Roots, rhizomes and resistance: remembering the Sir George Williams student uprising

Abstract

This article is a critical reflection, half a century on and offered from the Caribbean, about allegations of racial discrimination on the part of a professor that prompted the 1969 Sir George Williams affair in Montreal. It provides an overview of the factors that instigated the student uprising; details the response and aftermath that ensued; offers a focus on the role Black women played in the direct action; and illustrates how the incident was influenced by and had links to the West Indies. In addition, it historicises 1960s–1970s Trinidad and Tobago to explain how the political convictions and demonstration of the students inspired movements and galvanised solidarity for transformative change in the country post-independence. It highlights the translocal connections and metaphorical rhizomes that exist not only in the Caribbean diaspora, but across student protests, youth mobilisations and revolutionary struggles globally. The article is an act of diasporic remembrance on the uprising’s fiftieth anniversary, as well as a recognition of the significance it continues to have in the West Indies today, particularly in Trinidad and Tobago.