Black Nationalism

Black nationalism (BN) advocates a racial definition (or redefinition) of black national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different black nationalist philosophies but the principles of all black nationalist ideologies are 1) black unity, and 2) black self-determination/political, social and economic independence from White society. Martin Delany is considered to be the grandfather of black nationalism. Inspired by the apparent success of the Haitian Revolution, the origins of black nationalism in political thought lie in the 19th century with people like Marcus Garvey, Elijah Muhammad, Henry McNeal Turner, Martin Delany, Henry Highland Garnet, Edward Wilmot Blyden,Paul Cuffe, etc. The repatriation of black American slaves to Liberia or Sierra Leone was a common black nationalist theme in the 19th century. Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association of the 1910s and 1920s was the most powerful black nationalist movement to date, claiming 11 million members.