Makandal Akhenation Daaga[1] ORTT (born Geddes Granger; 13 August 1935 – 8 August 2016) was a Trinidad and Tobago political activist and former revolutionary. He was the leader of the 1970 Black Power Revolution. During the unrest he was arrested and charged.
He rallied against inequalities towards black citizens in Trinidad.
In 1969, a group of West Indian students occupied the computer centre at Sir George Williams University 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 to the St. Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies.[7]
A demonstration was organised by NJAC and other groups on 26 February 1970 in Port of Spain to mark the first anniversary of the Sir George Williams affair. In response to this, nine of the leaders of NJAC were arrested,[8] including Granger.[9] 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.[8]
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, a government minister and member of Parliament, resigned from the ruling People's National Movement in protest.[7] On April 21 the Prime Minister, Eric Williams, declared a state of emergency and arrested Granger[2] and fourteen other leaders of the Black Power movement.[10]: 71
^ abSamaroo, Brinsley (2014). "The February Revolution (1970) as a Catalyst for Change in Trinidad and Tobago". In Quinn, Kate (ed.). Black power in the Caribbean. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. ISBN9780813049090. OCLC828055845.
^Peter., Meighoo, Kirk (2003). Politics in a 'half made society' : Trinidad and Tobago, 1925–2001. Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Randle Publishers. ISBN1558763066. OCLC51587787.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
