1920 – UNIA Convention in Liberty Hall, Jamaica

On June 15, 1920, Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) held a major meeting at Liberty Hall in Kingston, Jamaica, laying the groundwork for the first International Convention of the Negro Peoples of the World. Though more famous for its later Harlem events, the groundwork in Jamaica was foundational. Garvey’s vision of Pan-African unity and economic independence reverberated across the diaspora, linking Caribbean, African, and African American communities. The event also galvanized support for the Black Star Line, a shipping company meant to foster Black commerce globally. Garvey\’s message of racial pride, self-determination, and global Black unity ignited movements across Africa and the Americas. This Jamaica meeting represented a turning point in organizing a structured, transnational Black consciousness that influenced both civil rights and African independence movements in the decades to follow.