ABSTRACT
Consciousness of Africa, if not coeval, certainly existed very early in the development of the Afro-american community in Harlem. This consciousness grew almost as rapidly as the community itself expanded. From the few occupants of two houses on 134th Street west of Fifth Avenue in 1900, this unique community had grown by 1920 into a city within the City of New York. Consciousness of their ancestral homeland has been historically evident from the first arrivals when some of these Africans, brought as slaves into the Americas, killed themselves believing that they would thereby return to Africa. Harlem had become considerably Africa conscious and this consciousness was soon to build the movement which was carried to great heights of mass emotion, widespread projection, and stupendous endeavor by the skillful propagandist and promoter, Marcus Garvey. Marcus Garvey veered toward the more extreme forms of empire building, unlimited individual control, and unrestrained racism.
