HIST 3030 The Evolution of Social Policy: Some Observations on Gender, Citizenship and Labour Rights since the Forde Commission Report on the Status of Women (1976)

Some Observations on Gender, Citizenship, Labour Rights since the Forde Commission Report on Women (1976) in Barbados

By, Cherri-Ann Skeete, Student, HIST 3030 The Evolution of Social Policy in Barbados, Department of History and Philosophy, The UWI, Cave Hill Campus

The Forde Commission on the status of women was carried out in 1976 and presented in 1978 by Norma Monica Forde on recommendation by Sir Henry Forde who was an advocate for women’s rights in Barbados. The Commission looked at women and their rights in terms of marriage, labour laws, citizenship, criminal laws, and divorce, just to name a few, and made recommendations for the improvement of women’s rights. Citizenship and labour laws are the topics of focus for this research.

             The Constitution of Barbados at that time was discriminatory against women in terms of citizenship. In terms of citizenship by descent, a legitimate child of a father born in Barbados was a citizen of Barbados once the father and child were both citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies in 1966. This law did not apply to mothers under similar circumstances. Secondly, under section 5 of the Constitution, the legitimate post-independence child (born after November 30, 1966) of a Barbadian father whose citizenship is not acquired merely by descent is a citizen of Barbados, but not the legitimate child of a Barbadian mother in similar circumstances. In terms of citizenship by marriage, a woman who was a citizen of Barbados could not help her husband who was not a Barbadian by birth, obtain citizenship. On the other hand, a woman who married a Barbadian man could register for citizenship as outlined in Section 6 of the Constitution. In terms of legitimation of citizenship by subsequent marriage of parents, legitimation was based on domicile of the father rather than the mother. In terms of adoption, citizenship was not conferred to the adopted children of a Barbadian woman and a non-Barbadian man. However, it was conferred to a Barbadian man and non-Barbadian woman.

The Commission made its recommendations for the equality of citizenship laws. The report stated that citizenship laws should be unbiased and not based on gender/sex. And women and men should have equal citizenship laws. It also stated that any discriminatory provisions, which prevent the husband of a Barbadian woman from registering as a Barbadian citizen, a right now enjoyed by the wife of a Barbadian man, should be altered. Moreover, any restrictions imposed on granting citizenship should be applicable to both men and women.

The Barbados Citizenship Act was amended in 1982 where some of the discriminatory components of the citizenship laws were removed. Children can now be granted citizenship on the basis of nationality of mother. A person born in Barbados after the 29th November 1966 shall be a citizen of Barbados by birth if his mother was a citizen of Barbados at the time when he was born. Secondly, where under any enactment in force in Barbados relating to the adoption of children an adoption order is made in respect of a minor not a citizen of Barbados, then if the adopter or in the case of a joint adoption the male adopter is a citizen of Barbados, the minor shall become a citizen of Barbados as from the date of the order. Therefore, women can now apply as an adopter for citizenship of adopted children.

Moreover, non-Barbadian men married to Barbadian women are now eligible for citizenship. The Act states ‘’if your spouse is a citizen or permanent resident of Barbados, you are eligible for residency. If your spouse is a citizen, you can apply for citizenship after being a resident in Barbados for a period of 7 years. Please note that the status of one’s spouse needs to be legally recognized in Barbados’’.

Labour laws served to create a space of fair employment for both males and females.  The legislation in Barbados provided reasonable working conditions for both sexes equally to some extent. However special conditions for women were embedded into statutes and some sections of statues of the legislations.

At the time of the report, statistics showed that 60.2 percent of the workforce were male while 38.8 percent were female which clearly suggested that the number of unemployed women where high as compared to males, resulting in a concern for review. Fourteen acts were reviewed with nine of these 14 acts needing some revision due to special provisions made for female workers or work intended to be regulated by legislation, seeing more women than men opposed to an evening out of the sexes.

          The Factories Act stated that a woman shall not clean any part of any machinery or machine if cleaning would expose her to risk of injury. Where women work is performed standing, adequate seating should be provided so that any opportunity for rest could be taken. The commission recommended that the provisions which speak specifically to women regarding their cleaning machines be amended as women are competent to complete such tasks, however special attention should be made to the language used here as it states women are now competent as if to imply they were not before. This was interesting to note. The commission also recommended that both males and females be afforded the same opportunities health standards, suitable and sufficient seating accommodation and organized intervals for meals and rest. 

