Andrew Sage (3:51)
And as we're talking about military presence in the us, which is something that I spoke about on this podcast before you go and check it out. We're here to discuss the very recent history, positive and negative, of my northern neighbor, Grenada. So I don't want to bog anyone down with too many facts, but it's important to get an idea of the context. So Grenada is the southernmost in the grouping of Caribbean islands known as the Windward Islands. It's a country composed of Grenada, the island and a few smaller islands, including Carriacou and Petit Martinique. It's long been considered the spice isle, as the hilly mainland was and still is home to a lot of nutmeg plantations. They currently have a predominantly African population Of just over 117,000, sharing a country merely 344 kilometers squared, or 133 square miles for reference, the five boroughs of New York City collectively make up 778.18 kilometers squared, or 300.46 square miles. So Grenada is small. You know, New York is big, but Grenada is also quite small. You know, for reference, it's slightly larger than Queens, but far less populated and far less dense. So we're talking small island state par excellence. And yet it has sat at the centre of one of the most critical events in Caribbean history. And it might be one of the sites of yet another such incident, in light of the United States request to Grenada on October 9 to establish a temporary military radar base at the infamous Maurice Bishop International Airport, a request which has not yet received a conclusive response more than a month later, at the time of me recording this. So I thought it apt to finally talk about this moment in history, I went to my library and got a copy of Revolution and Invasion, a compendium of essays from various perspectives on the topic arranged by Patsy Lewis et al. That provided the basis of my research, particularly the essay by Moo Collins, a Canadian poet and novelist. I also drew some of the radical background lore from Fundy, AKA Joseph Edwards, an underappreciated autonomous radical healing from Jamaica, who spoke about the situation in None Shall Escape all linked in the show notes. So I don't want to get too deep into the history prior to what's immediately relevant to today's topic. I'll keep things brief. A couple hundred Amerindians lived in Grenada prior to the European invasion. Human settlement may have been as early as 3500 BCE, but most definitely by the 2nd century CE. Spain, upon stumbling upon it, claimed it but never settled it. England attempted to settle it but was driven out by the indigenous inhabitants and eventually the island was settled and subjugated by the French, who engaged in a protracted war against the indigenous between today's grenada Dominica and St. Vincent of the Grandines throughout the 17th century. You know, there's this narrative that the Europeans came and they just easily conquered the entirety of the Americas, and it's important to lay that myth to rest. There was, of course, the very tragic great dying that was responsible for a vast majority of the indigenous population losing their lives to disease, in some cases intentionally weaponized by the Europeans. But despite differences in their weaponry, the Europeans did not have an easy time conquering the islands or conquering the Americas at all. In many cases they did not succeed in conquering islands for many decades or centuries of struggle. But eventually Grenada was established as a colony of over 15,000 enslaved Africans by 1763. A year prior in 1762, Britain took over the island from the French as part of the Seven Years War and the island was formally ceded to Britain in 1763. By 1807 Britain had brought 114,000 slaves to Grenada. By 1838, slavery was abolished. In 1877, Grenada became a Crown Colony. And fast forward a little further. Under modified Crown Colony status, the wealthiest 4% of Canadians were allowed to vote. Eric Gary founded the Grenada United Labour Party, or Gulp, in 1950, initially as a trade union, which led to the 1951 general strike for better working conditions. Buildings were set on fire in this time, and this is in a broader regional context of radicalism and agitation for independence in the post World War II reality, which would intensify after Many of the islands had already gained their independence. Eventually Grenada got elections based on universal adult suffrage in 1951 and Eric Gehry's party Gulp won. This is before they got independence though. In a time when the English speaking Caribbean was trying to establish a West indies federation between 1958 and 1962, it didn't succeed. Jamaica seceded and then Trinidad. So it fell apart. And after the fall of the federation, Grenada became an associated state in 1967, then finally gained full independence from Britain in 1974, again under the leadership of Eric Gary, who became the first Prime Minister of Grenada. The late 60s and early 70s were a radical time in general. So that's setting the stage for what comes next in Grenada. The rise of the new dual movement led by Maurice Bishop. You see, as Fundy found in this time, we also had quite a few other confrontations going on across hispanophone, Francophone, Dutch and anglophone Caribbeans. In 1965 you had the popular revolt in the Dominican Republic against a military coup that was drowned in blood by the US invasion. In 1967 you had a spontaneous rebellion of agricultural workers in Guadeloupe. 1968, black folks in Bermuda rioted against the racist and colonialist control that dominated the island. In 1969 there was a violent confrontation against US soldiers by students and workers protesting the US occupation of the Panama Canal Zone. Curacao was shaken by wildcat strikes of workers. Riots were employed and unemployed as well. Labour unrest was breaking out in Suriname leading to a general strike. Antigua had riots, strikes and demonstrations over several years. Jamaica had workers at the Western meatpackers established democratic control of their trade union local, taking full control over their union dues and negotiating with their employer. Without official mediators to manage the sugar workers in the local community directly and of course, infamously in 1970, Trinidad was shaken up as workers, academics and small farmers linked up against the system. Led by the government of Prime Minister Eric Williams and after years of his rule under the Sloker and Masade Dun, the people erupted against the neo colonial system. Despite being ruled by this black leader, the hundreds of people in the streets championed black power. Understanding what was needed was a people's politics in which new institutions could emerge. This black power revolution in Trinidad was inspired in part by the black civil rights struggle in the United States, while also seeking to unite the African and Indian populations in Trinidad. After an attempted mutiny by the army and Venezuelan and American gunboats standing by ready to intervene, the military surrendered. The revolutionary initiative shifted away from the masses and Dr. Eric Williams was saved. By 1973 a few armed guerrillas remained in the hills of Trinidad, but eventually their struggle was snuffed out. By 1975 in Guadeloupe you had wildcat strikes taking place. Guyana had wildcat strikes against the American and Canadian owned bauxite companies. Suriname had another general strike. St. Lucia experienced wildcat strike. Dominica attempted to seize the British owned Castle Bruce Estates in Jamaica. There was a wave of appropriations from banks, warehouses, stores, betting shops and more crossed Kingston and demonstrations initiated by students and workers against police brutality and for the release of prisoners. And in 1979 Nicaragua had their revolution against the US allied government.
