The African Liberation Movement: Garvey, Padmore, and Fanon

This thesis assesses the careers of three Caribbean-born race leaders: Jamaicäs Marcus Garvey, Trinidad¿s George Padmore, and Martinique¿s Frantz Fanon. In doing so, it highlights the tricontinental nature of the African liberation movement and traces the major themes of the movement from the end of World War I to the early 1960s. The prominent ideologies of each of these figures are discussed, and special attention is paid to the manner in which their ideas diverged from one another and from their dissenting contemporaries. The evolution of Pan-Africanism, black nationalism, and African Socialism will be highlighted. Special attention will be paid to Garvey¿s Universal Negro Improvement Association and its Back-to-Africa platform, Padmore's formulation of non-violent positive action and Marxism in an African context, and Fanon's thoughts about violence in the colonial context. Contemporary sources will be drawn from in the conclusion to address the relative success of the three men in light of more recent history.