It's Marcus Garvey's birthday. The UNIA he co-founded was a political home to Malcolm X's mother, Louise Little and his ideas influenced the work of people like Shirley Graham Du Bois, specifically her opera Tom Tom. But I want to talk about two women in his life. 
I doubt it's possible to reflect on the inclusion of women in Garvey's movement without the role his first wife, Amy Ashwood Garvey played. Ashwood Garvey cofounded the newspaper Negro World with her ex husband, Marcus and also went on to co-found UNIA.
After her separation from Garvey, she co-founded the International African Service bureau with CLR James and Jomo Kenyatta and others and would later organize the Pan African Congress in 1945 with Kwame Nkrumah. All these were in aide of anti-colonial struggles on the continent.
Apparently though she was separated from her husband she referred to herself as "The real Mrs Garvey". That's probably because of how angered she must have been that her friend and matron of honor at her wedding, Amy Jacques was in a relationship with Marcus. Wow, Marcus 👀
Amy Jacques Garvey was a journalist and member of the UNIA. She is actually behind Marcus' writings. She edited and refined his ideas. She wrote the book Garvey and Garveyism in which she explains Marcus' pan-African philosophy.
Marcus Garvey never had the chance to visit Africa even though he declared himself the continents Provincial president. But Amy Ashwood did. She was always interested in her family history having traced it back to Duaben thanks to her grandmother's oral history. Grandmothers 🙌🏾
Here she is at her homecoming reception in Juaben*, Ghana. We have Amy Ashwood to thank for her contribution pushing the Pan-Africanist movement to think about all facets of Black liberation (race, class, gender). Like the Nardal sisters she never allowed the exclusion of women.
Amy Jacques Garvey was a contributing editor of the Harlem-based journal & in the mid 40s when decolonization was gaining momentum she wrote A Memorandum Correlative of Africa, West Indies and the Americas in which she called on the UN to adopt an African Freedom Charter.
