Speaker 1: Heyl. I'm Aaron Haynes. I'm the editor at large for
Speaker 1: The Nineteenth News, a nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender politics
Speaker 1: and policy. I'm also the host of a brand new
Speaker 1: weekly podcast from the Nineteenth News and Wonder Media Network
Speaker 1: called The Amendment. Each week, we're bringing you a conversation
Speaker 1: about gender politics and the unfinished work of American democracy.
Speaker 1: Our very first episode features my dear friend and Pulitzer
Speaker 1: Prize winning journalist Nicole Hannah Jones. It's out now, so
Speaker 1: please go listen and follow the show. On top of
Speaker 1: all of this, I'm your guest host for this month
Speaker 1: of Womanica, this Black History Month. We're talking about revolutionaries,
Speaker 1: the Black women who led struggles for liberation from violent governments,
Speaker 1: colonial rulers, and enslavers. These women had the courage to
Speaker 1: imagine radically different worlds and they use their power to
Speaker 1: try and pull those worlds into view to day. We're
Speaker 1: talking about a woman who made it her mission to
Speaker 1: eradicate poverty, oppression, and inequality in Caribbean societies. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about Jacqueline Creft. Jacqueline Jackie Craft was born on November
Speaker 1: twenty eighth, nineteen forty six, in Saint George's Grenada. She
Speaker 1: was raised Antivili, a poor but radical and culturally rich community.
Speaker 1: As part of the middle class. The Kraft family was
Speaker 1: part of the elite minority. Political and social movements defined
Speaker 1: Jackie's early life. Grenada had begun pushing back against British colonialism.
Speaker 1: In nineteen forty nine, a populace named Eric Geary started organizing.
Speaker 1: Over the course of a few years, he turned his
Speaker 1: labor union into a political party. He mobilized masses of
Speaker 1: ordinary citizens and challenged the social order. Gary turned his
Speaker 1: supporters against those in the upper class by convincing them
Speaker 1: that the elites were the main oppressors. Although Jackie was
Speaker 1: in the upper echelon of society, she could see the
Speaker 1: injustice and inequality of poverty, and it infuriated her as
Speaker 1: a little girl. She tried to fix this by taking
Speaker 1: things from her house and bringing them to the poor
Speaker 1: people in her community. She couldn't stand to see them suffer,
Speaker 1: especially as she flourished. Jackie excelled academically, which led to
Speaker 1: a scholarship to attend Saint Joseph's Convent in Grenada's capital.
Speaker 1: She was grateful, but she was also outraged there weren't
Speaker 1: enough secondary school scholarships for everyone who wanted to go
Speaker 1: but couldn't afford to. This experience ignited her passion for
Speaker 1: mass education and free secondary school education. In Grenada, Jackie
Speaker 1: worked as a secondary school teacher before continuing her studies
Speaker 1: in Canada, where she received a bachelor's degree in sociology
Speaker 1: and political science. While she was in North America, Jackie
Speaker 1: was inspired by the Black Power movement and civil rights movement.
Speaker 1: That time strengthened her belief in social equity and radicalism.
Speaker 1: It also encouraged her to embrace her blackness by wearing
Speaker 1: her hair in a natural afro and dressing in African prints.
Speaker 1: When Jackie returned to Grenada in nineteen sixty nine, she
Speaker 1: taught English language and literature at the Grenada Boys Secondary School,
Speaker 1: which became a political hotbed. By this point, Eric Geary
Speaker 1: had become a dictator and his power was being challenged
Speaker 1: by a new socialist movement led by a man named
Speaker 1: Maurice Bishop. Jackie believed in Bishop's ideas, and she also
Speaker 1: had a romantic relationship with him. They would later have
Speaker 1: a son together. At the Boys' school, Jackie was instrumental
Speaker 1: in promoting progressive thinking to Grenada's youth. Many of these
Speaker 1: young men went on to join the revolution, and that
Speaker 1: made Jackie a respected member of the movement. In nineteen
Speaker 1: seventy eight, Jackie traveled to Barbados to work with the
Speaker 1: Women in Development Unit at the University of the West Indies.
Speaker 1: She worked hard to promote the welfare of women and
Speaker 1: children throughout the Caribbean region. But when the Grenader Revolution
Speaker 1: broke out in nineteen seventy nine, Jackie was quick to
Speaker 1: return home. A coalition of organizations came together as the
Speaker 1: New Jewel Movement to peacefully oust Eric Geary. On March thirteenth,
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy nine. They replaced Gary's government with the People's
Speaker 1: Revolutionary Government or p r G. Maurice Bishop became the
Speaker 1: new Prime Minister. In nineteen eighty one, Jackie became the
Speaker 1: Minister of Education, one of the first female ministers in
Speaker 1: the pr G. Her mission was to educate all Grenadians
Speaker 1: with self knowledge and self confidence so that they felt
Speaker 1: empowered to fully participate in Grenada's development. To do this,
Speaker 1: Jackie had four action items. Eliminate illiteracy, develop an education
Speaker 1: system designed for the people, build physical and institutional school infrastructure,
Speaker 1: and make education free at all levels. She helped fight
Speaker 1: illiteracy through the Center for Popular Education, which taught reading
Speaker 1: and writing to adults. The majority of students were women.
Speaker 1: In her role, Jackie also helped support training for teachers
Speaker 1: across the nation and helped them obtain teaching certifications. Jackie's
Speaker 1: most significant accomplishment was creating a free secondary education system.
Speaker 1: As the Revolution became more Marxist and Leninists, Jackie took
Speaker 1: a step back. Her priority was how the revolution affected women, children,
Speaker 1: and workers. Although she was drawn to the movement for
Speaker 1: nationalistic reasons, her focus was on social justice and transformation,
Speaker 1: not authoritarianism and dogmatism. The Revolutionary government began falling apart
Speaker 1: as it was spread then among too many projects and programs.
Speaker 1: It also suffered from an internal power struggle pitting Maurice's
Speaker 1: bishop against his deputy Prime minister, Bernard Cord. Maurice was
Speaker 1: placed under house arrest and Jackie, a loyal partner, went
Speaker 1: in with him. On October nineteenth, nineteen eighty three, a
Speaker 1: large group of followers marched to Maurice and Jackie's home
Speaker 1: to break them out. They chanted no Bishop, no revo,
Speaker 1: and they marched on to a military headquarters called Fort Rupert.
Speaker 1: When Cord's soldiers were instructed to recapture the fort, gunfire ensued.
Speaker 1: Shortly after, Jackie, Maurice and five others were taken to
Speaker 1: the parade square and executed. Jackie was thirty seven years old.
Speaker 1: After that day, which became known as Bloody Wednesday, a
Speaker 1: military council took power. A few days later, US forces
Speaker 1: invaded Grenada. Jackie Craft's work with the revolutionary government left
Speaker 1: a legacy of social justice, youth empowerment, and education in Granada.
Speaker 1: All month, we're talking about Revolutionaries. For more information, you
Speaker 1: can find us on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast
Speaker 1: Special thanks to co creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan for
Speaker 1: having me as a guest host. As always, we're taking
Speaker 1: a break for the weekend, so talk to you on Monday.