Pebbles and Ripples: Hubert Harrison and the Rise of the Garvey Movement

Hubert Harrison (1883–1927) represents a pioneer of the Black radical tradition whose historical restoration requires us to rethink the origins of the Garvey movement. Harrison and his Liberty League of Negro-Americans modeled many of the key strategic, ideological, and cultural components that Garvey would adopt for his Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA), including the United States and Harlem in particular as a headquarters, the focus on mass social movement building, the ideology of “race first,” support for nationalist struggles like the Irish, and a tricolor flag to symbolize Black liberation. At a time when Marcus Garvey was on the verge of returning to Jamaica, he caught a break by joining forces with Harrison in Harlem. As a result, Harrison’s organization exerted a decisive influence on Garvey, prompting him to shift his vision for the UNIA from a Tuskegee Institute emulator to a vehicle for building a global Pan-African and Black nationalist social movement.

Kwoba, Brian. “Pebbles and Ripples: Hubert Harrison and the Rise of the Garvey Movement.” The Journal of African American History 105, no. 3 (June 1, 2020): 396–423. https://doi.org/10.1086/709374.