The maternity leave act outlines provisions for expecting mothers providing mothers to receive 6 weeks before and after the baby is born even in the case of a still born with an extension of 6 weeks in the cause of illness coming out of the “confinement” and providing job security for pregnant mothers, however, a mother would not be eligible for leave more than three times from the same employers (which seems restrictive and a hindrance to men in my opinion), also there was a call for a longer maternity leave.  The act makes no mention of male maternity leave. The commission considered the idea of an extended leave. However, it recommended that the 12 weeks remain as it is.

While not being able to encompass all that the report addressed, it is clear to see that the report highlighted important points that still challenge us today. As we seek to win the battle against gender inequality we are still addressing concerns around the further extension of maternity to at least six (6) months leave as well as the introduction of paternity leave and we still see gender segregation in work environments as a problem.

WORKS CITED:

1.     UNHCR. (2017). Barbados Citizenship Act 1982. Retrieved from

https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/87113/98976/F941454882/. Accessed 11/29/2019.

2.     Barbados Labour Party. (2019). BLP Manifesto 1976. Retrieved from https://www.blp.org.bb/. Accessed 11/29/2019.

3.     Barbados Immigration Department. (2019). Barbadian Citizenship. Retrieved from https://www.immigration.gov.bb/pages/Citizenship.aspx. Accessed 11/29/2019.

4.     Cepal. (2019). Beijing + 25 Report: Progress made on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration And Platform For Act 2014-2019. Retrieved from  https://www.cepal.org/sites/default/files/barbados_beijing_plus_25_report_2014-2019.pdf. Accessed 11/29/2019.

5.     Forde, N. (1978).  Commission on the status of women in Barbados. Retrieved from http://myelearning.cavehill.uwi.edu/pluginfile.php/1075872/mod_resource/content/0/Documents/Women_and_the_Law.PDF. Accessed 11/29/2019.

6.     LegalBeagle. (2018). How to apply for Citizenship in Barbados. Retrieved from https://legalbeagle.com/6687146-apply-citizenship-barbados.html. Accessed 11/29/2019.

7.     Social and Human Sciences. (2018). The Feminization of Poverty. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b3ce/b7e9b091f9f97576175e97ef2d9bcc9fad67.pdf. Accessed 11/29/2019.

8.     Science Direct. (2019). Gender Division of Labour. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/gender-division-of-labour. Accessed 11/29/2019.

9.     Researchgate. (2016). The Feminization of Poverty. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268506084_FEMINIZATION_OF_POVERTY. Accessed 11/29/2019.

10.  Cepal. (2016). Women: The most harmed by unemployment. Retrieved from https://oig.cepal.org/sites/default/files/ndeg_22_desempleo_eng.pdf. Accessed 11/29/2019.

HIST 3030 The Evolution of Social Policy: Recreational Space in Barbados

Social Hierarchies and the Provision and Use of Recreational Space in Barbados

By Donnisha Watson, Student, HIST 3030 The Evolution of Social Policy in Barbados, Department of History and Philosophy, The UWI, Cave Hill Campus

Working citizens such as educators, clergymen, clerks and colonial officials identified a need for access to public space for recreational purposes as they were ‘pent up in a close and dusty atmosphere all day, day after day with nothing to relieve the monotony of their occupations’.  There were no public parks or gardens  where adults could go to socialize or no areas where the younger population could go to snatch an hour's enjoyment in the open air. 

 As such, recreational spaces were provided. However, 85 percent of the spaces in Barbados were created and controlled by the planter class , while the Government and other freeholders jostled for the remaining 15 percent. As such, the middle and upper class concept of recreational space did not answer the needs of many working people.

As previously mentioned, opposition to access to public recreational space surfaced from the white male elite planter class. They segregated themselves, especially in urban areas, as they perceived the assembly of working class people within public space as socially threatening. Without any further choice, the spatially deprived working class citizens took their leisure activity to the street. However, this was deemed as illegal and citizens had to refrain from congregating on the streets. 

The middle and upper classes secured playing fields and dominated the majority of the land resources across the country for cricket and other games while working class citizens had no playing field in both the town or country, to call their own. Water sports also belonged to the elite classes and working class citizens could not participate in any of these activities. As the planter class dominated such spaces, they started to build large hotels on these beach spaces. Consequently, they increased the value of these beach fronts as beach spaces were low value properties prior to their popularity among visitors and local elites.  Also, the Turf Club, Polo Club, Football Club along with other elite clubs effectively colonized the Garrison Savannah, a place still known for its hosting of an elite sport, horseracing, which although popular among all classes of Barbadians as spectators, the space has traditionally been dominated by male, elite horseowners. Working citizens briefly indulged in kite-flying, fireworks and cow racing but these too were also considered as circumscribed activities and as such they have been controlled by various measures -- again, stripping the lower class from recreational activity.

