Dr Rita Pemberton
During the first half of the 20th century, the British-colonised Caribbean was in protest mode against the underdeveloped state of the territories. The daily experiences of the mass of the population were like night and day: unemployment or starvation wages while facing sky-rocketing food prices, hunger, abject poverty and squalor, stood in stark contrast to the privileged lifestyle of the colonial agents who were responsible for creaming the resources of the colonies for the benefit of the imperial government.
The local administration headed by governors who represented the monarch showed little empathy for public welfare and the lack of intervention to relieve the situation caused aggravated distress which morphed into a malaise that spread across the region and stimulated confrontational outbursts.
These were expressed in hunger marches, strikes and protests against imperial exploitation and oppression which spread across the region particularly during the 1930s. But a parallel and related development occurred. It was radical, nationalist, anti-colonial and literary.
There occurred a flowering of literary expression as creative thinkers and writers engaged in debates, discussions and wrote articles which explored their past, addressed pertinent issues relating to the state of their countries and projected their creative selves to their communities and the world.
There was an active group in Tobago who contributed to newspapers and engaged in debates and other activity to stimulate the awareness and pro activity in the Tobago population on matters pertaining to Tobago development. This movement led to the establishment of Tobago newspapers, the organisation of essay competition for schools, encouraged West Indian literature and literary appreciation in the population. In light of the current revitalisation of literary creativity and the encouragement of publication which has been stimulated by the Tobago Writers' Guild, it is important to put focus on one of the island's most creative literary precursors.
One member of this distinguished group was the multi-talented Eric Merton Roach, who published for nearly 40 years and left a legacy of historical, social and political information about Tobago. Roach has been described as 'the most significant poet of the English-speaking Caribbean between Claude McKay and Derek Walcott,' one of the major West Indian poets and a 'distinguished writer, poet, playwright and essayist.'
Born in Mt Pleasant, Tobago to peasant farmers, on November 15, 1915, Eric Merton Roach was one of six children. He attended Mt Pleasant Anglican School and Bishop's High School and served as teacher, public servant, artist and journalist, and as a soldier during World War II.
Roach became fully enmeshed in the intellectual groups that developed in Tobago. As a journalist, he produced voluminous works commenting on politics, race, contemporary issues including controversial topics, but he positioned himself as speaking for the peasants of Tobago.
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