In the late 1910s and 1920s the United States was gripped by racial violence. As bad as it sounds, it was one of the worst situations of its time. Under these circumstances, the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) was founded by Marcus Garvey who wanted an enthusiastic organization of people of African descent worldwide. After the end of World War I, the movement was quick to mobilize African Americans to avoid integration for black nationalist goals. The campaign built on the Back to Africa movements of the late 1800s, which encouraged people of color to look to Africa as both an ancestral homeland and a hope for a better future. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The primary factor that distinguished the UNIA from other civil rights movements was their goal of conveying the message of believing in and being proud of one's identity and separation from white society. Since racial pride was an essential factor to consider, this movement also promotes the migration of Africans to the African continent. At its inception, the UNIA owned stores, restaurants, a printing plant, and other businesses primarily in the New York City area, and had introduced the Black Star Line, a shipping company created to trade with Africa and transport passengers to continent. Garvey's movement deteriorated after he was found guilty of mail fraud and spent two years in federal prison from 1925 to 1927. He was deported after his release from prison and sent to London, England, where he spent his final years of life. Although it had been the significant part of a mass movement in the early 1920s, the UNIA continued to deteriorate without Garvey, although it is still breathing in the twenty-first century. Garvey planned for African Americans to settle in Liberia and strengthen the African economy. This idea received more recognition in 1924 and particularly resonated with its supporters in Arkansas. Because the movement needed contributions to excel in its goals and achievements, Garvey asked for donations for colonization through the African Redemption Fund in 1924. He immediately received grants of fifteen dollars each from UNIA divisions in rural Arkansas. The journalists wrote to the black world expressing their conviction and hope for the reclamation of Africa. The Blytheville (Mississippi County) divisions of the UNIA sent two representatives to the 1924 Harlem International Convention to investigate the likelihood of a major party emigrating to Liberia. Garvey's impact expanded far beyond the communities that had organized the UNIA's divisions. The movement's newspaper, the Negro World, was being distributed throughout Arkansas' black community as early as 1919. The Negro World noted a man from Fort Smith (Sebastian County) as one of the paper's forty-two major distributors worldwide. When Garvey faced legal troubles and imprisonment, numerous letters, petitions, and telegrams from various locations poured into Washington D.C. and New York lending support to Garvey. The number of those who attended mass meetings in support of Garvey or signed petitions totaled 28,495 for Arkansas, a number higher than any other Southern state except Louisiana. Hundreds of contributions to Garvey's legal defense fund came to New York from Arkansas locations with and without divisions of the UNIA, and the grants ranged from five cents to a dollar. Most historians have dealt with the UNIA, with the. ,.