In an aim to segregate themselves, both socially and spatially, the elites assembled in residential neighbourhoods. For instance, expatriate and elite whites resided in St. Michael’s exclusive neighbourhoods such as Strathclyde and Belleville, while the middle-class and expatriate citizens resided in some of Christ Church’s coastal residential developments such as Navy Gardens and Rockley. The black working classes were relegated to urban and rural tenantries, thus reinforcing social barriers. This raised concerns because the lower middle and working classes were battling for the right to accessible recreational space in the city while the the elite had already established committees and won exclusive supervision spaces such as Hastings Rocks, located on the southern part of the Island.

According to Aviston Downes in his chapter entitled, “The Contestation of Recreational Space in Barbados, 1880-1910”, these Committees constructed gates, posts and fences to prevent the middle and lower class  from occupying such spaces or ‘to keep out the hooligans’. They then implemented an admission fee which was an obvious deterrent for lower class citizens. This is a clear indication that social hierarchies gratified the favoured few and left the bulk of the population at a disadvantage as they weren’t permitted to use the recreational spaces that were provided.

According to Downes, a visitor by the name of Harry Franck observed and wrote the following words: “Thus in negro-teeming Barbados there is scarcely a suggestion of African parentage to be seen at this stately entertainment on Hastings Rocks. It is partly the sixpence admission that keeps the negroes outside, but not entirely ... The English sense of dignified orderliness and the negro's natural gaiety, his tendency to "giggle" at inopportune moments, do not mix well, and the Hasting Rocks concert is one of those places where African hilarity must be ruthlessly suppressed. In addition to this, they further observed that southern coast from the Garrison Savannah to the base of  British military and Hastings Rocks was deemed as ‘white man's area.”

Gender  inequality was also one of the major factors which abetted the limitation of recreational spaces in Barbados. Although one of the most significant recreational spaces, today known as Queen’s Park, was designed by a woman, Lady Gilbert Carter, women were still faced with significant challenges to equal access for leisure activities in Barbados. Downes describes the challenges that women faced in their pursuit to access to recreational spaces in Women Civilising the City. He further describes the social geography of such spaces as dangerous or contaminated masculine spaces. However, they had to deal with urban hovels, the absence of public amenities and many other uncomfortable circumstances which prevented them from using such spaces, thus exemplifying the role that gender played in the limitation of recreational spaces in Barbados.

  Racism, classism and gender were remarkable factors which deprived many citizens from the use of the recreational spaces in Barbados. As such the ruling classes had to give in to the pressure as many campaigns were launched in a result to breakdown such social hierarchies. However they maintained an “aesthetic distance” from spaces used by the lower classes and continued to segregated themselves. Although there is no complete restriction to any recreational spaces today, this notion is still very evident as sports such as golf and polo are almost exclusively played by the elite class while the middle and working classes are merely by bystanders and spectators.

Work Cited

Boxill, Ian. Social Stratification in Barbados. Views on Stratification :an Analysis of the State of the Black Middle Class, 2001.

Christine Toppin-Allahar. “De Beach Belong to We!’ Socio-Economic Disparity and Islanders’ Rights of Access to the Coast in a Tourist Paradise.” Oñati Socio-Legal Series, vol. 5, no. 1, 2015, pp. 298–317.

Downes, Aviston. “The Contestation for Recreational Space in Barbados, 1880-1910.” 2002

Downes, Aviston.  “Women Civilising the City: The Civic Circle and Public Urban Spaces in Barbados,” Barbados Museum and Historical Society.  Dec. 2009

Fancis, Stephan. “The politics of recreational space in Barbados.” The evolution of social policy in Barbados.

Karch, Celia. “Changes in Barbados social structure 1860-1937,” 1977.

Quashie, Nekehia. “Who Supports Whom? Gender and Intergenerational Transfers in Post-Industrial Barbados.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, vol. 30, no. 2, 2015.

Smith, Raymond. “Social stratification, cultural pluralism and integration in the West Indiean Societies.” Caribbean scholars conference 1966, St Augustine, UWI.

