The Black Star Line (1919–1922) was a shipping line incorporated by Marcus Garvey, the organizer of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), and other members of the UNIA. The shipping line was created to facilitate the transportation of goods and eventually African Americans throughout the African global economy. It derived its name from the White Star Line, a line whose success Garvey felt he could duplicate.[1] The Black Star Line became a key part of Garvey's contribution to the Back-to-Africa movement, but it was mostly unsuccessful, partly due to infiltration by FBI agents.[2] It was only one among many businesses which the UNIA originated, such as the Universal Printing House, Negro Factories Corporation, and the widely distributed and highly successful Negro World weekly newspaper.
The Black Star Line and its successor, the Black Cross Navigation and Trading Company, operated between 1919 and the mid-1920s. It stands today as a major symbol for Garvey followers and Pan-Africanists. It is not to be confused with the later Black Star Line, the state shipping corporation of Ghana.