Garveyism in Idlewild, 1927 to 1936

Although the scholarship on Garveyism and the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) is well documented, there is a continuing need to learn more information about Garveyism in the United States. Because the current literature on the UNIA-ACL at the local level is rather scant, this article explores the origins and development of Garveyism in the Idlewild community to determine the extent to which other Michigan divisions, including the Detroit chapter, worked collectively for the general welfare of preserving the Idlewild community. This article concentrates on two significant stages of UNIA history in Idlewild in an attempt to rescue and reconstruct the community's identity. First, it focuses on the role small groups of Black middle-class residents played in organizing the division during the second decade of the community's history from 1927 to 1929. Second, it discusses the many challenges and successes the division encountered from 1929 to 1936.