“The Barbados Museum and Historical Society.” vol. 32, pg 49, 117

“The Barbados Museum and Historical Society.” vol. 33, pg 181

“The Barbados Museum and Historical Society.” vol. 38, pg 127

“The Barbados Museum and Historical Society.” vol. 39 pg 72

HIST 3030: The Evolution of Social Policy -- A Biography of Dame Patricia Symmonds (1925-Present)

SYMMONDS, OLGA aka PATRICIA SYMMONDS, 1925- PRESENT

By Alvesia Weatherhead, Student, HIST 3030 The Evolution of Social Policy in Barbados, Department of History and Philosophy, The UWI Cave Hill Campus 

Dame Olga Patricia Symmonds, GCM, DBE, commonly known as Patricia Symmonds, educator, politician, and member of the senate, was born on 18 October 1925 to Alga Ianthe Symmonds and Algernon Symmonds. She is the elder sister of Barbadian diplomat, the late Algernon Washington Symmonds, and aunt of Donna Symmonds, a prominent lawyer. Symmonds lived in both Strathclyde and Bank Hall Road in St. Michael while growing up. Symmonds currently resides in Strathclyde and is 94 years old.

Dame Olga Patricia Symmonds

She was first educated at a private school ran by Mrs. Maude Haynes, widow of a Moravian Minister, at 5 years . At 10 years, Symmonds won a St. Michael’s Vestry Scholarship to Queen’s College (QC), which was a First Grade School for girls at that time. Symmonds attended Queen’s College up to sixth form and was appointed Head Girl. In 1945, Symmonds left QC and started teaching at the St. Michael school in September. She taught English and left The St. Michael School in July, 1951 after 6 years to attend the University of Reading and the Institute of Education in England where she completed a one-year postgraduate certificate course in English. Symmonds returned to Barbados in 1952 and went back to The St. Michael School. Symmonds was appointed Head of English Department and later Deputy Head-Principal of the school from 1963–1976. Symmonds was then appointed Principal of the school from 1976-1985.

Symmonds has contributed extensively to education and public service in Barbados. At The St. Michael School, Symmonds implemented the start of school at 8 am. She also implemented Weekly Assembly with prayer and said that this would aid in the ‘’strengthening of religious principles, develop self-confidence, and learn to assume responsibility’’. She also stressed the importance of honoring and respecting the school and its uniform. She oversaw the expansion of the school orchestra and developed a school diary. Symmonds also ensured that the school curriculum consisted of sports and extracurricular activities, noting that ‘’I was always of the view that sports should be a core curriculum subject for it develops a spirit of sportsmanship and qualities of leadership. It teaches humility in victory and grace in defeat. It provides enjoyment, fitness and relaxation’’.

Moreover, Symmonds has lectured part time at The UWI, Cave Hill Campus and delivered tutorials for free from 1963. She has also sat on many educational committees and non-government organizations. Symmonds was the founder member and President of the Barbados Association for the Teaching of English for 22 years. The committee was founded in 1967 and functioned as a voice for English teachers. Members of the committee sat on CXC sub-committees, where they asked for English Literature to be separated from English Language and graded independently and they were successful. The committee also evaluated external exams and looked at the English Curriculum and gave their opinions and recommendations for improvement. As President of the committee, Symmonds carried out lecturers in English at the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to help journalists with their writing. She also conducted courses in English at the Government Training Division, Cable and Wireless (now Flow) to both staff and managers, Insurance Corporation of Barbados, Ltd. (ICBL), and Barbados Fire and General staff of the National Conservation Commission (NCC).

Symmonds was also a member of the International Federation for the teaching of English, Chairman of the Royal Commonwealth Society, Barbados Branch, Life member of the Barbados Cricket Association, Chairman of a Ladies Committee, member of the St. John’s Ambulance Brigade, President of the Friends of St. John Ambulance, Chairman of the National Committee on Ageing, Deputy Chair of the Commission on Social Justice, former Council Member, member of the Barbados National Trust, Chairman of the first National Advisory Council on Women, member of the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army, Patron of the Barbados Alzheimer’s Association, Chairman of the functional competencies survey committee, and served on Council of the Barbados Family Planning Association. Moreover, from 1976-1978 Symmonds was Deputy Chairman of the National Commission on the Status of Women. As a member of the International Federation for the Teaching of English, Symmonds promoted the work and voices of fellow English and literacy educators in Barbados. The International Federation for the Teaching of English is a global network of educators engaged in teaching, research, scholarship and advocacy in the fields of English and literacy education.

