(Stages of a revolution)
Coming back to school, we started off the year learning about revolutions. I actually found this to be pretty interesting, learning about the different components and stages of a revolution and the course of events that actually lead to a revolution. Essentially, there are four stages to a revolution; the Incubation Stage, the Moderate Stage, the Crisis Stage, and the Recovery Stage. This was a theory that a man by the name Crane Brinton created. He looked at a collection of revolutions and noticed a pattern. That’s when he came up with the four stages of a revolution.
Depending on the person, revolutions as a whole can be good or bad. I took that into perspective and I started to wonder If there could be preventative measures that could be taken which would stop a revolution during stages one and two. I don’t mean shutting down the revolution. Instead, I want to find the ways a revolution could take place without having to reach stage three where radicals and violence strives.
I’ll be taking a look at the Black Power Movement in Trinidad and Tobago and separate the timeline into the four stages to see where different decisions could have been taken to prevent the events that occurred in stage three of this revolution. I’ll almost be looking at it as if I had to make those decisions and have a relatively peaceful outcome.
I broke down the “milestones” that took place during this revolution and ended up with eight events that I believe are what impacted this movement.
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Before getting into the milestones, there’s some background information that would be needed for those who don’t know much about this revolution (probably likely.)
Starting in 1968 and ending 1970, the Black Power Movement in Trinidad and Tobago was a smaller branch of the Black Power Movement. In this case, supporters were trying to initiate a social change where African-Americans were treated equally and rightfully so. This appeared as a serious challenge to the prime minister, Eric Williams’ authority. The National Joint Action Commitee (NJAC) was then formed by a guild of undergraduates going to the Univeristy of the West Indies. They ended up growing in power quite quickly from the support they received.
STAGE 1
1: One of the big tipping points that started this revolution was when a carnival band by the name of “Pinetoppers” presented “The Truth About Africa” and discussed the topic of “Revolutionary Heroes” and evidently, the injustice that African-Americans were experiencing in those times. This started a few protests and marches which leads me to me to my second milestone…
2: Eric Williams responded to this with a broadcast called “I am for Black Power.” He had also tried to get people back on his side by issuing a 5% tax going to unemployment reduction. He had also set up a commercial bank. This barely put a dent into the protests and marches taking place. If anything, he had probably made it worst with his half hearted reform.
STAGE 2
3: Lots of the protests that were taking place were led by a pair of guys from NJAC and had gotten the support of the Afro-Trinidadians (who had even attracted many people from the PNM which was led by Eric Williams) and several trade unions.
4: The following events led to the death of a protester at the hands of the police. In turn, A.N.R Robinson resigned from his position in the parliament for Tobago East. It was a this time that the revolution picked up the pace and resulted in sugar workers going on strike as well as threats about general strike.
STAGE 4
5: On April 21, Eric Williams declared a State of Emergency and arrested fifteen Black Power leaders.
6: From around April 21-25th two men led a small portion of the Trinidad Defense Force to take hostages in the military bunkers. They had gotten a group of people to commit mutiny. This eventually ended peacefully.
7: Eric Williams still kept trying to convince people he was genuinely with the Black Power Movement with several speeches. To try and prove his point, he removed three ministers and three senators. As a last ditch effort, he created the Public Order act which essentially made people behave. This was mainly for the reason of keeping protests under control. A.N.R Robinson came back with the finishing blow, getting people to oppose the bill and eventually have it removed.
STAGE 4
8: This leads us to the final milestone… Eric Williams loses most of his power and even his attorney who failed to have the Public Order act issued wanted to resign but Williams didn’t’ let him.
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So what I’m aiming for is to stop the more violent events that occurred in stage three and come up with decisions/solutions that could have been taken to prevent a majority of the violence and more actionable choices during stage 1 and 2.
Starting with stage one, it’s easy to see that Eric Williams is lazy or just doesn’t care enough to make actual changes that the people of the Black Power Movement wanted. It is unclear if he didn’t realize that things were going to get worse with his minor (emphasis on minor) changes that supported the Black Power Movement. Had he taken into perspective what minorities such as African Americans had to deal with during these times, he could have actually realized the injustices that they experienced. Eric Williams could have seen the racial oppression, how they weren’t as empowered as majority races, etc. His version of reform was making a speech about how he supported African Americans. He had also instated a tax that benefited people who were jobless, as well as building a locally owned bank that was lead by white and black people. This wasn’t the type of power African Americans were asking for. In my opinion, that bank was almost condescending and was clearly trying to suppress African Americans by giving them a false sense of empowerment and political stance. Had he actually supported the African Americans by letting them celebrate their own culture and given them fairer political positions, the blowback at Eric Williams could have been reduced.
Moving on to stage 2, I believe that Eric William’s main problem that could have been resolved was his blunt resistance towards the Black Power Movement and how he kind of fought fire with fire. I think that there could have been hearings for the African Americans and what they felt could have been different or changed for the better. This is what would have been a big factor between violence on both sides and an understanding/agreement. The government could have also been a little more frugal with the deploying of police as this riled up protesters during this time more and led to the death of a protester. Even after the death, Eric Williams could have had a genuine reconciliation and mourning for the dead protester, and would have been an opportune moment for him to surrender his losing fight and give the things that the African Americans rightfully deserved.
What I found is that a big tipping point in the revolution that definitely sent it over into stage 3, was the death of the Black Rights Movement protester that was killed by police trying to contain the protest. I’ve also noticed this with other revolutions, is that there’s always an event that turns the protests and riots to a revolution, and once you pass that point, there’s not really a way to stop the revolution. I noticed this while I was trying to find a way the revolution could have been prevented during stage 3. I realized that there was no way that it could have been stopped after the death of the protester.
What I learned is that sometimes, revolutions can’t be stopped, and many times for the better.
Think about it. When a large group of people are noticing unfair acts and rules made by bigger powers, you know that they’ll want change. There’s always someone to try and start change and without it, we wouldn’t be the people we are today.
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