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Born
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr. was born on August 17, 1887, in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica. -
Printer's Apprentice
At age 14, Marcus became a printer's apprentice. In 1903, he traveled to Kingston, Jamaica, and soon became involved in union activities. -
Strike
In 1907, he took part in an unsuccessful printer's strike and the experience kindled in him a passion for political activism. -
C.A.
Three years later, he traveled throughout Central America working as an newspaper editor and writing about the exploitation of migrant workers in the plantations. -
Jamaica
Inspired by these experiences, Marcus Garvey returned to Jamaica in 1912 and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) with the goal of uniting all of African diaspora to "establish a country and absolute government of their own." -
Venture
After corresponding with Booker T. Washington, the American educator who founded Tuskegee Institute, Garvey traveled to the United States in 1916 to raise funds for a similar venture in Jamaica. -
Newspaper
In 1918, Garvey began publishing the widely distributed newspaper Negro World to convey his message. -
Black Star Line
By 1919, Marcus Garvey and UNIA had launched the Black Star Line, a shipping company that would establish trade and commerce between Africans in America, the Caribbean, South and Central America, Canada and Africa. -
Inernational Convention
In August 1920, UNIA claimed 4 million members and held its first International Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City. -
Charged
In 1922, Marcus Garvey and three other UNIA officials were charged with mail fraud involving the Black Star Line. -
Sentence
On June 23, 1923, Garvey was convicted and sentenced to prison for five years. -
Release
In 1927 he was released from prison and deported to Jamaica. -
London
Garvey continued his political activism and the work of UNIA in Jamaica, and then moved to London in 1935. -
Death
Marcus Garvey died in London in 1940 after several strokes. Due to travel restrictions during World War II, his body was interred in London. -
Remains
In 1964, his remains were exhumed and taken to Jamaica, where the government proclaimed him Jamaica's first national hero and re-interred him at a shrine in the National Heroes Park.