Symmonds was also involved in politics. From 1986 to 1994, she was the General Secretary of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP). She also served in the Senate from 1994-2007, where she served as the first female Deputy President in the last four years. Symmonds was also a member of the Privy Council of Barbados from 1997 to 2000. Symmonds retired in 1991 and has been richly rewarded for her contribution to education and public service. She has been given awards from The St. Michael School and Queen’s College for her contribution to the development of education. She has been awarded the Barbados Secondary Teacher’s Union Award and Grantley Adams Award. In 1977, she was the recipient of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal. In 1985, she was awarded the Award of the Gold Crown of Merit. In 2000, Symmonds was appointed as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by her Majesty, the Queen, for public service and contribution to education.

SOURCES:

BOOKS AND ARTICLES:

1.     Brathwaite, J. (1999). Women and the Law: A Bibliographical Survey of Legal and Quasi-Legal Materials with Special Reference to Commonwealth Caribbean Jurisdictions and Including Relevant Commonwealth Caribbean Legislation and Case Material. Barbados. University of the West Indies Press.

2.     Mary Chamberlain. (2010). Empire and Nation-building in the Caribbean:1936-66. United Kingdom. Manchester University Press.

3.     Symmonds, O.P. (1993). Longer Lasting than Bronze. Barbados. PrintSource.

4.     Symmonds, O.P. (2009). Recalling These Things: Memoirs of Patricia Symmonds. Barbados. PrintSource.

5.     Academic Dictionaries and Encylopedias. (2019). Patricia Symmonds. Retrieved from https://enacademic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/5084455. Accessed 11/15/2019.

6.     The Barbados Advocate. (2016). Barbados Labour Party Achievements on Display. Retrieved from https://www.barbadosadvocate.com/news/barbados-labour-party-achievements-display. Accessed 11/15/2019.   

7.     The Barbados Parliament. (2019). Order Paper of the Honourable Senate. Retrieved from https://www.barbadosparliament.com/past_order_papers/senate/view/21. Accessed 11/15/2019.

8.     Issuu. (2017). St. Michael’s School 85^th Anniversary. Retrieved from https://issuu.com/nationpublishing/docs/st._michael_s_school_85th_anniversary. Accessed 11/15/2019.

9.     Barbados St. Michael Alumni Toronto. History of the Principals. Retrieved from https://www.barbadosstmichaelalumnitoronto.com/history.html. Accessed 11/15/2019.

10.  Barbados Labour Party. (2016). Women’s League. Retrieved from https://www.blp.org.bb/womens-legue/. Accessed 11/15/2019.

11.  Revolvy. (2018). Patricia Symmonds. Retrieved from https://www.revolvy.com/page/Patricia-Symmonds. Accessed 11/15/2019.

Please note that some of the information in the Biography was provided by Donna Symmonds, niece of Dame Symmonds, her housekeeper, and a telephone conversation with Dame Patricia Symmonds herself in late 2019.

HIST 3030 The Evolution of Social Policy: The Women's Self-Help Association Helped Women Overcome Poverty

By, Ariel Moore, Student, HIST 3030 The Evolution of Social Policy in Barbados, Department of History and Philosophy, The UWI Cave Hill Campus

Women’s groups are increasingly becoming vehicles for social, political, and economic empowerment (NEHA KUMAR, 2018). Caribbean women advocated for women's rights drawing on a historical legacy of women's resistance and influenced by the first wave of the international feminist movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Their history of organizing includes religious and social welfare organisations, civic and political organisations, trade unions, and women's arms of political parties (Rawwida Baksh, 2013).

The Women's Self-help movement was one of the earliest manifestations, where a colonial governor’s wife organised white women to teach poor women housewifery skills and initiated income generating projects based on needle work skills. The Women's Self-help association in Barbados was a charitable organisation founded by Lady Gertrude Codman Carter (wife of Sir Gilbert Carter, Governor of Barbados (1904-1911) and a group of Barbadian women in 1907 (Clutterbuck-Cook, 2017). The organisation enabled women to maintain themselves and their families (Bulletin of the Pan American Union). The aim of the Association was to provide a ready and safe medium for the sale and purchase of various works made by it members: 

The organization arranged for what today we might consider a “fair trade” shop in Bridgetown, Barbados, where women could sell handicrafts and artwork to tourists as a means of adding to the family income. Edward Albes of the Pan-American Union wrote approvingly of the shop upon visiting Bridgetown in 1913: In the salesroom of the association may be found picture postals, photographs, curios, Indian pottery, lace, embroidery and fancy needlework, homemade jellies, cakes, pies, light lunches, delicious ices, etc., and all at remarkably low prices. The association…is maintained by the ladies of Barbados, and is a splendid example of practical benevolence (Clutterbuck-Cook). 

