The Veiled Garvey: The life and Times of Amy Jacques Garvey, written by Ula Taylor, is a piece of work that is very ambitious. Ula Taylor sets out to conquer a great feat. Taylor tries to conceptualize Jacques Garvey in the Pan- Africanist movement, as well in the feminist’s movement of the early 1900’s. This is a very difficult goal for Taylor to try to achieve simply because Jacques Garvey is such a complex individual, with many changing viewpoints. Her life grows more complicated by the lack of knowledge about her life before she was introduced to Marcus Garvey, in fact, the introduction of Marcus Garvey, further complicates the story of Jacques Garvey. Taylor tackles many themes in her work, from racism and classism to feminism and culturalism.
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Taylor suggests that Jacques Garvey was influential in the UNIA movement and put together both feminism thought and the ideology and thought of Marcus Garvey. Taylor suggests that she does this in order to consider herself a feminist and also a dutiful wife. Taylor writes, “Occasionally Jacques Garvey’s personal decisions did taint her theory… by placing the UNIA’s nationalist ideas within a feminist Paradigm Jacques Garvey was able to keep her husband at the center of her world” (87). This is not only contradictory but it greatly calls the credibility of Jacques Garvey’s life as an activist. As a feminist, how is that she could still be a feminist yet her husband is the center of her world. Basic feminist thought consists of a woman being just as capable as a man to be intellection and speak her mind. However, here it seems that Jacques Garvey is thinking about her husband first and her and her thoughts last. It seems that she did this for much of her life after she met Marcus Garvey. This weaknesses the idea that Jacques Garvey was a feminist because many of her thoughts were as a result of her husband, and it doesn’t seem that she was able to express her true thoughts about feminism. Also, Taylor makes it clear that many of the ideas Jacques …show more content…
She tries to conceptualize and even romanticize the life of Amy Jacques Garvey. This mission is difficult, and some may even argue that Taylor fails in this mission, simply because Jacques Garvey was a complex figure. Her legacy, largely unknown to most, because there is not enough information known about Jacques Garvey’s earlier years, and how this all contributed to her thoughts on her later work with the UNIA and the feminist movement. Taylor’s central theme of community feminism says as much about Taylor herself, as it says about Amy Jacques Garvey. Ula Taylor tries to fit a narrative onto Jacques Garvey, most likely based on her own thoughts about feminism and race, in order to introduce the world to an individual who has largely gone unnoticed in mainstream black historical thought. The book gives insight not only on how Amy Jacques Garvey supposedly felt about a variety of issues, but it also says much about Taylors views of feminism. The reader may interpret Taylors thoughts about feminism and race based on the information that she chooses to speak about in this book. For example, on the cover of the book she not only has a picture of Jacques Garvey, she has a picture of Marcus Garvey. The picture of Marcus Garvey is first. Ula Taylor may personally believe that feminist are supposed to support their husband’s position and role in the world. She may firmly believe in the idea of community feminism,
Taylor suggests that Jacques Garvey was influential in the UNIA movement and put together both feminism thought and the ideology and thought of Marcus Garvey. Taylor suggests that she does this in order to consider herself a feminist and also a dutiful wife. Taylor writes, “Occasionally Jacques Garvey’s personal decisions did taint her theory… by placing the UNIA’s nationalist ideas within a feminist Paradigm Jacques Garvey was able to keep her husband at the center of her world” (87). This is not only contradictory but it greatly calls the credibility of Jacques Garvey’s life as an activist. As a feminist, how is that she could still be a feminist yet her husband is the center of her world. Basic feminist thought consists of a woman being just as capable as a man to be intellection and speak her mind. However, here it seems that Jacques Garvey is thinking about her husband first and her and her thoughts last. It seems that she did this for much of her life after she met Marcus Garvey. This weaknesses the idea that Jacques Garvey was a feminist because many of her thoughts were as a result of her husband, and it doesn’t seem that she was able to express her true thoughts about feminism. Also, Taylor makes it clear that many of the ideas Jacques …show more content…
She tries to conceptualize and even romanticize the life of Amy Jacques Garvey. This mission is difficult, and some may even argue that Taylor fails in this mission, simply because Jacques Garvey was a complex figure. Her legacy, largely unknown to most, because there is not enough information known about Jacques Garvey’s earlier years, and how this all contributed to her thoughts on her later work with the UNIA and the feminist movement. Taylor’s central theme of community feminism says as much about Taylor herself, as it says about Amy Jacques Garvey. Ula Taylor tries to fit a narrative onto Jacques Garvey, most likely based on her own thoughts about feminism and race, in order to introduce the world to an individual who has largely gone unnoticed in mainstream black historical thought. The book gives insight not only on how Amy Jacques Garvey supposedly felt about a variety of issues, but it also says much about Taylors views of feminism. The reader may interpret Taylors thoughts about feminism and race based on the information that she chooses to speak about in this book. For example, on the cover of the book she not only has a picture of Jacques Garvey, she has a picture of Marcus Garvey. The picture of Marcus Garvey is first. Ula Taylor may personally believe that feminist are supposed to support their husband’s position and role in the world. She may firmly believe in the idea of community feminism,