Did Garvey, in his espousal of the repatriation of blacks to Africa, forsake the rights of African Americans in America?

Although Garvey obviously failed to realize many of his objectives, such as the creation of an African empire or the establishment of a sovereign black state in Africa or an international black economy, he was responsible for putting forward ideas that helped to advance the political consciousness of blacks worldwide.

Garvey was not unique in this, however, since other blacks, in particular mission-educated blacks in West Africa and South Africa, were attempting to do the same thing under the influence of Washington’s Tuskegee.

The movement’s dynamic core was Harlem, which Garvey and the UNIA helped make the cultural capital of the black world.

Garvey himself never set foot in Africa, but for many budding nationalist leaders, it was he who first implanted notions of black self-sufficiency and independence.