Attillah Springer taking liberation into her own hands

She acts as Director of Idakeda Group, a collective of women in her family “creating cultural interventions for social change, especially among women and youth in socially vulnerable communities in Trinidad and Tobago”.

Also part of Idakeda is Eintou Pearl Springer, Attillah’s mother, acclaimed poet, playwright, and social activist. Attillah says Idakeda is currently working on community-based interventions around gender based violence, theatre training for young persons, and publishing a collection of plays written by Eintou.

Eintou’s play, Freedom Morning Come, will be performed outside the Treasury Building in Port-of-Spain at 6 am on Emancipation morning. A preceding offering of rituals and procession will take place starting at All Stars Pan Yard at 4 am. All are invited to join.

Freedom tells stories of numerous characters surrounding the Emancipation Proclamation of 1834. It is a story of a slave population on freedom’s doorstep while still embattled with the unimaginable trauma of slavery.

In an interview last year, Eintou highlighted that the play is also a story of survival and resistance, homage to the ancestors whose lives were entrenched in servitude. “It is a story of eternity and introspection,” Eintou said of the play’s overall themes.

In the same interview, she spoke of the importance of African histories and cultures being taught in our nation’s schools – for a deeper sense of self-worth and a knowledgeable population who understands and honours its past. While the play’s title proclaims Freedom Morning Come, both Eintou and Attillah understand that the right knowledge and teachings can lead to a better understanding and feeling of freedom for past, present, and future generations alike.

“We need to totally overhaul the way history is taught,” says Attillah of steps that must be taken to ensure children have an understanding of past systems, as well as pride in their ancestry. She sees her role as a cultural creator of change: “I basically have my work set out for the rest of my life: to create a variety of resources, including films, books for children and websites. We also need more sharing on the continent and diaspora.”

Some of this sharing, she believes, can happen triumphantly through social media.

She uses her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds daily to spread information; information she may take for granted that others are less knowledgeable about.

“I believe that social media can be used in a serious way to raise consciousness and fill the many gaps that exist,” she comments on the carrying power of these platforms to enlighten or organise groups to bring about social change and awareness.

Her personal mantras are simple, but powerful: “Reading. Writing. Reading some more,” she says of the ways she takes liberation into her own hands. She also plants her own food, saves in a sousou, seeks spiritual clarity, and gives thanks to her ancestors every morning for their hard work and sacrifices.

As for “true” emancipation, she points out that the Emancipation Proclamation was not delivered even two centuries ago and the fight continues to repair 500 years of destruction in the space of three generations – a gargantuan task that must be taken on from the roots up.

Her paternal great grandmother was born just after Emancipation and her grandmother, born in 1897, still feared the possibility of the return of slavery. “This is a long-term process and we have to do serious work for several generations to deal with that trauma,” she says.

Concerning the changing face of resistance, she adds, “In the absence of physical chains we’re still grappling with a lot of trauma, denial, unresolved terror. We’re unclear of who or what we are resisting against and this is a large part of the challenge of Africans around the world.”

She does not think the battle is that of only Africans, though. Commenting on colonial “divide and conquer” mentalities still wreaking oppression and prejudice among our populace, she remarks, “We can’t do it on our own. Sadly, we still have competing patriarchies engaging their communities in victim olympics without any interest in truly working together. This ultimately serves the divisive agendas of colonialism and white supremacist ideologies.”

Such ideologies further promote further marginalisation, weakening groups even more and robbing them of cohesion and organisation. “We have believed their hype that people of colour – whether they are culturally Indian, African, Asian, Indigenous – cannot work together,” she says of the ignorance these ideologies are responsible for spreading.

“So instead of examining the similarities of our struggles and using that information to create forward movement for all of us, we are awaiting nods of approval and rewards from those who appropriate our labour, culture, spiritual values.”

She sees these tactics as harmful, but is also doing the extraordinary work of dismantlement. Her belief is that true resistance and Emancipation can be made present through togetherness and intersectionality – pillars that are given their due diligence in Trinbagonian society… but not quite enough.

For more information on Idakeda’s community-building projects and ways

you can assist, visit www.idakeda.com

For more on Attillah’s work dismantling, rebuilding, creating, and educating you can visit her blog at tillahwillah.wordpress.com