Drawing from this, one can say that the organisation allowed for the development of entrepreneurial skills of low-income women, who were involved in it. It allowed them to produce items to sell giving them a sense of economic enfranchisement and by extension, assistance in raising them out of poverty.

The organization did not only help women with the promotion of their products, it also played a role in organised movements. So much so that an examination of women’s participation in the disturbances of the 1930s suggests not only that women played a major role in these uprisings, but they were motivated by the burden of responsibility for the social and economic welfare and their families in the matriarchal societies (Cheris Kramarae, 2004). Furthermore, in most of the territories, women's first exposure to organized mass movement was through church groups and community associations such as the Women’s Self Help Association (Cheris Kramarae, 2004)

However, at its start, the Barbados Women’s Self Help Association catered primarily to the needs of white women and middle-class non-white women ladies often from the top echelons of society (Kramarae):

Indeed, throughout the Caribbean, women from the middle and upper class initially led the struggle for suffrage and basic rights...by the 1920s, however, Afro-Caribbean women began to promote their own interests... in Barbados, women began pressing for greater involvement in the political process as early as 1951, when Barbados polled its first universal adult suffrage. That year Barbados elected its first woman, Ermie Bourne Senior, to the house of assembly. Since that time, the senate has averaged six women members per session. In 1995, the Dover Accord conference in Barbados endorsed a quota system for women’s participation in political parties and government...That same year, Barbados elected a woman, Dame Billie Miller, as deputy Prime Minister. The women’s movement on the Island was further aided by the appointed of Dame Nita Barrow as governor general. In office, Barrow was important to the promotion of primary health care programs (Cheris Kramarae, 2004)

One can conclude that the women's self-help association aided in, pushing government to get involved in the economic enfranchisement of Barbadian women. Which is evident, seeing as though, the “Government of Barbados has been quite actively supporting women entrepreneurship through training and trade fairs”  (Ferdinand, 2001). Additionally, Within Barbados Government’s Sectoral Plan 1993-2000, there is a clear outline of the policy framework for women’s entrepreneurship which states inter alia (among other things), that:

Strategies and measures aimed at the fuller integration of women in the development process will be formulated and implemented. Economic and social development policies and programmes must seek to address disadvantages experienced by women (Ferdinand, 2001).

The Government also acknowledges that the enhancing of women’s skills, the encouraging of new employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for women as well as the encouragement of increased involvement of women in business ventures (all of which the Women's Self-help association provided) are preconditions for the successful implementation of the principles previously mentioned (Ferdinand, 2001). Thus, training programmes in productive activities were introduced and cooperative ventures, self-help enterprises and joint ventures were facilitated and encouraged as well as measures adopted which promoted the increased involvement of women in export activity (Ferdinand, 2001)

This further reiterates the point the Women’s Self Help Association was a trailblazer for women’s upward mobility.  Firstly, it directly assisted women in selling their crafts, thus creating a direct link to income, but it also got women involved in movements, politics and policy-making to create better working conditions for women, while pushing some out of poverty. 

The Women's Self-help Association helped women for 100 years as of was closed in 2011. Women have been (and still are) organizing for a long time and have been doing so amongst themselves as well as within society. Thus they have been playing an active role in ensuring their own upward social mobility and economic enfranchisement, evidently in creating entrepreneurial and professional women. 

Bibliography

Cheris Kramarae, D. S. (2004). Global Women's Issues and Knowledge. In D. S. Cheris Kramarae, Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women. Taylor & Francis.

Clutterbuck-Cook, A. (2017, May 5). Gertrude Codman Carter’s Diary, May 1917. Retrieved from Masshist.org: http://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2017/05/gertrude-codman-carters-diary-may-1917/

Ferdinand, C. (2001). JOBS, GENDER AND SMALL ENTERPRISES IN THE CARIBBEAN. Geneva.

