Amy Jacques Garvey

Amy Euphemia Jacques Garvey (31 December 1895 – 25 July 1973) was a journalist, feminist, and race activist.

Amy Jacques Garvey
Garvey with her husband, Marcus, in 1922
Occupation	Journalist

In 1918, she started working in the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA). and became Marcus Garvey’s personal secretary. She later became the office manager at U.N.I.A. headquarters in 1920. Two years later, in July 1922, Amy Jacques and Marcus Garvey married, following his divorce from Amy Ashwood. Jacques was dedicated to spreading information on the principles (principles - a basic law or truth on which action or behavior is based) and philosophies (philosophy - a way of thinking about the world, the universe, and society) of race and self-reliance (self-reliance - relying on your own abilities and resources instead of someone else's).

On June 21, 1922, her husband was convicted of mail fraud and sent to prison. During this time, Jacques took leadership of the U.N.I.A. and acted as his personal representative. She rallied (rallied - to call people together for a common effort) to his defense, made speeches to U.N.I.A. branches, and met with U.N.I.A. officers and public officials. Marcus Garvey had asked Jacques to edit two volumes of his Philosophy and Opinions and to distribute them to members of the United States Congress, so in 1923, Jacques published Volume One of The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey. Volume Two came out in 1925. She additionally became the associate editor of the U.N.I.A.’s newspaper and created a page called “Our Women and What They Think." This section had information on the status of women and profiles of black female leaders/historical figures. With these publications, she raised money for her husband’s legal defense. However, Marcus Garvey was deported (deported - to force someone who is not a citizen to leave the country) and had to go back to Jamaica. Jacques returned with him and their children, Marcus Garvey Jr. and Julius Garvey. She still continued to contribute to the U.N.I.A.’s newspaper, and wrote about her impressions of England, France, and Germany as she toured the countries with her husband.

After her husband’s death in 1940, she continued to fight for African independence and became a contributing editor to the African, a black nationalist (nationalist - strongly identifying with their own nation) journal. She also started the African Study Circle of the World in Jamaica in the 1940s and published the book Garvey and Garveyism in 1963. Amy Jacques Garvey died on July 25, 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica, the same place where she was born.