Dr. Eric Williams: The Father of a Nation

By Majessire L. Smith, Esq.

It was 1922 in Trinidad, West Indies. The man known today as Dr. Eric Williams was a young boy of just eleven years old—walking down Dundonald Street to Queens Royal College on his first day of school. He was a brilliant student and would excel as both a scholar and an athlete.

Dr. Williams loved his country. But from a very young age, he could see that changes were necessary. He saw the unyielding chasm between the rich and the poor, the haves and have-nots, the blacks and the whites. In 1932, when Dr. Williams left Trinidad to study history and politics at Oxford University, his budding social conscience began to grow in leaps and bounds. Between his love of historical research and his new vantage point in England, he could more thoroughly scrutinize the relationship between the great metropolitan slave power and the colonies of the British West Indies. He noted that years after its abolition, the slave trade had created great wealth for England making it a great industrial nation, while the islands of the West Indies had fallen into political and economic near-ruin. He felt it was the continued exploitation of the West Indies by former colonial powers that had led to such desperate conditions in the West Indies. In his mind, there was only one remedy, independence for the islands of the West Indies.

Many years later, then a teacher at Howard University in the United States, Dr. Williams would make several trips to Trinidad to lecture in Woodford Square. Woodford Square would become his own personal open-air lecture hall—the University of Woodford Square, as he would call it. It was in stark contrast to the formal education he administered in the classrooms of Howard University. He had created popular education, a style of teaching that was quite unique at that time. He could educate the masses about slavery, imperialism and the dangers of British colonization. He could provide them with knowledge and information, the ultimate tools and vehicles for change. And he could do so with all the forbidden appeal of an outdoor concert. His style and message resonated with the people of Trinidad as he spoke before cheering crowds.

Dr. Williams returned to the United States, buoyed by the immense success of his lecture series, his zeal for the cause at its peak. In 1944, he became deputy chairman of the Anglo-American Caribbean Commission—a super-agency created by the Caribbean's colonial powers; the United States, Great Britain, France and the Netherlands. Its mandate was to supervise a wide range of economic and social programs in the Caribbean. But soon it appeared that the relationship between an ardent anti-imperialist and a coalition of imperialist powers created to oversee the Caribbean colonies could be nothing but turbulent. It was not long before this relationship became strained. And on June 21, 1955, when his contract expired, the Commission did not seek its renewal. On that day, Dr. Williams stood before a cheering audience at the University of Woodford Square and declared, “I will lay down my bucket with you here in the West Indies.” And so he did.

He continued to lecture in Woodford Square and his popularity continued to grow. By 1956, he was so loved by the people of Trinidad that even a rumor of communist affiliation, truly the deadliest of accusation at that time, did nothing to slow his political momentum.
With no segment of society was Dr. Williams more popular than he was with teachers. Teachers had become disenchanted with the policies of the Party of Political Progress Groups, the party in power at that time. They admired and respected Dr. Williams. They saw in him the change the country needed. They clamored for Dr. Williams to take charge and to form a new political party. And with that, the People’s National Movement was born. The scene was set for a momentous career in politics that would span twenty-five years. It was the beginning of a crusade for change that would culminate in the independence of Trinidad and Tobago on August 31, 1962.

Dr. Eric Eustace Williams was Trinidad’s first prime minister. He served Trinidad tirelessly as a leader and dedicated public servant from 1956 until he died in office in 1981. Under his leadership, Trinidad not only achieved its independence, it became a sovereign nation with a republican constitution.

His contribution was truly profound.

(Majessire L. Smith, Esq. is a contributor to Island Vibes Magazine. For comments, please feel free to contact her at majessire@islandvibesmag.com.)