Black Star: African American Activism in the International Political Economy

Preface

Preface How can a denigrated racial group with minimal resources participate in international politics and make even minimal progress toward their goals? I am fascinated that black activists over the course of two centuries have tried to work with similarly situated African-descended populations outside of Africa, as well as tried to link with the perceived African homeland, which is, broadly speaking, West Africa. I have sought to find an empirical methodology to objectively study how these somewhat disparate communities form coalitions and commit scarce resources to transnational political activism. One might argue that historical studies such as those of the Du Boisian pan-African conferences explain such activism. But conferences are not the same as activism, and therefore do not explain coalitions that implement projects or strategies to attain a specific political or economic improvement. My research uncovered a useful conceptualization that could facilitate my empirical research of this subject. I found that the amorphous concept African diaspora afforded me the basic building block of a model that could clearly diagram the politically active “sister” communities within the diaspora and their counterparts in Africa. This concept was enhanced by insightful information about the African diaspora in particular. These findings were the foundation for my own definition and model for exploring the why and how of African diaspora politics. My model was further calibrated by conjoining diaspora theory to an institutionalist political economy approach , which insured a focus on political activity and economic activity relevant to diaspora activism. A full discussion of my model is in the first x . preface chapter, as is my definition of the diaspora concept and the African diaspora in particular. The goal of this study is to test the robustness of my model in the study of African American transnational politics. To accomplish this, it was necessary to find a case wherein the transnational character of the political activities was clearly present. And the case had to be completed, that is to say, the political project had been initiated and played out to a definitive end point. Finally, the episode had to be reasonably documented by scholarly historiography, memoirs, government documents, and other archival materials. The Universal Negro Improvement Association’s (UNIA) 1919 merchant marine project, known as the Black Star Line, fit all these criteria. Why? Because it was a historic episode that is reasonably well documented. The Black Star Line (BSL) began in 1919 and was officially ended in March 1922, when its stock was removed from the market. It was launched in a dynamic political period for African Americans, in the interwar period in an American economy that was in the midst of metamorphosis from reliance on agrarian exports to industrial domination. It unfolded in a politically competitive and diverse activist era, where ideological loyalty by black activists usually followed intense commitment to black survival. As a result, there is data on the Black Star Line from every conceivable ideological view. And that wealth of information made it ideal to study the interaction of black activists and ordinary people across national borders as they tried to make the Black Star Line operable, a cornerstone to the UNIA’s twin goals to develop a black enclave economy and ultimately a black nation-state in West Africa. So it is important to recognize that although UNIA research has focused on Marcus Garvey, the founder and president of the organization, this study focuses on the Black Star Line, the UNIA’s most popular and successful program . This study does not look at the UNIA in its entirety nor is it a comparative study of the UNIA with other black organizations throughout the interwar era. Rather, this work seeks to study the life of the BSL and learn how black people supported, operated, and funded it and how these activists were perceived and countered by contemporary black organizations and “host” nation-states, especially the U.S. and Britain. Theorizing that the diaspora concept would be useful in framing the study, I pulled together relevant political research on it. This helped me to develop a model of the African diaspora in which the BSL operated. I applied my model to analyze the BSL effort, which existed from August 1919 until March 1922. I found that my model was robust and the study uncovered significant findings preface · xi about transnational black activism. One of the most important findings was the probable reason for ongoing diaspora politics...