NEHA KUMAR, K. R. (2018, March 7). International Women's Day: Self-help groups aid communication, empowerment in India. Retrieved from IFPRI.org: http://www.ifpri.org/blog/international-womens-day-self-help-groups-aid-communication-empowerment-india

Rawwida Baksh, L. V. (2013). Women’s citizenship the democracies of the Americas . In L. V. Rawwida Baksh, Women’s citizenship in the democracies of the Americas: the English-speaking Caribbean.

United States Congressional Serial Set, Volume 6475. (1913).

The Ancestral Call for Return: Start here. End (t)here.

By, Tara Inniss, Lecturer, Department of History and Philosophy, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus

Newton Slave Burial Ground, Christ Church, Barbados

Some of us in Barbados and the Diaspora saw some posts and short videos on social media this past weekend showing a ceremony taking place in Ghana of Barbadian officials burying the “remains” of an “unknown” enslaved African burial/space from Barbados to Africa. Those present described it as a very emotional experience. I have no doubt that it was. Confronting the theft of our culture and the erasure of lives lived during enslavement in Barbados is an extremely visceral experience that would touch any one of us if we had the opportunities to do so. 

When we take our students to the spaces that exist here in Barbados, it is also an emotional experience. If I were to describe it, I would say the emotion is more of revelation and connection than it is of reflection and communion. It is a revelation simply because they did not know that these spaces existed. There are no signposts. There are no pathways or guided markers. If there is a sign upon arrival, it is likely a plaque describing something that was – not is. They are forced to reflect on the fact that these spaces are not a valued part of their heritage.  They never even learned about them in school. In fact, they never really learned their own history. We reflect on that. Together.

There must be many places on this island that hold the remains of our enslaved ancestors. Unfortunately, we are only aware of three that have been documented archaeologically – all of which faced threats to their protection and at least one, which was completely destroyed. These are the burial spaces at Newton Slave Burial Ground which is now the property of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society (BMHS); Fontabelle Slave and Free Coloured Burial Ground which was destroyed by Government to make way for the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC) Small Business Development Building; and at least one burial that was excavated during development at the Pier Head likely in the vicinity of the Royal African Company’s Barracoons where newly arrived African captives were landed before being sold off to enslavers in Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean. The area is better known today as the Barbados Tourism and Investment (BTI) Inc.  car park in Bridgetown.

The Barbadian landscape -- past and present -- is such that we have little documentation on the burials of hundreds of thousands of Africans and their enslaved descendants after living, working and dying here. We know they exist, but we do not know where they are. Plantation records, if they exist and are accessible, had been silent and certainly the changing nature of sugar production, estate ownership and residential patterns of a landless emancipation in this island have rendered people’s memories of these spaces either fragile or absent. The majority of enslaved Africans in Barbados were not allowed to be buried in the well-known parish cemeteries on this island as they were not ‘Christian’ and there was complete denial of their religion and spirituality. But they had to bury their dead somewhere – and the places that were selected for them to confer their own rites for their departed were often on the most marginal land of the plantation – usually not suitable for sugar or other agricultural production.

In the case of the burial space at Fontabelle, this was land that was given for this expressed purpose by Joseph Rachell (1716-66) who was widely regarded as the first free black businessman in Barbados.[1] He recognised that the slave and free coloured communities of Bridgetown did not have anywhere to bury their dead so he gave them land to do so. Unfortunately, these spaces have been largely lost to time. Having little access to the somewhat permanent materials that we traditionally associate with grave sites, such as tombstones or other memorials, all that may remain is some of the plantings of trees and shrubs that we know helped the enslaved and free find their dead.

That is why when we have found them here or in other parts of the Caribbean or the rest of the Americas they are quite special on a number of levels. Although an estimated 12.5 million enslaved Africans came to the Americas, there are only a handful of burial spaces that have been located – largely by accident – during archaeological surveys prior to modern construction. Among these are the African Burial Ground National Monument in New York City, USA and Valongo Wharf Arcaheological Site, a UNESCO World Heritage Property in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There have been other excavations in the region including the house-yard slave burials at Seville Estate in Jamaica as well as others in the French-speaking Caribbean. It is important to note that controversies have existed over the movement of ancestral remains of enslaved peoples as well as other artifacts within and outside of state borders for a number of reasons.

