Black History : Marcus Garvey's Personal Reading List

One-Hundredd

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MARCUS GARVEY’S PERSONAL READING LIST (researched and compiled by Clifford E. Onehundredd)7–14–2022

Marcus Garvey according to the book-- "Life And Lessons A Centennial Companion to The Marcus Garvey And Universal Negro Improvement Papers"; had a reading list consisting of multiple New Thought philosophies, some poetry books--which he himself was also a poet who wrote to inspire others and convey his ideas, Biographies, historical people he considered favorites like Napoleon Bonaparte, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, or folklore like the story of Pied Piper of Hamelin, and other works from various authors. Many of what Garvey read inspired his surge to universal business consciousness on Black prosperity and ultimately inspired him to form a mass movement towards national self-determination for African Americans in the early 20th century while employing thousands of Blacks at in the U.S. and abroad through the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Garvey was an avid reader and reinforced this in Lesson 1 of his School Of African Philosophy. The following list are a list of books Garvey personally read as cited in the book Life And Lessons. This reading list may continue to expand as there are other works by Marcus Garvey in which he cites other books he read or are a part of his personal library, for now this is what I've found. I'm thankful I was able to find these books after diligent searching. Marcus Garvey a British West Indies Jamaican is arguably the most influential most daring Black leader of the 20th Century, because of him later leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Bobby Seale, Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammad and others followed his influence.

1. "Elbert Hubbard's Scrap Book" (1923) {Garvey referenced in Lesson 1 of his School Of African Philosophy book Message To The People, which contained 21 Lessons}
2. "Vanity Fair" by William Makepeace Thackeray (1848) {Garvey's poem The Tragedy of White Injustice was inspired by this novel}
3. "The Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan (1678)
*4. "A Book Of Verses" by William Ernest Henley (1888) {This collection of poems was one Garvey's favorite books. The most famous "Invictus" poem by Henley inspired Garvey and was referenced in Lesson 1 of his School Of African Philosophy course. In A Book Of Verses the poem is found in Chapter 4 of the section Life And Death: Echoes.}
5. "Poems" by Walter Savage Landor {Garvey quotes one of Landor's poems "Leaf After Leaf Drops Off"-- in Lesson 6 of the School Of African Philosophy}
*6. "Up From Slavery : An Autobiography" by Booker T. Washington (1901) {Shortly after its publication Garvey read Washington's Autobiography. Later, Garvey modeled his self-made man image after Washington and later contacted Washington in 1914 to discuss building a school in Jamaica. Washington promised to help Garvey and encouraged Garvey to travel to the United States. In November 1915 Washington died before Garvey made it to the U.S. In 1916 Garvey traveled to 38 states to study the sociological, economical and political status of Blacks/African Americans of America.}
7. "My Bondage and My Freedom" (1855) by Frederick Douglass {Inspired by Frederick Douglass and his Autobiography, Garvey nicknamed the S.S. Yarmouth flag ship of the Black Star Line; the "S.S. Frederick Douglass"}
***8. "The Gospel Of Wealth" (1889) by Andrew Carnegie {Garvey was inspired by Carnegie's manifesto on free enterprise and being self made in society. He frequently praised Carnegie's creed for success and often told his followers that higher class status among Black people was essential and the most direct route to opportunities and individual rights. In the spirit of Carnegie he wrote "Be not deceived, wealth is strength, wealth is power, wealth is influence, wealth is justice, is liberty, is real human rights." --July 1935 Black Man London newspaper}
***9. "How To Win Friends And Influence People" by Dale Carnegie (first published in November 1936) {Dale Carnegie's book How To Win Friends And Influence People is his most famous work on self-help and remains a national best seller to this day with millions of copies sold. Dale Carnegie's book had a heavy influence on Garvey. Inspired, by 1937 shortly after the start of Garvey's course in his School Of African Philosophy, Carnegie's book became a national best seller with over half a million copies sold. Carnegie's New York Institute's course on business and professional leadership serves as a model for Garvey's own school for UNIA leaders. Both men advocated self-improvement, fundamentalism, and self-education. Both advocated moral conduct. Garvey's Lessons 9 and 18 were inspired by some of Carnegie's rhetoric on persuading others. He paraphrases Carnegie when he writes in Lesson 9 "Never approach anybody that you want to get anything out of or any good results from, in an offensive manner; to the contrary, win them with the perfect smile... the idea is to make friends and to get results."}
*10. "Poems of Progress and New Thought Pastels" (1909) by Ella Wheeler Wilcox [1850-1919] {Garvey was a fan of her work. He shared similar themes with her on race and self-reliance. She is considered one of his favorite poets and he collected a majority of her work. He liked her stand alone poem The Problem or The Black Man's Claim}
11."Poems of Pleasure" (1888) by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
*12. "The Heart of New Thought" (1902) by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
*13. "God and the Negro, synopsis of God and the Negro; or The Biblical record of the race of Man" by Alonzo Potter Burgess Holly
14. "From Superman to Man" by J.A. Rogers (1917)
15. "Politics" by Aristotle

