The Late Mariamne Samad, formerly Muriel Allman, was born in Harlem Hospital in 1922 to Alice Allman, née Brooks, and George Allman, a gold miner from Guyana. Her parents met while listening to Marcus Garvey speaking on a street corner in Harlem. Muriel's parents became ardent Garveyites and raised their daughter in keeping with Garvey's philosophy and practice of self-reliance.