Advocating the Dream: 7 notable mass gatherings of the Civil Rights Movement
UNIA Convention — 1920
The Universal Negro Improvement Association, a prominent early 20th century black advocacy group headed by Marcus Garvey, held its first convention in Liberty Hall, New York, in 1920.
Known as the First International Convention of the Negro Peoples of the World, the gathering featured parades in Harlem and had around 2,000 delegates representing over 20 countries.
The opening parade for the convention was then followed by a mass meeting held at Madison Square Garden, in which Garvey spoke to an audience of 25,000 people.
“The convention adopted the Declaration of Rights of the Negro People of the World, one of the world’s earliest and most comprehensive human rights documents,” according to PBS’ American Experience.
“Garvey ruled the convention floor with an iron hand. He engineered the election of his handpicked U.N.I.A. officers and his own election as ‘Provisional President of Africa.’”
