Makandal Akhenation Daaga (born Geddes Granger; 13 August 1935 – 8 August 2016) was a

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

political activist and former revolutionary. He was the leader of the 1970

Black Power Revolution Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

. During the unrest he was arrested and charged. He rallied against inequalities towards black citizens in Trinidad. In February 1969, Granger founded the NJAC

National Joint Action Committee The National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) is a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. History The party was established in February 1969 by Makandal Daaga Makandal Akhenation Daaga (born Geddes Granger; 13 August 1935 – 8 August 2016) was ...

. In 2013 Daaga was awarded the

Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

(ORTT)."Order of the Republic for Daaga, Deosaran, CJ"
''Trinidad and Tobago Newsday'', 29 August 2013. Daaga died on 8 August 2016.

Early life and education

Geddes Granger was born in

Laventille Laventille is a ward of Trinidad and Tobago. Etymology The name ''Laventille'' hearkens back to colonial times, especially when the French dominated the cultural traditions of the island. One etymological derivation of the name is because the no ...

, Trinidad and Tobago. His father, Philip, was a barber and World War I veteran. Granger attended Belmont Intermediate School, and St. Mary's College before entering the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

in St. Augustine in 1967 where he was elected president of the Guild of Students.

NJAC and the February Revolution

In 1969, a group of West Indian students occupied the computer centre at

Sir George Williams University Sir George Williams University was a university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It merged with Loyola College to create Concordia University on August 24, 1974. History In 1851, the first YMCA in North America was established on Sainte-Hélène S ...

in Montreal. Ten Trinidadian students were among those charged with arson, among other actions. Partly in response to these events in Canada, Granger founded the National Joint Action Committee together with Dave Darbeau (later known as Kafra Kambon), Carl Blackwood, Aiyegoro Ome, Kelshall Bodie and Russel Andalucio. In late 1969, protests organised by NJAC successfully prevented a planned visit by the Canadian Governor-General

Roland Michener Daniel Roland Michener (April 19, 1900 – August 6, 1991) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 20th since Canadian Confederation. Michener was born and educated in Alberta. In 1917 he s ...

to the St. Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies. A demonstration was organised by NJAC and other groups on 26 February 1970 in

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

to mark the first anniversary of the Sir George Williams affair. In response to this, nine of the leaders of NJAC were arrested, including Granger. Their release on March 4 was marked with demonstrations by thousands of supporters. The following day, a peaceful protest in solidarity with the NJAC leaders was dispersed by the police, triggering violent protests and the attempted fire bombing of the home of a government minister. Protests continued through March and intensified in April after Basil Davis, an NJAC member, was killed by the police on 6 April. Davis' funeral on April 9 drew 30,000 mourners. On April 13,

A.N.R. Robinson Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson (16 December 1926 – 9 April 2014; known as A. N. R. or "Ray" Robinson), was the third President of Trinidad and Tobago, serving from 19 March 1997 to 17 March 2003. He was also Trinidad and Tobago's third Prime ...

, a government minister and member of Parliament, resigned from the ruling

People's National Movement The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's history, contesting all elections sinc ...

in protest. On April 21 the Prime Minister, Eric Williams, declared a state of emergency and arrested Granger and fourteen other leaders of the Black Power movement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daaga, Makandal 1935 births 2016 deaths Trinidad and Tobago activists National Joint Action Committee politicians University of the West Indies alumni Recipients of the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago