Born: 31 December 1895, Jamaica
Died: 25 July 1973
Country most active: International
Also known as: Amy Jacques
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women creator Allison Tyra’s book Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work.
Marcus Garvey married two women with a lot in common—both were Jamaican journalists named Amy, and both had their own accomplishments overshadowed by their more famous husband. Amy Ashwood was first, married from 1919 until their divorce in 1922, when Garvey married Amy Jacques. Although the first marriage was deeply dysfunctional, Ashwood and Garvey were better activists than spouses, co-founding, in 1914, the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which was the most influential anti-colonial organisation in Jamaica for decades. The same year, they co-founded the international Negro World newspaper, and Ashwood was also one of the first directors of UNIA’s shipping line, the Black Star Line. In the decades after their divorce, she became heavily involved in promoting African and diaspora arts and artists in addition to her pan-Africanist activism. Amy Jacques was also involved in Negro World from its inception in 1918, and she was a popular speaker who traveled both with her husband and independent of him. She also assumed interim leadership of UNIA when Garvey was convicted of mail fraud less than a year into their marriage. Despite her tireless support of him, he never showed any appreciation for her work, acknowledged her influence, or allowed her to take an official position of leadership in the UNIA.