When Jamaican-born social activist Marcus
Garvey came to the United States in 1916, he
arrived at precisely the right historical moment.
What made the moment right was the return of
(5) African American soldiers from the First World War
in 1918, which created an ideal constituency for
someone with Garvey's message of unity, pride,
and improved conditions for African American
communities.
(10) Hoping to participate in the traditional American
ethos of individual success, many African American
people entered the armed forces with enthusiasm,
only to find themselves segregated from white
troops and subjected to numerous indignities. They
(15) returned to a United States that was as segregated
as it had been before the war. Considering similar
experiences, anthropologist Anthony F. C. Wallace
has argued that when a perceptible gap arises
between a culture's expectations and the reality of
(20) that culture, the resulting tension can inspire a
revitalization movement: an organized, conscious
effort to construct a culture that fulfills long
standing expectations.
Some scholars have argued that Garvey created
(25) the consciousness from which he built, in the
1920s, the largest revitalization movement in
African American history. But such an argument
only tends to obscure the consciousness of
identity, strength, and sense of history that already
(30) existed in the African American community. Garvey
did not create this consciousness; rather, he gave
this consciousness its political expression.