The History of the Black Liberation Flag

“Culture is a weapon in the face of our enemies" - Amílcar Cabral (He was one of Afrika's foremost anti-colonial leaders)

The Black liberation flag is the flag for all Afrikan people on the planet earth!!!!!!!!! It’s colors have meanings: Red represents the blood of Black people, Black represents Black people, and Green represents Mother Afrika. The Black Liberation flag supersedes all flags of the flags Afrikan people affiliates themselves with in the world, such as the Rainbow flag, the Jamaican flag , the Trinidadian flag, the American flag, the Canadian flag, the French flag, the English flag, the Spanish flag, all the Blood flags, all the CRIPS flags, the Dominican flag, the Mexican flag, the Brazilian flag, all Islamic flags, all Christians flags, and the Portuguese flag. Its purpose is to symbolize Black empowerment.

The Black Liberation flag was created by the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) movement. Garvey established the UNIA on July 15, 1914 in Jamaica. The Black liberation flag was founded on August 13, 1920 in New York City, New York.

He, Garvey, was born August 17, 1887 in Saint Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. During the 1800s and early 1900s, at this time in history, most of Afrika was under European colonialism. And most Afrikan people were just coming out of slavery. But In America, racist white people created segregation to continue their White supremacist subjugation of Black people. As a consequence of the oppression of people of Afrikan descent, Black people had no flag, land, or territory to claim for our own. Seeing the oppression of Afrikan people in Jamaica, and all over the world, at the hands of White supremacy and the system of racism, Garvey decided to do something to help our people on a massive level. Garvey created the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). It’s primary goal was dedicated at Black pride, Black economic self-sufficiency, and the formation of an independent Black nation in Afrika. In fact, the UNIA, to this date, is the largest Back to Afrikan movement in the history of the world. The teachings of the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, and the UNIA, resonated with millions of Black people all over the planet earth.

In 1915, the Honorable Marcus Garvey came to shores of America to meet the great Booker T. Washington-the founder of Tuskegee University. He quickly established the headquarters of the UNIA in Harlem, New York City. Garvey was inspired by the teachings and work of Booker T. Washington.

The respected Booker T. Washington was born in America’s inhuman and racist system of slavery. When he became an adult, he wrote a book about his experiences in American slavery from birth to adulthood called, Up From Slavery day in 1901.

Washington would eventually become a major leader in the Afrikan American community. He committed himself to Black liberation by establishing a school for Black people called the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. It is now called Tuskegee University. At the Tuskegee school, Booker T. Washington’s philosophy of Black empowerment through Industrial education was put into practice on a daily basis. Black people were trained at Tuskegee in skills such as, brick masonry, construction, civil engineering, carpentry, and farming.

Although some Black leaders at this time, such as Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, felt that Booker T. Washington was too comprising to the system of racism; that did not dissuade Garvey from wanting to work with Booker T. Washington.

Dr. Du Bois represented a growing number of Black people in America that believed that the system of racism must be challenged by direct civil protest. In fact, Dr. Du Bois was so passionate about directly struggling against racism, he published a book called, The Souls of Black Folks in 1903, that was critical of Booker T. Washington’s accommodationist stance in the system of racism.

But Garvey believed that the best way to help liberate Black people was Black independence from our dependence on White people.

Garvey was moved by Washington’s program for Black independence through industrial skills. Garvey believed that Washington’s program for Black self-reliance was the best way to help make Afrikan people free from the domination of White people.

Unfortunately, Washington died before he could meet up with one of the Afrikan American community’s greatest leaders. But that did not deter Garvey from forming a program for the empowerment of Afrikan people all over globe.

Through the UNIA, Garvey worked all his remaining life to rebuild oppressed Afrikan people and mother Afrika!!!!! Unfortunately, Garvey and the UNIA became a threat to white supremacy and the system of racism. The US government infiltrated his movement. They sabotaged Garvey’s program for Black empowerment. The US government trumped up charges against him and the UNIA. Eventually, the US government created a conviction of mail fraud to destabilize Garvey’s Pan-Afrikan nationalist teachings and the UNIA. The US government deported him back to Jamaica. But US government did not stop Garvey. He continue on with his Black empowerment movement in Jamaica. But some time later he left Jamaica to settle in London, England to fight on for Black empowerment.

In 1940 he died in London. But despite his death, Garvey, and the UNIA, laid a great example for the struggle for Black liberation to this day!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately, our Black youth have been intentionally miseducated on our Afrikan History and culture. Therefore, many of our people do know the history of the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, the UNIA movement, nor the true meaning of the Black liberation flag.

This is why for the next 10 years of my life, I am going hard on Afrocentricity. We must demand that Black people study Afrikan history and culture!!!!!!! We must help our people redevelop Afrikan centered consciousness for the next generation of Afrikan people for Black liberation. I am going on 51 years old! I am worried about my people, particularly, Black youth today!!!

In closing, please study our history!!! Use all cell phones and technology to find our history in the world!!!! But most importantly, read books on our Afrikan history and culture. Our history is more than just Hip Hop, rap music, elected officials, slavery, and colonialism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hotep!!!

Bashir Muhammad Akinyele
-History teacher / Chairperson of Weequachic High School’s Black History Month Committee in Newark, NJ

FYI: Spelling Afrika with a k is not a typo. Using the k in Afrika is the Kiswahili way of writing Africa. Kiswahili is an Pan -Afrikan language. It is spoken in many countries in Afrika.