“No Surrender”

Abstract

British West Indian migrants spread Garveyism across the circum-Caribbean in the late 1910s and early 1920s. Indeed, the organization was particularly important for those women and men who found themselves on the move. A core tenant and achievement of the United Negro Improvement Association was its portability and reliability. While spreading a powerful message of black racial uplift, Garveyites built an association that afforded members concrete benefits measurable in their day-to-day lives. Garveyism offered a degree of social capital for migrant laborers, as well as communities and networks that eased the impact of their move. This chapter examines the mechanics of this process in Cuba.