Tony Rakhal-Fraser
There are more than a few hard-to-take, disturbing truths about segments of the post-African Emancipation civilisation in Trinidad and Tobago, 188 years after the 1838 actual freeing of the enslaved from the plantations.
I return to the subject I raised a couple of years ago regarding the loss of ground by Afro-Trinis in contemporary society compared to where they had progressed to post-Emancipation and through to the mid to late 1960s. Let’s examine a few of those indicators.
In education, as determined by the results of national tests at primary and secondary school levels, at the level of professional qualification at graduate and postgraduate levels, in business at small, medium and corporate levels, the professionals in the workplace, the progeny of the Africans were first to lead into a golden period of achievement in the immediate post-Emancipation era.
As far back as the mid-19th century into the early 20th century, Afro-Trinis such as John Jacob Thomas, Henry Sylvester Williams, Eric Williams, Hugh Wooding and others led the way in scholarships and political and social agitation for change.
During the early 20th century, Afro-Trini individuals and institutions such as the Working Men’s Association created the surge for human rights and the quest for self-government. Captain Cipriani (a white Trinidadian) through to Butler, and several other labour leaders began the advocacy for fairness in the workplace, and humanity for all workers, Afros and Indos.
The Afro-Trini scholars and human rights activists petitioned and fought for the Adult Franchise, the right of all individuals 21 and over to vote. Black scholars in large numbers filtered through an education system that was organised against them, but could not resist their surge. Greater visibility in the professions became apparent because of the academic success of the educated Blacks. That continued well into the 1960s, trailing out in the 1970s.
Afro-Trinis also took to the organisation of political parties and the quest for political Independence. Dr Patrick Solomon, in his autobiography, charts that development, which he continued when Dr Eric Williams returned from the UK and the USA, and established the Afro-based People’s National Movement. In office, the PNM fought for and achieved political independence with the support of the DLP, then led by Dr Rudranath Capildeo.
However, the fact remains that by the late 1960s, with a flash point in 1970, the children and grandchildren (Afro-Trinis in the main) of the 1956 movement found themselves struggling at the lowest end of society, and with the colonial system of preferences and in-built discriminatory practices raging against them.
Employment in certain sectors was reserved for those of “high colour” and preferred ethnic groups. NJAC and its trade union colleagues cited the fact that the foreign multinational corporations continued their hold on “the Commanding Heights of the Economy.”
“We do not want crumbs, we want the whole bread,” claimed a famous NJAC pamphlet. The organisation, along with significant elements of the trade union movement, saw little change in the preferences of the society, and the continuing practice of racism against Afro-Trinis, particularly those at the lowest socio-economic end of the society. They singled out PM Williams for blame.
Williams’ reactions were typical of a politician; he found “communists” coming through the ceiling, particularly amongst trade union leaders such as George Weeks, Joe Young, not forgetting university lecturers such as Dr James Millette.
Clever politician that Dr Williams was, he nevertheless understood the validity of the protest movement, and indeed acknowledged and initiated several changes to answer the call for “Black Power”.
The movement, before its leadership had been locked away on Nelson Island, had given insight and initiated change amongst the black underclass. The said UWI students of NJAC, and even lecturers such as historian Dr Brinsley Samaroo, took to Laventille to pass on education and consciousness to their “brothers and sisters” left behind.
They also pitched the “Revo” as a class struggle and successfully linked with the Indo-Trini underclass which suffered similar forms of discrimination and marginalisation. As can be expected, Indo-Trinis in the middle and upper classes resisted links with the NJAC initiative. Bhadase Sagan Maharaj, then the major Hindu leader and trade unionist, was at the forefront of the resistance.
The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church, restrained Archbishop Anthony Pantin from identifying with the quest for Black Power and the March to Caroni to ground with Indo-Trinis; but his brother, Father Jerry Pantin, climbed the Laventille Hill and established the Service Volunteered for All—Servol.
A consciousness of business emerged in the drag brothers and the small business operators selling from sno cones to fruits and vegetables. Williams, the historian, understood the importance of those advances, and began initiatives such as the National Commercial Bank in the private sector, called on the foreign-owned banks to nationalise their operations, and implemented the ideas to establish Point Lisas.
His government also increased scholarships, which made it possible for Afro-Trinis and all others to gain free tertiary level education at home and abroad.
I shall continue.
Tony Rakhal-Fraser – freelance journalist, former reporter/current affairs programme host, and News Director at TTT; programme producer/current affairs director at Radio Trinidad; correspondent for the BBC Caribbean Service and the Associated Press; graduate of UWI, CARIMAC, Mona, and St Augustine – Institute of International Relations.