16. "Aristotle"(1919, but originally published 1900) by Alfred Edward Taylor {Garvey was well versed in Aristotle and shortly after his imprisonment he requested his wife to send him a copy of the book}
17. "Republic" by Plato {Both of Plato's books Republic and Laws, influenced some of Garvey's insights in his essay Governing The Ideal State.}
18. "Laws" by Plato
19. "The Symposium" by Plato

20. "After Two Thousand Years: A Dialogue Between Plato and a Modern Young Man" by Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson (1930) {Garvey wrote Dialogues between father and son which he was inspired by this book's concept.}
21. "Don Quixote de la Mancha" by Miguel de Cervantes {written between 1605 and 1615 this satiric picaresque novel inspired Garvey and he paraphrases Cervantes in his speeches, writings and including his School Of African Philosophy. Cervantes was a Spanish poet, novelist, and playwright. Garvey's newspaper the Negro World translated languages of both French and Spanish as well}
22. "Poems Of Purpose" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1916)
23. "The Holy Bible"
24. "The Koran" or The Qu'ran

25. "Anti-Negro Propaganda in School Textbooks" by National Association for the Advancement of Colored People [NAACP] (1939) {The depiction of blacks in school texts was an important issue of members of the Garvey movement & was raised at the 1929 and 1934 UNIA conventions in Jamaica. citations; Daily Gleaner, Kingston August 15,1929, Black Man monthly magazine, London 1 No. 6 November 1934}
26. "Scott's Official History of the American Negro in the World War" (1919) by Emmett J. Scott
27. "Jesus Christ Had Negro Blood in His Veins: The Wonder of the Twentieth Century"(1901) by W. L. Hunter {The UNIA produced a film in 1925 called Black Man of Sorrows and depicted Mary as a Black Woman "the mother of our Lord" and Jesus as "the Black Man of Sorrows". A reader in 1926 of the Negro World newspaper wrote of a church in Algiers which represented "The Holy Mother as a Black African Woman. Although Garvey would later suggest in Lesson 6 on Christ in his School Of African Philosophy that Christ had the blood of all mankind and no particular race...Garvey would still maintain the possibility along with members of the UNIA that Mary the mother of Jesus was a Black Woman and Jesus Christ was a Black Man due to his previous reading of Hunter's book and multiple ideals surrounding the origins of the Black race.}
**28."Das Kapital"(1887 English version) or "Capital: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production" by Karl Marx
*29. "Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx (1850 English version) {Garvey-- in Lesson 17 of his School Of African Philosophy; speculated that Marx knew very little about Negroes (blacks) and wrote less about them. This would be disputed as Marx is cited in his work Das Kapital or Capital, as concerned about the status of Blacks and heavily criticized atrocities committed by colonial administrations. He also endorsed the abolition of slavery during the American Civil War and linked the fate of white working class members with Blacks. Garvey who read Das Kapital after Communist Manifesto would use some of these ideas in his own form in Lesson 21, but did not retract his previous analysis on Marx.}
30. "The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus" by Marcus Aurelius {In 1927 Garvey was inspired to parallel the title of his work Poetic Meditations Of Marcus Garvey after this Emperor's work..."}
31. "Speeches, Lectures, and Letters" (1863) by Wendell Phillips {Garvey's favorite out of this pamphlet, later book; was an oration on Toussaint L'Ouverture. This oration was spoken by George Tobias at a UNIA meeting in the Palace Casino on 135th Street and Madison Avenue in New York City in June 1919}
32. "The Origins of the World War" (2nd revised edition NY, Macmillan 1930) by Sidney Bradshaw Fay {Garvey previously declined to be drafted to the Army because he was physically unfit and had listed his occupation as a journalist.}
33. "Toussaint L'Ouverture: A Biography and Autobiography" (1863) by James Redpath {Garvey held the Haitian hero in high admiration. Toussaint was a martyr who incited insurrection in the 1790s and early 1800s against slavery and colonialism.}
34. "Thirty Years of Lynching in the United States, 1889-1918" (1919) by NAACP {Both the UNIA and NAACP were against lynching inflicted on Blacks in the United States}
*35. "Black Manhattan"(1930) by James Weldon Johnson {Garvey praised Black innovators like Maggie Walker, Madam C.J. Walker, Mrs. Annie Malone, Jesse Binga, Watt Terry and R.R Wright in his serialized autobiography. Garvey's widow Amy Ashwood confirmed in her memoir that Madam C.J. Walker was a huge supporter of the UNIA and made donations to the organization from some of her earnings. Garvey went on to read this book, McKay's novel and Negro Builders and Heroes.}
36."Home to Harlem" (1928 novel) by Claude McKay
37. "Negro Builders and Heroes" (1937) by Benjamin Brawley


