“Way de matches, people? Fya! Fya! From the fiery Creole expressions, one can imagine that the foregoing words were fired with great vehemence and anguish by Queen Mary of our U.S Virgin Islands, during the time of Danish colonial rule. From the accounts given by our local people in our localities, it appeared that Queen Mary was armed with wisdom, spiritual grounding, (with Breffu, an enslaved African woman, who was instrumental in the slave insurrection on St. John, Virgin Islands in 1733, the Kimetic African Queens in the likes of Nzinga and Queen Aminatau). Simultaneously, she can be deemed morally courageous, in her resolve for breaking free from the dehumanizing chains of slave bondage. Clearly, Queen Mary seemed to be on the war path, and ready to wage war for the injustice that was wrought on her fellow enslaved Africans on the slave plantations in the Danish West Indies. The quote which references Queen Mary’s comments aforementioned, is symbolic as it marked the start of the Great Fya’bun or Fire Burn incident, which took place on the island of St. Thomas, in 1878. Today, Fire Burn Hill, here on the island of St. Thomas, is named after this event. By the same token, in 1848, on the island of St. Croix, scores of enslaved women and men took to the streets, and started a riot. They also set plantations afire and caused some of the Planter Class people and their families to lose homes and businesses. The resistant actions of the enslaved African women and men, was the result of the abuse and brutal killing of a fellow enslaved African man on a plantation of St. Croix. Since the slave masters offered no justice for the loss of life, the ordinary people, (which included the enslaved women and men) -collectively, decided to implement measures that would have justice served. Notably, our Virgin Islands’ women and men, have always sought to avenge justice for the various forms of injustice that they experienced from as early as the years of plantocracy. Queen Mary’s voice of resistance, was just one prime example of how enslaved African women and men- united for purposes of having justice served, and indignantly challenge the oppressive status quo.
Similarly on the island of Anguilla, there are several accounts of local people, who can provide various stories and versions of stories that are related to the Anguilla Revolution. The following excerpt from Daisy “Wong” Richardson’s account of the Anguilla Revolution is yet another instance in point- that depicts the critical role that the views of women have always been necessary in helping to influence decisions that impact the lives of people of the rank and file. Accordingly, in September of 2015, I conducted an interview with Mrs. Daisy Wong Richardson to collect data for a project in my doctoral program. In the interview, “Ms. Daisy” or “Daisy Wong” as she was affectionately known, noted: “We had a country to save. So on the morn’ of May 30th, 1967, we set sail for St. Kitts along with a group of fellow Anguillians to challenge the Robert Llewelyn Bradshaw administration for its neglect and second class treatment of Anguilla and Anguillians” (Richardson 2015). The foregoing were the words of Mrs. Daisy “Wong” Richardson of the island of Anguilla at the start of the Anguilla Revolution. Daisy continued:
After our initial challenge of the status quo coupled with word from the detractors of the revolution- that we had sent home the St. Kitts policemen, who were residents in Anguilla by airplane, and our island was declared a war zone- the British military and Paratroopers, occupied our island for well over two years. Tings suddenly changed on our island. . . Our light of day turned to darkness. We were angry for a good cause. . . The spirit of God had left us . . . Later on, when I was approached by one of the brazen paratroopers- while I was at home attending my six little children, I grew emboldened. I turned to him [the paratrooper] and I pointed out, that Anguillians were a peaceful people fighting to defend their fundamental human rights and freedom. I also asked him to leave us alone, and suggested that the British go to Rodesha, and clean up the mess over there. Soon, my front room, and even the kitchen, became di meeting place for our crowds of our people, at that time. (Richardson 2015)
From these observations, it would appear that Daisy did not hesitate to challenge the status quo in an effort to have justice served to Anguillians. In like Fashion, Daisy of Anguilla and Queen Mary of the Virgin Islands aforementioned, were ready to witness equality, justice and cultural freedom, or even die for their people, regardless of the consequences.
Furthermore, one can realize a common trend in the resistant acts of the enslaved Africans during pre-emancipation years as well as with the Anguillians, during the time of the Anguilla Revolution. Thus, might their revolutionary acts be instructive for our people today? Might there be a strategy or strategies that one can emulate, which could lead to the betterment of one’s society- and lessen some of the challenges that one’s people currently face? Additionally, one might ponder whether or not there is a willingness for our people to challenge the status quo or to keep things the way they are. Well, one deems that in addition to their acts of defiance to colonial oppression, there are some important lessons that one can learn from the struggles of our past peoples in the likes of Queens Mary of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and Mrs. Daisy “Wong” Richardson of Anguilla. Four such lessons, I will outline in the sentences that follow.
A first noticeable lesson and strategy that the organizers of the respective revolutionary acts utilized was unity. If I should refer to a biblical quotation which reads as follows: ‘United we stand and divided we fall,” (Holy Bible) then, we might begin to see the lights of growth, prosperity and peace. Secondly, one notices that there seemed to have been a very clear line of communication on the part of the women and men, who spearheaded rebellions and revolutions in our region. Equally important, one is cognizant of the fact that for any course of action including revolutions to be successful, there ought to be a clear line of communication, which would lead to a precise and calculating outcome. Likewise, a third lesson that one can gain from the stalwart women heroines is commitment. Can one imagine the rebellions or revolutions being successful in the absence of commitment on the part of all their orchestrators? Next, a fourth lesson that can be learnt from the stated revolutionary and resistant acts of the Caribbean heroines is: a willingness to use creativity as a viable means of resolving some of the problems that currently plague the respective societies of the US Virgin Islands and Anguilla. Perhaps more importantly, creativity can be deemed both an important lesson and a potentially viable solution- to a plethora of the challenges that are faced by US Virgin Islanders, Anguillians, and by extension, myriads of other Caribbean islanders.
In summary, the legacy of revolutionary feminist giants such as Queen Mary of the former Danish West Indies or Present-day U.S Virgin Islands, and Mrs. Daisy ‘Wong” Richardson of Anguilla, should be celebrated. Such acts of defiance by Queen Mary and Daisy “Wong” Richardson, ultimately led to liberty for the people of their respective communities. The above named women liberationists did not spare a single stone to be unturned, when it came to defending the rights and freedom of their people. Here in the U.S Virgin Islands and Anguilla, our people can extract some valuable essence from the struggles of Queen Mary of the former Danish West Indies, and Daisy “Wong ” Richardson of Anguilla. Perhaps unity, clear communication, commitment and creativity, can be viewed as essential human virtues that served to unify the enslaved Africans during pre-emancipation years. These said virtues enabled the troubled Anguillian people to band together during their years of peril, which resulted in the Anguilla Revolution. Likewise, the said virtue of unity and commitment et alia, could also be seen as some of the instruments that can help – to set our feet on a lighted pathway of cultural freedom, equality, justice, harmony, peace and healing. Finally, from a Contemporary Caribbean Feminist perspective, it can be presumed that the resistant feminist voice and the revolutionary language of our ancestors and other contemporary women revolutionaries of our Caribbean region, still echo difference and positive change.
Works Cited
Course HIS 342 History of the Virgin Islands. University of the Virgin Islands, 2003.
Fireburn the Documentary Trailer. New Day Films, July 1, 2021.
Richardson, Daisy. Personal Interview. Anguilla, British West Indies. 10. Nov. 2015.
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
