Black Star Line: A Study in Black Politics, Economics

Newswise — Studies of African Diaspora have traditionally focused on the retention of cultural and linguistic remnants in the lives of African-descended peoples.

A new book by an Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) professor broadens the field of African Diaspora studies by analyzing political and economical ties among African-descended populations living in the Americas, the Caribbean and West Africa in the early 1920s.

In "Black Star: African American Activism in the International Political Economy" IUPUI Professor Ramla Bandele offers an in-depth case study of the Black Star merchant marine as an example of a transnational political and economic project among the African Diaspora.

Published in fall 2008 by the University of Illinois Press, the book traces the rise and collapse of the Black Star shipping line (BSL,) a merchant marine which operated from 1919 to 1921, a time of global economic transition.

The Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), established by Jamaican-born Marcus Garvey became the first African American mass political organization, because so many black people were interested in nondiscriminatory transportation for business and personal travel. As a result, the UNIA sold Black Star shares to African descendants living in United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Africa. These stock sales raised about $750,000 to finance the shipping line which was to carry cargo and passengers between the Americas, the Caribbean and West Africa.

"The Black Start Line was the business venture that made UNIA and Marcus Garvey so popular," says Bandele. "Even though we know that there were political activities and economic activities in black communities around the world, this is one that just took off and almost made a revolutionary change in the opportunities for black people economically.

"They would sell stocks for $5 a share, which was pretty steep back in the day, but it wasn't so steep that people wouldn't take a risk on it.

"A lot of people invested in it. Some were nationalists who would naturally support the UNIA program. Some were business people who wanted reliable transportation for their exports; others wanted to leave the United States or the islands and go back to Africa because they were tired of the discrimination they faced. Some were just investors, black people who had learned about investments in New York, about Wall Street and the raising of money for World War I "¦"

In addition to discussing how discrimination played a role in both the rise and demise of the Black Star Line, Bandele, who teaches political science at IUPUI, also analyzes how political and trade treaties of the United States, Great Britain and Russia affected the Black Star and its operations. Her writing also offers a glimpse of the early activities of the (Federal) Bureau of Investigation, and dispels any notion that African American populations are monolithic politically or otherwise.