Inspired by the writings of Booker T. Washington, Jamaican-born Marcus Garvey became the most prominent Black Nationalist in the United States. He championed the back-to-Africa movement, advocated for black-owned businesses—he founded the Black Star Line, a transnational shipping company—and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Thousands of UNIA chapters formed all across the world. In 1921, Garvey recorded a message in a New York studio explaining the object of the UNIA.

"Fellow citizens of Africa, I greet you in the name of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League of the World. You may ask, “what organization is that?” It is for me to inform you that the Universal Negro Improvement Association is an organization that seeks to unite, into one solid body, the four hundred million Negroes in the world. To link up the fifty million Negroes in the United States of America, with the twenty million Negroes of the West Indies, the forty million Negroes of South and Central America, with the two hundred and eighty million Negroes of Africa, for the purpose of bettering our industrial, commercial, educational, social, and political conditions."

Based on the text, what were the main objectives of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) as stated by Marcus Garvey? Provide specific examples from the text to support your answer.

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5 hours ago

The main objectives of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), as articulated by Marcus Garvey in his recorded message, were to unite people of African descent across the globe and to improve their various socio-economic conditions.

  1. Unity Among People of African Descent: Garvey emphasized the need to unite "the four hundred million Negroes in the world," linking different populations such as "the fifty million Negroes in the United States of America" with those in the West Indies, South and Central America, and Africa. This objective highlights the importance of solidarity among Black individuals worldwide.

  2. Improvement of Socio-Economic Conditions: Garvey outlined the UNIA's goals in terms of improving the "industrial, commercial, educational, social, and political conditions" of people of African descent. This encompasses a wide range of areas that are essential for the upliftment and empowerment of Black communities.

These objectives illustrate Garvey's vision for a unified and economically self-sufficient African diaspora that could work towards advancing its collective interests on a global scale.