As Sir Winston Churchill once said, “The farther backward you can look, the further forward you can see.” With Women’s Day festivities in the air, we look at three of the women who have shaped Saint Lucia as a whole. While some may not have roads named after them or monuments erected in their honour, their contributions have paved the way for generations of Saint Lucians.
Flore Bois Gaillard:
Few know of the existence of Flore but if you know of Piton Flore, then it’s best to know that it was named after a revolutionary Saint Lucian mulattress who played a decisive role in the Brigands’ war and actually led one of the guerrilla bands against the British at the Battle of Rabot. Flore Bois Gaillard can be compared to ex-slaves like Queen Nanny of Jamaica or Harriet Tubman of the US. All three were former slave women who led military campaigns against attempts to re-enslave them and, while killed for their efforts, had a lasting impact on the slaves who were able to see freedom.
Marie Grace Augustin:
Ms. Augustin was a Saint Lucian businesswoman and politician. After attaining a nursing and midwifery degree, she studied law, but was refused permission to take a bar examination based on her gender. If she had been granted admission, she would have become the first woman lawyer in the Commonwealth Caribbean. Instead, Ms. Augustin became the first woman in Saint Lucia to manage a large estate and was also the first woman to be nominated as a parliamentarian in Saint Lucia, becoming the first female member of the legislature.
Aside from her career aspirations, Ms. Augustin was an innovator and, dare I say, a daredevil. Back in those times, the main mode of transport from her estate in Micoud to Castries was by horseback and took two days to complete. Ms. Augustin cut that to four hours by purchasing a motorcycle and riding it from her estate to town.
She was also a generous patron of the arts and opened her estate and hotel to many iconic figures such as Sesenne, Dunstan St. Omer and Derek Walcott. In fact, her principal entertainer was Sesenne.
Sessenne Descartes:
While it’s right to recognise Sesenne’s contributions to folk-singing and the preservation of culture, she was quite the rebel; some would even describe her as Saint Lucia’s first female cultural activist because, in Sesenne’s days, the speaking of Kwéyòl, and even the custom of flower festivals and seances, was frowned upon, and in some cases prohibited, by the British elite who governed the island.
Sesenne took a musical stance against British colonialism and its efforts to fragment Saint Lucian society by continuing to sing in Kwéyòl. She even sang folk songs during the eve of our nation’s Independence, in the company of members of the British royal family.
Far too often, the memories of our female icons are buried or lost. During this year’s Women’s Day, let’s hope that they can be celebrated for their sacrifices and unfaltering contributions.
Keithlin Caroo is the founder of Helen’s Daughters , a Saint Lucian non-profit with a special focus on rural women’s economic development through improved market access, adaptive agricultural techniques, and capacity-building. It was formed in 2016 in a winning proposal for UN Women’s Empower Women Champions for Change Program.
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