Amy Euphemia Jacques Garvey (31 December 1895 – 25 July 1973) was a Jamaican-born journalist and activist. She was the second wife of Marcus Garvey. She was one of the pioneering female Black journalists and publishers of the 20th century.
Early life
Amy Euphemia Jacques was born on 31 December 1895 in Kingston, Jamaica. As the eldest child of George Samuel and Charlotte Henrietta (née South) Jacques, she was raised in a middle-class home. Yvette Taylor, in her account of the life of Amy Jacques Garvey, refers to her as being "mulatta". Charlotte Henrietta was biracial, and George Samuel was a dark-skinned Black man. Taylor goes on to explain that her mixed race heavily influenced her upbringing. At a young age, Garvey was taught to play the piano and took courses in music appreciation because music and music appreciation were believed to be considered the "cultural finishing to a girl's education". Garvey was a part of a small minority of Jamaican youth to attend high school. She attended Wolmer's Schools.
AJ Garvey was urged by her father to read periodicals and newspapers to "enhance" her knowledge of the world. Upon graduating school and receiving some of the highest honors of the time, Garvey was recruited to work at a law firm. Her father initially said no, refusing to allow his daughter to work in an environment with males. George Samuel died that year, and the lawyer proceeding over his estate urged Charlotte Henrietta to allow Garvey to work in the clerical office so that she could control the estate. Charlotte agreed, and Garvey worked there for four years, where she ultimately gained knowledge of the legal system.
After four years of working for this company, Garvey migrated to the United States in 1917. She promised her employer and mother that she would return in three months if conditions in the U.S. were not suitable to her; however, Garvey did not return. Karen Adler, in her article chronicling Garvey's life, argues that she did not return because she was enthralled by Garveyism.
Adler says that Amy attended a conference being held by Marcus Garvey and was moved by his words, soon afterwards assuming the role of his private secretary and working alongside him and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). She also became involved with the publishing of the Negro World newspaper in Harlem from its inception in August 1918.
Marriage to Marcus Garvey
On July 27, 1922, several months after his previous marriage was severed, Marcus and Amy were married in Baltimore.
Jacques was said to have been Amy Ashwood's (Marcus Garvey's previous wife) chief bridesmaid in her wedding to Garvey. Ashwood attempted to have the second marriage annulled and failed, leaving Amy Jacques as Garvey's legitimate wife.
Garvey had two children in her marriage, Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. and Julius Winston Garvey born in 1930 and 1933 respectively.
Leadership of UNIA
Garvey was said to have been an excellent speaker, having toured the country with and without her husband. After making a return from their western tour, Marcus was scheduled to speak in New York and Amy was not a part of the program.
Even though she was not scheduled to speak at the event she was allowed to because of the mass outcry by the crowd Adler believes that Marcus Garvey failed to show any appreciation for his wife despite her growing fame in the public forum. Amy, however, did not pose an initial threat to Garvey. Given her strong beliefs in her position as his wife, and the structure of the organization, Amy took a back seat, as did other women in the UNIA . The grievances were made public at UNIA's national convention in 1922. Sexism found a means to thrive even in spite of UNIA's commitment to sexual equality. This being the case, women such as Amy Jacques Garvey found a way to become invaluable to the organization.
While supporting her husband's ambitions and the UNIA, Garvey began to focus on her own writings which made her known within the black community. In UNIA’s official newspaper, The Negro World, she’d have her own segment, “Our Women and What They Think”, where she touched on the struggles that Black Women in America face. As a Black feminist, she emphasized the importance of Black Women being educated in different aspects of life in order to have a brighter future for the next generation to live in a society where Black women aren’t seen as less than others. In writing about the newly discovered tomb of Tutankhamun in The Negro World, she argued against white, Western imperialistic views of history and showed the power and relevance of African history to African American communities.