Garveya “The Black Star State”
Garveya is a Black Separatist state that controls the area around the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta that once covered parts of North West the old Mississippi and of Eastern Louisiana and Arkansas. It is roughly 200 mile long by 90 miles wide and covers 7,000 square miles of the rich alluvial floodplain. It is a rich agricultural area and exporter of products including, rice, corn, soybeans and cotton. Pre-collapse it was demographically an African-American area and culturally it has remained so despite, or because of, subsequent long term conflicts with the Invisible Empire and other white supremacists. Indeed many African-Americans have moved to Garveya boosting the population.
Garveya supports and practices Black Separatism and has a distinct African-American culture and identity. Only citizens of black ancestry may be citizens or own property though other racial groups are allowed to visit and stay on temporary visas. The name Garveya comes from a revered pre-fall Prophet, Father Marcus, who led the way with Father Malcolm, Father Elijah and the Nation o
f Islam.
The capital of Garveya is the central town of Garveyville where representatives of all the settlements meet to elect a Governor once a year. The military, Black Panthers, organise the defence of the region with a smaller professional force backed by a larger citizen militia. The Nation of Islam is very active within the communities but so are a wide range of other Black Power organisations.
There is a major pharmaceutical plant, Burle Biotech, at Greenville which is claimed to have been in continual production since before the Apocalypse. The town of Vicksburg is the Southernmost Garveyan settlement situated at the confluence of the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers. It is a centre of Engineering and home to the Waterways department, charged with keeping waterborne traffic flowing on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers.
Old Route 61 runs the length of the Delta with Interstate 55 being the furthest part of Garveya’s Eastern border. An old Amtrak Railroad runs the length of the delta and is used for bulk haulage. The Garveya's Greenville Airport is the only operational airfield within the state and is home to a dozen or so antique aircraft and a few visiting Texican planes.
Religion
Garveya officially follows the teachings of Master Elijah Muhammad and his Nation of Islam but many citizens follow more traditional Christian teachings as well.
External Relations
Initially Garveya and Texas clashed when N’Awlins was absorbed by the expanding Texican Republic with Nation of Islam missionaries expelled from the city. The proposed Texican drive to the Mississippi alarmed Garveya’s leaders as they were already pressed by Klan attacks on their eastern borders. In turn the Republic was becoming overstretched and desperately needed to re-consolidate. A compromise was reached with Garveya being recognised as the legitimate power in the Mississippi Delta with Vicksburg and the old Interstate 20 as its Southern border. In turn Texas was free to expand south of the old Interstate 20 to the east. This compromise worked well with both sides agreeing to keep out of each other’s affairs. There is with healthy trade between the two states with the bulk of Garveya’s harvest going to Texas and the Louisiana Territories.
Despite their differing political and cultural positions, Garveya is a client state of the Texican Republic. Garveya surreptitiously receives substantial economic and military aid from the Republic and serves as a buffer zone between the Texican Republic and Klan Lands. Texas also shamelessly uses her ally as a boogeyman to scare Arkansas ‘white’ settlements in to joining the Republic or risk being conquered by the vengeful forces of Garveya. Within the Delta the Garveyan government show that they are more than a match for the Texans by blocking their advance and forcing recognition from them. This quiet arrangement suits both parties well.
The Invisible Empire makes no secret of its hatred of Garveya and is vocal in condemnation. That said it has recently made few serious attacks on the region given the strength and dedication of Garveya’s border guards and the recent improvement in the Garveyan armoury.
The ARC strongly disagrees with the separatist nature of Garveya and is not an ally though would never aid Garveya’s enemies.
Given the landlocked nature of Garveya it has few other diplomatic relations though for a while embassies of United Britain and of Greater Portugal were meant to have been established. As these no longer exist it was dismissed as a P.R. stunt.
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