listen, …

By Selwyn R. Cudjoe, Ph.D.
July 24, 2024

first part

I wanted to comment on Oke Zachary’s comments about educators freeing themselves from spiritual slavery as it relates to the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) delaying the graduation of two students because they wore cornrows (Express), July 14.

Zachary gave us a rich history lesson on the important role of hair in African life, starting with Bob Marley, who had the “biggest dreadlocks,” then tracing the origins of cornrows back to 3500 BC, then on to China, “ladder braids in 1644, all the way up to modern cornrows in the Caribbean in the 1970s.”

I believe that if our educators, prominent figures in the Department of Education, and the teachers unions had known more about our history and some of its tragic events, they would have responded differently to that “crisis.” I am reminded of the rebellion in this country in 1849 when the government attempted to shave the heads of black women.

On Monday, October 1, 1849, under the blazing midday sun, a large crowd of working-class people from Port of Spain and the surrounding areas stormed into Government House, where the Legislative Council was meeting. They demanded to see the Governor, Lord Harris, and the island’s Attorney General, “Mr. Warner.” They wanted to redress the terrible wrong that the government had imposed on them.

They were protesting a law passed by the government that required those imprisoned for debts of less than $50 to shave their heads, wear felony clothing (rough Osnaburg canvas suits with black hats), and do menial work in prison. There were also rumors that these small debtors would be required to become scavengers in Port of Spain, the most menial job in Port of Spain.

The poorer classes, or “underclass,” were outraged by the implications of the law, and a public meeting was called to discuss the issue. On September 29, notices of a meeting scheduled for October 1 at Mr. Dumaine’s store on Almond Road appeared throughout the city. Interest in the issue was so great that organizers moved the meeting to East Market between Charlotte and Henry Streets to accommodate more people. Even butchers called a strike to clear the market for protesters.

Edmund Sorg Hobson, a highly respected black lawyer in Port of Spain, was chosen as chairman of the meeting. The people opposed the enactment of the Objectives Ordinance as “tyrannical, unjust, and unwise, for the following reasons: because it only involves the breach of contract, often the result of uncontrollable misfortunes, and attendant with all the pains and penalties of the most serious crimes”. They wanted the law repealed.

After the meeting, people left the East Market and headed for Brunswick Square, opposite the Government House, where Parliament met on the first Monday of each month. Although Hobson asked them to go back home and do their business, they were willing to stay and see how things would develop.

By noon, a crowd had gathered. They were waiting in the square for the governor’s response to the resolution. It was a fitting place for them to gather. A few years earlier, two Native American tribes had fought a fierce battle here. They called it “Ames Square.”

The crowd was mostly women. Some even had babies in their arms. They were deeply affected by the prison regulations. Unable to understand what was happening between their delegation and the Governor and what was happening in the parliamentary debate, about 50 people entered the Governor’s Palace and occupied the Attorney General’s office. He was not happy about this.

During his tenure, the governor traveled around the island on horseback, enjoying the local scenery and tasting the local cuisine. The weekend before the debate, he went to the countryside to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

On Saturday, September 29, he returned to Port of Spain and learned that the town was in uproar “because it had been noticed that small debtors should have their heads shaved.”

Soon after receiving this information, a country squire told him that country workers were threatening to burn the sugar cane on his estate.

When asked why the prison regulations had caused such controversy, the squire told the governor: “It is because the regulations stipulate that small debtors must shave their heads, wear prison uniforms, and do hard labor.” He did not mention that they must also work as street sweepers in the city. The governor did not know what would happen next.