
Best known for
Fusing Black nationalism with a theology of a Black God

Impact on the world

Garvey deliberately built religion into the core of Black nationalist organizing, modeling UNIA meetings on church services and giving a mass political movement a sense of sacred mission and a self-affirming image of the divine.

An alternative history

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Sources

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