THIS DAY IN HISTORY: 10th January 1897 (by Amma Fosuah Poku) Amy Ashwood Garvey, Pan-Africanist activist and first wife of Marcus Garvey was born in Port Antonio, Jamaica. Amy Ashwood was a passionate Pan Africanist and political activist when she met Garvey in 1914 just before the founding of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and was an influential force in the UNIA in its early days organising a womens section, starting the UNIA newspaper, the Negro World, becoming a director of the Black Star Line Steamship Corporation, and working as an aide to Garvey. Amy Ashwood and Garvey married on 25th December 1919. However, the marriage broke down several months later and Garvey divorced her in 1922. There is a degree of controversy surrounding Amy Ashwood because of her divorce from Garvey, which she strenuously contested and never accepted. Amy Ashwood also felt a deep sense of betrayal by Garveys second wife, and her former friend former friend, Amy Jacques Garvey. Others, including Garvey felt that Amy Ashwood was cashing in on the Garvey name. Nonetheless, Amy Ashwood was very much a political activist in her own right, engaging in political organisation in London, England, where she lived on and off until 1960, the Caribbean, the United States and Africa. After her divorce from Garvey, Amy Ashwood immersed herself in political activity. Whilst in London she co-founded the Nigerian Progress Union with Ladipo Solanke, an organisation that campaign for better welfare for African students in London, and progressive changes in in Africa. Amy Ashwood supported Solanke and others when they unified individual groups of African students into a single entity, the West African Students Union. She also helped to establish the International African Service Bureau (IASB), initially set up as the International African Friends of Abyssinia (IAFA) when Italy invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935. The group initially campaign against the invasion and illegal occupation of Abyssinia but widened its voice to oppose colonial occupation throughout the African continent. In 1944 Amy Ashwood travelled to New York, where she joined the West Indies National Council and the Council on African Affairs. She also campaigned for Adam Clayton Powell Jr., who became the first black Congressman from New York State when he was elected. In 1945 Amy Ashwood was one of the organisers of the historical 5th Pan African Congress, chairing the first session. Soon after, she moved to live in Liberia, staying for three years. Amy Ashwood also attended independence celebrations in Ghana in 1957 returning to London shortly after where she founded the London Afro-Womens Centre “to answer the long-felt need of the Coloured Woman for spiritual, cultural, social and political advancement”. She also founded the Association for the Advancement of Coloured People whose secretary was Claudia Jones. Amy Ashwood commenced travels again in 1960, returning to Africa to pursue business interests as a means to support her political activities. Unfortunately, the business ventures were not successful and Amy Ashwood finally settled in her native Jamaican where she passed away in 1969. In 2008 Tony Martin published a book “Amy Ashwood Garvey: Pan-Africanist, Feminist and Mrs. Marcus Garvey No. 1 or a Tale of Two Armies”. He features in the following video along with fellow historians and activists Nzingha Assata, Ama Biney, Colin Prescod talking about the contribution of Amy Ashwood. The video is produced by Sons of Malcolm TV: https://youtube/watch?v=aYSkNCo1EqE
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 07:16:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015