38. "The Universal Ethiopian Hymnal" (1922) compiled by Arnold Josiah Ford {Arnold wrote many hymns including the Universal Ethiopian Anthem for the UNIA among many others he wrote for them. He published this book to which Garvey owned a copy. Arnold was a member of the musical corps of the British Royal Navy during World War 1.}

39. "The Kebra Nagast"

**40. “The Mis-Education of the Negro” (1933) by Carter G. Woodson
{In Marcus Garvey’s Course Of African Philosophy; Lesson 11: Man, He describes the education in America as a system designed to only benefit the creators of it and the very few minority, while subjugating the masses. He suggests the American educational system of his time was never designed to make all people equal at the same time. This suggests that the education system was designed to condition others to accept indoctrination. He suggests it was designed for the control and disadvantage of others to the extent the masses would not rise to equality, happiness and enjoy life equally.}

*41. "Propaganda" by Edward Bernays (1928) {In Lesson 16 of Garvey's Course Of African Philosophy he uses paraphrases some dialogue from Bernays that describes propaganda as a means of media manipulation}


And finally, self-help books on New Thought. These therapeutics were in Garvey's possession that influenced his ideals on success as he created the Lessons from the School Of African Philosophy. It was said that Garvey had consciousness centered on politics and metaphysics during his success. In metaphysics, Garvey was heavily intuitive and linked strongly to New Thought....;

**42. "Being And Becoming: A Book of Lessons in the Science of Mind Showing How to Find the Personal Spirit" (1920) by Fenwicke Lindsay Holmes {not to be confused with the 1926 book Science Of Mind written by his brother Ernest Holmes}
**43. "The Secret Of Success: A course in Nine Lessons" (1908) by William Walker Atkinson {commonly known simply as The Secret Of Success by W.W. Atkinson}
44. "Lessons in Living" (1911) by Elizabeth Towne
45. "Short Lessons In Divine Science" (1928) by Nona L. Brooks

46. "A-B-C of Truth: Thirty-Five Lessons for Beginners in New Thought Study" (1926) by Brown Landone
 
Last edited:
@Fine1952 @Destee
I AM PROUD TO ANNOUNCE MY READING LIST OF MARCUS GARVEY HAS BEEN FEATURED ON RADICAL READS . COM!!! HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE. IN JULY I SPENT A WEEK TRYING TO FIND ALL THE BOOKS HE READ AND AFTER DILIGENCE I BROUGH TO HIS READING LIST TO THE WORLD. CHECK THE WEBSITE OUT AND SEE THAT THEY FEATURED MY LIST AND GAVE CREDIT TO ME AT THE END OF THE LIST!!!☺️☺️☺️

 
Congrata! :hearts4:

@Fine1952 @Destee
I AM PROUD TO ANNOUNCE MY READING LIST OF MARCUS GARVEY HAS BEEN FEATURED ON RADICAL READS . COM!!! HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE. IN JULY I SPENT A WEEK TRYING TO FIND ALL THE BOOKS HE READ AND AFTER DILIGENCE I BROUGH TO HIS READING LIST TO THE WORLD. CHECK THE WEBSITE OUT AND SEE THAT THEY FEATURED MY LIST AND GAVE CREDIT TO ME AT THE END OF THE LIST!!!☺️☺️☺️

 
@Fine1952 @Destee
I AM PROUD TO ANNOUNCE MY READING LIST OF MARCUS GARVEY HAS BEEN FEATURED ON RADICAL READS . COM!!! HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE. IN JULY I SPENT A WEEK TRYING TO FIND ALL THE BOOKS HE READ AND AFTER DILIGENCE I BROUGH TO HIS READING LIST TO THE WORLD. CHECK THE WEBSITE OUT AND SEE THAT THEY FEATURED MY LIST AND GAVE CREDIT TO ME AT THE END OF THE LIST!!!☺️☺️☺️




Hi @One-Hundredd ... :cheerleader: :cheerleader:

This is wonderful! Thanks for sharing with us!

Yes, I checked out the site and saw your information so beautifully presented there ... :score:

You deserve it, great work!

Much Love, Peace and Continued Success!

:heart:

Destee
 
Hi @One-Hundredd ... :cheerleader: :cheerleader:

This is wonderful! Thanks for sharing with us!

Yes, I checked out the site and saw your information so beautifully presented there ... :score:

You deserve it, great work!

Much Love, Peace and Continued Success!

:heart:

Destee
Likewise thank you so very much. I'm just so grateful to be a part of this site because I can learn and expand in this community. Much success to you too Destee!!!:qqb023:
 

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