Marcus Garvey, Black Star Line SS Yarmouth


The SS Yarmouth was a steamship and the flagship of the Marcus Garvey initiative the Black Star Line. The Yarmouth was unofficially rechristened as the Frederick Douglass, the intention being to change her registration papers; however, this was not followed through, and she remained registered as the Yarmouth. The Black Star Line was a shipping line incorporated by Marcus Garvey, the organizer of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), and other members of the UNIA. The shipping line was created to facilitate the transportation of goods and eventually African Americans throughout the African global economy. It derived its name from the White Star Line, a line whose success Garvey felt he could duplicate. Black Star Line became a key part of Garvey's contribution to the Back-to-Africa movement. The Black Star Line and its successor, the Black Cross Navigation and Trading Company, operated between 1919 and 1922. It stands today as a major symbol for Garvey followers and African-Americans in search of a way to get back to their homeland. The BSL in its lifetime was to visit ports in Costa Rica, Cuba, Jamaica, Panama, and other countries; however, it was never to reach Africa.


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Photo credit: © Science History Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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