Organization founded by Marcus Garvey in 1914.
Organized in Jamaica, it was influential in urban African American neighbourhoods in the U.S. after Garvey's arrival in New York City in 1916. It was dedicated to racial pride, economic self-sufficiency, and the formation of an independent black nation in Africa. After Garvey's 1923 conviction on charges of fraud, the UNIA lost influence, but it proved to be a forerunner of black nationalism .