Week 3
Revolution and Impacts on the Global Left
Readings (Download Packet)
Forward Ever, Against Imperialism by Maurice Bishop
Silver Woman: How Black Women’s Labor Made the Panama Canal by Joan Flores-Villalobos
Haiti: The Aftershocks of History by Laurent Dubois
Down With Colonialism
Wednesday 11.15, 6:30PM ET
During the end of the 1800s, the Caribbean witnessed a surge of anti-colonial movements, fueled by growing economic hardships and the desire for sovereignty and self-determination. Influenced by global trends such as the abolition of slavery and the rise of nationalist sentiments, Caribbean intellectuals and leaders began advocating for independence. From Jamaica and the Morant Bay Rebellion to the Grito de Lares in Puerto Rico, these anti-colonial movements helped create the path for revolution in the latter 1900s.
Socialist Revolution in the Antilles
Thursday 11.16, 6:30 PM ET
In 1959, Cuban militants reclaimed their country from the American gangsters and mafias and launched massive widespread literacy campaigns, redistributed land, and pioneered one of the most comprehensive healthcare programs in the world. In 1979, Maurice Bishop and the New Jewel Movement ousted the corrupt government of Eric Gairy and established a People’s Revolutionary Government, prioritizing widespread education and healthcare reform. Revolution is in the air in the Antilles.
