Editing Marcus Garvey (section)

===Moving to the United States: 1916–1918===

[[File:Flag of the UNIA.svg|thumb|right|The UNIA flag, a tricolour of red, black, and green. According to Garvey, the red symbolises the blood of martyrs, the black symbolizes the skin of Africans, and the green represents the vegetation of the African land.{{sfnm|1a1=Cronon|1y=1955|1p=67|2a1=Cashmore|2y=1983|2p=160|3a1=Barrett|3y=1997|3p=143|4a1=Grant|4y=2008|4pp=214–215}}]]

Arriving in the United States, Garvey initially lodged with a Jamaican expatriate family living in [[Harlem]], a largely black area of New York City.{{sfnm|1a1=Martin|1y=1983|1pp=38–39|2a1=Grant|2y=2008|2pp=72–73}} He began lecturing in the city, hoping to make a career as a public speaker, although at his first public speech he was heckled and fell off the stage.{{sfn|Grant|2008|pp=77–79}} From New York City, he embarked on a U.S. speaking tour, crossing 38 states.{{sfnm|1a1=Cronon|1y=1955|1p=40|2a1=Martin|2y=1983|2p=39|3a1=Grant|3y=2008|3p=80}} At stopovers on his journey he listened to preachers from the [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]] and the [[National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.|Black Baptist]] churches.{{sfn|Grant|2008|p=83}} While in Alabama, he visited the Tuskegee Institute and met with its new leader, [[Robert Russa Moton]].{{sfn|Grant|2008|pp=83–84}} After six months traveling across the U.S. lecturing, he returned to New York City.{{sfnm|1a1=Martin|1y=1983|1p=42|2a1=Grant|2y=2008|2p=86}}

In May 1917, Garvey launched a New York branch of UNIA.{{sfnm|1a1=Cronon|1y=1955|1p=42|2a1=Hart|2y=1967|2p=222|3a1=Martin|3y=1983|3p=46|4a1=Grant|4y=2008|4p=87}} He declared membership open to anyone "of Negro blood and African ancestry" who could pay the 25-cents-a-month membership fee.{{sfn|Grant|2008|p=117}} He joined many other speakers who made speeches on the street, standing on step-ladders;{{sfnm|1a1=Martin|1y=1983|1p=46|2a1=Grant|2y=2008|2pp=88–89}} he often did so at Speakers' Corner on [[135th Street (Manhattan)|135th Street]].{{sfn|Grant|2008|p=90}} In his speeches, he sought to reach across to both [[Afro-Caribbean people|Afro-Caribbean]] migrants like himself and native [[African Americans]].{{sfn|Grant|2008|p=91}} Through this, he began to associate with [[Hubert Harrison]], who was promoting ideas of black self-reliance and racial separatism.{{sfnm|1a1=Martin|1y=1983|1p=43|2a1=Grant|2y=2008|2pp=91–93}} In June, Garvey shared a stage with Harrison at the inaugural meeting of the latter's Liberty League of Negro-Americans.{{sfnm|1a1=Cronon|1y=1955|1p=41|2a1=Grant|2y=2008|2p=93}} Through his appearance here and at other events organized by Harrison, Garvey attracted growing public attention.{{sfn|Grant|2008|p=93}}

After [[United States in World War I|the U.S. entered the First World War]] in April 1917, Garvey initially signed up to fight but was ruled physically unfit to do so.{{sfn|Grant|2008|pp=96–97}} He later became an opponent of African-American involvement in the conflict, following Harrison in accusing it of being a "white man's war".{{sfn|Grant|2008|p=98}} In the wake of the [[East St. Louis Race Riots]] in May to July 1917, in which white mobs targeted black people, Garvey began calling for armed self-defense.{{sfn|Grant|2008|pp=98–100}} He produced a pamphlet, ''The Conspiracy of the East St Louis Riots'', which was widely distributed; proceeds from its sale went to victims of the riots.{{sfnm|1a1=Martin|1y=1983|1p=45|2a1=Grant|2y=2008|2p=102}} The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|Bureau of Investigation]] began monitoring him, noting that in speeches he employed more militant language than that used in print; it for instance reported his expressing the view that "for every Negro lynched by whites in the South, Negroes should lynch a white in the North."{{sfn|Grant|2008|p=104}}

By the end of 1917, Garvey had attracted many of Harrison's key associates in his Liberty League to join UNIA.{{sfn|Grant|2008|p=105}} Garvey also secured the support of the journalist [[John Edward Bruce]], agreeing to step down from the group's presidency in favor of Bruce.{{sfn|Grant|2008|pp=105–106}} Bruce then wrote to Dusé Mohamed Ali to learn more about Garvey's past. Mohamed Ali responded with a negative assessment of Garvey, suggesting that he simply used UNIA as a money-making scheme. Bruce read this letter to a UNIA meeting and put pressure on Garvey's position.{{sfnm|1a1=Cronon|1y=1955|1p=43|2a1=Grant|2y=2008|2p=108}} Garvey then resigned from UNIA, establishing a rival group that met at [[Old Fellows Temple]].{{sfn|Grant|2008|p=108}} He also launched legal proceedings against Bruce and other senior UNIA members, with the court ruling that UNIA's name and membership—now estimated at 600—belonged to Garvey, who resumed control over the organization.{{sfn|Grant|2008|pp=108–109}}