Standing Ovation
By 1893, she established her own entertainment company, which produced plays about Dessalines and the Haitian Revolution and the dramatization of certain novels.
Her work was highly praised by notable Black men such as Booker T. Washington, Bishop Henry Turner, Ira Aldridge, and, of course, Frederick Douglass.
During her career, she would always take time to raise money for Black ministries across the country.
While traveling in the Caribbean, she learned of the incredible work and vision of Marcus Garvey and got an opportunity to meet him.
During their meetings, Marcus Garvey managed to convince Henrietta to forsake her stage career to become a missionary for African redemption!
In 1919, Henrietta made the life-changing decision to give up her successful career to work with Garvey and the UNIA-ACL. When our sister made her mind up to work directly for the general uplift and improvement of all African people, she was 60 years old!
The Impact of Henrietta Vinton Davis
Marcus Garvey invited her to speak at the Palace Casino in New York. Because of her celebrity, wherever she spoke, she would pack the house and put her whole soul behind every word. By June 7, 1919, she became the UNIA-ACL’s first International Organizer, Director of the Black Star Line, and the second Vice-President of the Corporation.
At the first UNIA-ACL International Convention in August 1920, she was one of the original signers of ‘The Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World.’ During the convention, the High Potentate of the UNIA bestowed upon her the title “Lady Commander of the Sublime Order of the Nile.” The convention voted to pay her $6,000 annually.
Women of the UNIA felt that they were not fully represented and wanted to function without restrictions. Henrietta, made sure that resolutions were adopted within the constitution to protect women’s rights.
In 1921, Lady Henrietta rose to the rank of 4th Assistant President-General of the UNIA-ACL. The ripe fruit of her work established divisions all across the U.S., Cuba, Guadeloupe, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, Port-au-Prince-Haiti, Trinidad, Honduras, Tobago, and Costa Rica.
Black Cross Nurses
In 1921, Lady Henrietta Davis formed the Black Cross Nurses in Kansas City, Kansas. This UNIA auxiliary was formed and organized for the purpose of providing education, medical aid, and community service. The BCN combined homeopathic medicine with textbook medicine. The dedicated nurses provided services that aided in decreasing infant mortality, promoted proper sanitation, and increased general education on how to use certain teas, how to treat rashes, and take care of the elderly.
The BCN had membership in the tens of thousands and stood ready to aid male soldiers on future battlefields in Africa, the U.S., and throughout the diaspora.
During the outbreak of racial violence known as the ‘Red Summer’ at least 26 cities in the U.S. erupted with white mob riots against Black residents. In cities such as Tulsa, Chicago, and St. Louis, the Black Cross Nurses were deployed to render medical assistance to the countless Black victims of white hate.
During this terrorizing time, UNIA-ACL branches mushroomed around the nation and the globe. Henrietta’s oratorical magic made her popular with the rank and file as well as the leadership in the UNIA.
Committed to the cause of Black Liberation
Henrietta Davis informed the enthusiastic crowds that “they had to learn to share Garvey’s greatness with the rest of us so that many would know his great soul, purpose, ambition, and hope.” She had the ability to reach people with convincing, eloquent, smooth, and simple public statements. Henrietta said, “the Negro needs his own home so that lynching and discrimination would be a thing of the past. I happily put aside my elocutionist talents to go from the torrid to the frigid zones on behalf of my people.”
Throughout her leadership in the UNIA, Henrietta was quick to dismiss Negroes who could not accept the UNIA. Marcus Garvey and Henrietta Vinton Davis went on many extensive recruiting drives throughout the U.S., Caribbean, Central and South Americas.
Mr. Garvey definitely had a problem with race mixing and advocated the maintaining of a pure Black race. Many believed that he didn’t like mulatto’s and very light-skinned Africans; his love and comradeship with Henrietta, who was very light-skinned, completely eliminated that myth.
On August 25, 1924, Henrietta chaired the UNIA convention as the first female 4th Assistant President-General. In December of the same year, she traveled to Liberia, West Africa, as the only woman in the UNIA delegation seeking consent to establish a UNIA colony in Liberia.
In 1922, when Garvey was indicted for mail fraud, his leadership was challenged, and the UNIA withstood internal and external attacks. During his prison sentence, Henrietta maintained support for Garvey and stepped up through the ranks. She was a key member of the committee that delivered petitions to President Calvin Coolidge seeking Garvey’s exoneration.
Garvey’s imprisonment and conviction took a terrible toll on Henrietta’s comradeship with her leader. Trying to run the UNIA from a prison cell and immediately being deported upon release proved to be very challenging to Garvey. The UNIA membership began to weaken during Garvey’s deportation. In 1931, Garvey and Davis slowly drifted apart.
By 1932, she broke with Garvey and became the first Assistant President-General of the rival UNIA, Inc. In 1934, she was elected President-General of the rival organization.
On November 23, 1941, 18 months after the death of Garvey, Henrietta Vinton Davis passed away at the age of 81.
Our sister served as an example of love and deep devotion for her people, you and me!
My sisters and brothers, it’s never too late.
Today, rarely will we witness an ‘A’ list entertainer or music artist walk away from Hollywood. Leaving a lavish lifestyle and re-establishing a career to become ‘Race Leader’ has never even been considered as an option to 99% of Black entertainers.
Sister Davis was an uncompromising African patriot, stateswoman, and diplomat who assisted Garvey in making the UNIA the largest Black mass organization in the world. WE SALUTE YOU!
Khabyr Hadas is a Pan-African educator, author, and Garveyite. khabyrhadas@gmail.com
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