The UNIA resists simple characterization as a back-to-Africa or Garvey movement

Evidence

It has never been possible to characterize the United Negro Improvement Association in precise terms. Its dominant ideology was eclectic: incorporating elements of Christianity, socialism, revolutionary nationalism, and race solidarity. As an organization; it exhibited a range of structures responsive to circumstance and personality. Responsibility for policyand decision-making varied as well. They were formed in accordance with ideological factors: the circumstance of situationally crucial individuals; the nature of the issues; and the momentary fortunes of the organization. Too, the organization did change over time, responding to the political and social significances of the interactions between itself and its social and political environment. Nevertheless, observers have most frequently typified the organization as ideologically a “back to Africa” movement; or for very different reasons, and with implicit organizational characterizations, as “the Garvey movement.” It was never quite so obviously simple. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1004

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines what the UNIA actually was by attacking the two common mischaracterizations; pertinent to understanding the Black radical tradition’s organizational expressions.