The Black Star Line was a shipping line incorporated by Marcus Garvey, who organized the UNIA (United Negro Improvement Association). It was one among many businesses which the UNIA originated such as the Universal Printing House, Negro Factories Corporation, and the widely distributed and highly successful Negro World newspaper. The Black Star Line and its successor, the Black Cross Navigation and Trading Company, operated between 1919 and 1922. The Black Star Line stands today as a major symbol for Garvey followers and African Americans in search of a way to get back to their homeland. It has been immortalized in song by blues singers Hazel Meyers and Rosa Henderson, as well as the musical group Brand Nubian. The shipping line was supposed to involve the transportation of goods and eventually African Americans throughout the African global economy. Marcus Garvey (far right) in parade The Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey, National Hero of Jamaica, (August 17, 1887 – June 10, 1940) was a publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, crusader for black nationalism, and founder of the UNIA-ACL. He was born in Jamaica. ... The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA) is, according to its 1929 constitution, a social, friendly, humanitarian, charitable, educational, institutional, constructive and expansive society, and is founded by persons desiring to the utmost to work for the general uplift of the people of African ancestry of the... Another of Marcus Garveys venturess was the Negro Factories Corporation, which sought to, build and operate factories in the big industrial centres of the United States, Central America, the West Indies and Africa to manufacture every marketable commodity. ... Weekly newspaper published by Marcus Mosiah Garvey during the 1920s and 30s. ... The successor of the Black Star Line ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Brand Nubian is a hip hop group from New Rochelle, New York. ...

The Black Star Line started in Delaware on June 23, 1919. Having a maximum capitalization of $500,000, BSL stocks were sold at UNIA conventions at five dollars each. The company's losses were estimated to be between $630,000 and $1.25 million. Official language(s) None Capital Dover Largest city Wilmington Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 49th 6,452 km² 48 km 161 km 21. ... June 23 is the 174th day of the year (175th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 191 days remaining. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA) is, according to its 1929 constitution, a social, friendly, humanitarian, charitable, educational, institutional, constructive and expansive society, and is founded by persons desiring to the utmost to work for the general uplift of the people of African ancestry of the...

The Black Star Line did surprise all its critics when, only three months after being incorporated, the first of four ships, the SS Yarmouth was purchased with the intention of it being rechristened the "Frederick Douglass." The Yarmouth was a coal boat during the First World War, and was in poor condition when purchased by the Black Star Line. Once reconditioned, the Yarmouth proceeded to sail for three years between the U.S. and the West Indies as the first Black Star Line ship with an all-black crew and a black captain. Later Joshua Cockburn, the captain of the Yarmouth, was accused of receiving a "kick back from the purchase price". Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American abolitionist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer. ... Combatants Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead: 5 million Civilian deaths: 3 million Total of dead: 8 million Military dead: 4 million Civilian deaths: 3 million Total dead: 7 million The First...

Photo of Yarmouth, one of the ships in the Black Star Liner Fleet

The SS Yarmouth wasn't the only ship to be purchased in poor conditions and to be completely oversold. Garvey spent another $200,000 for more ships. One, the SS Shadyside, sailed the "cruise to nowhere" on the Hudson River one summer and sank the next fall because of a leak many thought to be sabotage. Another was a steam yacht once owned by Henry Huttleston Rogers. Booker T. Washington had been an honored guest aboard the ship when it was owned by his friend and confidant, Rogers, and was known as the Kanawha. However, Rogers had died in 1909, and the once well-maintained yacht had also served in the first World War. Renamed by the Black Star Line the S.S. Antonio Maceo), it blew a boiler and killed a man off the Virginia coast on its first voyage from New York to Cuba, and had to be towed back to New York. Image File history File links BLACK_STAR_LINER.JPG Photo of one of the Black Star Liner Fleet File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links BLACK_STAR_LINER.JPG Photo of one of the Black Star Liner Fleet File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... View of the Hudson in the 1880s showing Jersey City The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk in Mahican, is a river running mainly through New York State but partly forming the boundary between the states of New York and New Jersey. ... Henry Huttleston Rogers (January 29, 1840 – May 19, 1909), was a United States capitalist, businessman, industrialist, financier, and philanthropist. ... Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) was an African American political leader, educator and author. ... This biographical article needs to be wikified. ... A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated under pressure. ...

Besides oversold, poorly conditioned ships, Black Star Line was beset by corruption of management and infiltration by agents of J. Edgar Hoover's Bureau of Investigation (the forerunner to the FBI). The first commission for the Yarmouth was to haul whiskey from the U.S. to Cuba before Prohibition. Although the ship made it in record time, it did not have docking arrangements, so it lost money sitting in the docks of Cuba while longshoremen had a strike. A cargo-load of coconuts rotted in the hull of a ship on another voyage because Garvey insisted on having the ships make ceremonial stops at politically important ports. Hoover in 1961 John Edgar Hoover KBE (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was the founder of the FBI in its present form and its director from May 10, 1924 until his death in 1972. ... The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... Whisky (or whiskey) is an alcoholic beverage distilled from grain, often including malt, which has then been aged in wooden barrels. ... Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol. ... A stevedore is a person who works at loading or unloading a ship. ... Binomial name Cocos nucifera L. The Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera), is a member of the Family Arecaceae (palm family). ...

The Black Star Line ceased sailing in February of 1922. It still serves as a considerable accomplishment for African Americans of the time, up to today, despite the thievery by employees, engineers who overcharged, and the Bureau of Investigation's deliberate acts of infiltration and sabotage.