Page 193 - Swann Galleries - Printed & Manuscript African Americana- Sale 2308 - March 21, 2013

349 ● GARVEY, MARCUS. Group of 22 flyers, pamphlets, programs etc for the
Universal Negro Improvement Association. Various sizes, condition varies. SHOULD
BE SEEN.
Vp, 1940’s-1960’s [800/1,200]
While Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) had lost the majority of his following and influence among
mainstream blacks, the movement continued both her in the United States as well as abroad in Great
Britain.
350 ● GARVEY, MARCUS. COOKS, CARLOS. BUY BLACK. Large silk banner,
approximately 5 x 8 feet, unfurled; some damage to one edge; needs conservation.
[New York City, circa 1930’s-1940’s [3,000/4,000]
AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE ARTIFACT FROM THE BLACK NATIONALIST MOVEMENT.Pan
Africanist Carlos Alexander Cooks was born in the Dominican Republic in 1913 and died in
New York’s Harlem in 1967. It was Cooks who urged African American communities to
“Buy Black” as a path to freedom through economic solvency. He is best known as the founder
of the African Nationalist Pioneer Movement, an offshoot of the UNIA. Cooks, who came to
the United States in 1929, came to prominence during the Ethiopian crisis, when he formed a
group within the UNIA called the “Black Shirts.” In response to Mussolini’s invasion of
Ethiopia, Cooks’ “Black Shirts tried to drive the Italians out of East Harlem. Following
Garvey’s deportation, Cooks became president of the UNIA Advance Division. Cooks was
expelled from the UNIA in 1948, but continued preaching black nationalism. He ran afoul of
the Nation of Islam when he accused them of “diluting” the black nationalist and pan-African
movements by the introduction of religion. Cooks could often be heard speaking on the corner of
125th Street and Seventh Avenue, a favorite spot for Harlem’s orators.
351 ● GARVEY, MARCUS. MCGUIRE, GEORGE ALEXANDER, M.D. Universal
Negro Catechism. A Course of Instruction in Religious and Historical
Knowledge Pertaining to the Race . . . 36 pages. Small 12mo, original printed pale green
wrappers; spine started but holding.
[New York], 1921 [800/1,200]
FIRST EDITION. Meant to be carried at all times by members of the U.N.I.A. Divided into
four parts: 1. Religious Knowledge (Garvey was a very devout Christian), 2. Historical
Knowledge (Garvey felt it was essential that the Negro understand his or her history and
accomplishments), 3. The Constitution and Laws of the U.N.I.A., and finally, 4. the
“Declaration of Independence.” This declaration, an affirmation of the self-sufficiency of the
race, no longer dependent on the “patronage” of the well-meaning white man, drove the likes of
J. Edgar Hoover crazy. A rare little booklet, OCLC locates only 3 copies. We know of two
more in private collections.