Newton Slave Burial Ground is special because it is the only extant communal slave burial ground that has been found in the region, quite possibly in the Americas. That means that we know that the burials at Newton were those of persons enslaved at Newton. When Jerome Handler uncovered the location of the burials at Newton in the 1970s, it spurred an entire new field of archaeological and historical investigation into the cultural and biological history of Africans in the Americas. It is still used today as a benchmark field study for archaeologists and historians globally. And, unlike the rest of the island’s plantation history, Newton Plantation is one of the best-documented estates in the island. That means that we know a lot about the slave community at Newton – stories of maronnage, landmark court cases for freedom; gender dynamics; resistance; even names and family groups for certain time periods. The enslaved community at Newton is not anonymous.

But are these burial spaces quite special to us as a country? That is a categorical No. I know about them because I learned about them while doing history and archaeology at The UWI, Cave Hill. My knowledge of them largely derives from the work we did with Dr. Karl Watson as undergraduate and postgraduate students. In fact, I was there with him and other students when we tried to do rescue archaeology of only a handful of what was hundreds, maybe thousands of burials at Fontabelle in the early 2000s under severe pressure from the contractor with heavy equipment that had destroyed most of the site and with it one of the largest known slave and free coloured urban burial grounds in the Caribbean. Approximately 1000 burials were destroyed! That was an emotional, visceral experience too as we bulldozed a sacred space belonging to our ancestors as a consequence of “development”. 

Most people today are not aware of burials at Newton, Fontabelle or Pier Head. Most people do not even know where the Newton Slave Burial Ground is; and if you went you would have to drive up to the back of an industrial park, walk a short hike through a cart road in a cane ground and stare at a rolling field which is usually overgrown so you cannot see the burial mounds.  You will be greeted by a molded over Barbados Slave Route sign which is part of a now defunct Ministry of Tourism project.  At Fontabelle, all there is to mark what was is a small plaque at the entrance of the BIDC complex. And at Pier Head -- well we all park our cars there to go on to do our shopping in town and rarely contemplate the suffering and bewilderment of arrival that took place under our feet.

These are places of return too! These are sites of memory for the slave trade and slavery right here in Barbados! Look what we have done with them. Nothing.  Destroyed them. Neglect them. They are not places of revelation or connection and certainly not places for reflection or communion. Most of us will never be able to visit a symbolic burial of ancestral “remains” in Ghana, or any other place on the West African coast although many of us may wish to. Why have we not done our work in Barbados to confront our own African past and to understand the identities that evolved because Africans were here? We have not done our work spiritually or otherwise to even ready ourselves for return. And it is my greatest regret as a daughter of the Diaspora that we have no place here in Barbados to honour our ancestors, even though spaces exist!

I say this in the light of what other communities in Barbados have done to reflect and commune with their own past and the value they have placed on sharing it with others. The recent redevelopment of the Nidhe Israel Synagogue and its environs demonstrates an enduring commitment by the Jewish community to not only honor their presence here but also to share in that recognition with others, including memorializing the historic location of Codd’s House where our emancipation was read aloud for the first time on our soil (also destroyed by Government in the 1980s). I also look to a small group of dedicated persons who cleared and restored a Quaker Burial Ground – there is not even a Quaker presence on the island having been driven out by persecution in the 17^th century! But this space was regarded as having significance and is maintained as such. We can say that since Independence, a majority African-descended Government of Barbados has invested little in the spaces that symbolize the survival and sacrifice of our African ancestors – in fact, we can say that there has been a legacy of neglect and destruction to remove this past from our landscape.

I am calling on our Government to recognize these failings in our past decision-making of erasure and neglect and with a fervent plea: do not relegate our own heritage to the dust-pile of history. Please respect, protect and value our own archaeological and historical past. Please see archaeology as a friend, not foe to our country’s development and knowledge about ourselves. Please invest in our archives and repositories of memory. Please make this history known in our schools and museums. These are spaces for peace-building and community. These are places that can instill the pride we all feel slipping away.

If 2020 is the year of return for Barbadians, please let it to be spaces like Newton Slave Burial Ground that show the value we place on this history with sensitive interpretation where we can do more than reveal and connect but also to reflect and commune.

We do not have these spaces.

We cannot go on these emotional journeys.

We cannot truly free our ancestral call for return without them.

Start here. End (t)here.

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[1] The irony here, of course, is that there is no memorial to Joseph Rachell, an early example of an enterprising black Barbadian, whose own grave was moved in street widening that occurred in the vicinity of St. Mary’s Churchyard. In fact, his philanthropic legacy in the burial ground at Fontabelle was destroyed to make way for a building that was established to help build infrastructure for small (mostly black) Barbadian businesses for which there was an argument that such a legacy never existed…