A Look Back to the ‘Grenada Revolution Archival Showcase’ in October 2023
Connie Bell (Decolonising the Archive) in conversation with Chris Searle
In summer 2023, three researchers from the UCL Department of Geography began a project investigating archival material from the Grenada Revolution 1979-1983 stored at Black Cultural Archives (BCA) in the Jacqueline Creft Memorial Collection, a collection dedicated to Jacqueline Creft, Grenada’s Minister of Education from 1980 to 1983. In October 2023, a public audience gathered at BCA to hear findings from the research. The event formed part of BCA’s Black History programming for 2023 and showcased archival material on the Revolution recently deposited at BCA by Chris Searle, an English teacher and writer who worked in Grenada during the revolution as a coordinator of a teacher-training programme ‘NISTEP’.
This blog post recalls the event from the perspective of the researchers involved, Dr Jacob Fairless Nicholson and Jasmine Roberts from the UCL Department of Geography, and Dr Nathaniel Télémaque from the Department of Geography at King’s College London. You can read more about some of the contents of the collection – and the resources produced as part of the project to help researchers navigate it – in our second blog post on ‘Remembering the Grenada Revolution’ or by visiting BCA at 1 Windrush Square to conduct your own research.
Nathaniel Télémaque and Jasmine Roberts address the audience
Why is the Grenada Revolution important?
October 2023 marked the fortieth anniversary of the end of the Grenada Revolution. Grenada gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1974, and the Revolution was important because it sought to tear up the lasting effects of British colonial rule. This included in areas such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure, all of which had suffered chronic underinvestment before and after Grenada gained independence. The Revolution is also important because it was the first socialist revolution in an English-speaking Caribbean nation, after other revolutions in French-speaking Haiti and Spanish-speaking Cuba.
Tell me about the ‘Remembering the Grenada Revolution’ event
The public event in October 2023 was held to share findings from the research and discuss the significance of the Jacqueline Creft Memorial Collection. Audience members were invited to reflect on the legacies and significance of the Grenada Revolution forty years on from its tragic demise, including in relation to themes such as decolonisation, women’s roles in liberation struggles, and the importance of education for the Grenada Revolution. Before formal introductions, attendees were treated to audio recordings of Grenadian Calypso. The event then featured an ‘Archival Showcase’ where the researchers on the project shared their findings and played clips of interviews with Grenadian citizens and politicians stored in the archive. After that, Connie Bell chaired a fascinating Q&A discussion with Chris Searle covering the educational programmes pioneered by Jacqueline Creft, the revolution’s healthcare initiatives, the importance of internationalism, and the significance of the Grenada Revolution to the Caribbean region. You can hear more about the event in the excerpts from the researchers below and listen again via the recording.
Attendees at the Remembering the Grenada Revolution event
I greatly appreciated contributing to dialogues held at this event, as it was a chance to reflect on the archival encounters I collaboratively experienced with Jasmine and Jacob during the summer of 2023. During the archival showcase, audio clips from cassette tape recordings were played. These acted as prompts for reflection and discussion that weaved together historical and contemporary accounts of the nuanced lifeworlds of the Grenada revolution itself. Looking back on it now, to be in dialogue with Chris Searle, Jasmine, Jacob, Connie Bell and all of those who attended was a beautiful and rare experience and a testament to the need to liberate archival collections and find out what happens when we speak to living histories. Our engagement with this collection last summer is just the beginning, this archive is freely available to any interested member of the public and we would highly encourage you to visit the BCA’s library and reading room and engage with its collections. There is so much we can learn from the past, which will inform our present and future understandings of people and places - Nathaniel Télémaque
Remembering the Grenada Revolution’ felt like an intimate space to reflect on how the revolution has been memorialised, both in public discourse and private memory, on its fortieth anniversary. The showcase went beyond the presentation of Jacob’s, Nathaniel’s, and my research findings and became a space where both the panellists and audience connected through memories, stories, and ties to Grenada. This exchange allowed the event to play a significant role in demystifying archives, moving beyond a view of archives simply as history preserved. Instead, the showcase highlighted how archives actively bridge the past with the present and emphasised the ongoing influence of the revolution in both memory and sentiment. The showcase also carried an intergenerational dimension, akin to a learning exchange, most evident in the presence of diasporans. As a researcher, I was particularly struck by the synergies that emerged – connections that could only be understood through personal experience. Most importantly, the event’s significance in holding space to remember embodied the spirit of the Grenada revolution itself – a spirit rooted in collaboration and community. This moved our work beyond an academic bubble and our time spent in BCA’s reading room, and embraced a more people-facing, people-centred approach that prioritised meaningful dialogue and shared understanding – Jasmine Roberts
This event offered a reminder of the importance of opening up archival collections to public audiences. Through a multi-sensorial format that included recorded music, panel discussion, and interaction with physical and aural material from one of BCA’s collections, attendees heard from a key internationalist figure in the revolution and were encouraged to reflect on the revolution’s significance. Forty years on, the Revolution’s spirit of collective, community action and unwavering commitment to anticolonial and anti-imperial struggle feel as urgent and necessary as ever - Jacob Fairless Nicholson
From left to right: Jacob Fairless Nicholson, Chris Searle, Nathaniel Télémaque and Jasmine Roberts at the Remembering the Grenada Revolution event
The audio recording lasts approximately 1hr 45 minutes. Please note the questions posed during the Q&A at the end of the recording are sometimes inaudible.
The ‘Remembering the Grenada Revolution’ event was sponsored by the Institute of Advanced Studies, UCL. If you would like to discuss any aspects of this blog post in more detail, we would love to hear from you. Please email Jacob at jacob.fairless.nicholson.14@ucl.ac.uk
By: Nathaniel Télémaque, Jasmine Roberts, and Jacob Fairless Nicholson