International Women’s Day 2013: Remembering Kowsilla of Leonora by Rosaliene Bacchus
Kowsilla of Leonora (1920-1964) – Guyana
Source: Article by Vanessa Narine (www.angelfire.com)
I learned about Kowsilla, also known as Alice, while researching Guyana’s history (1950 to 1970) for my first novel, Under the Tamarind Tree. Her involvement in the sugar workers’ struggle for better working and living conditions and her final act of courage on 6 March 1964 at Plantation Leonora made an enduring impression on me.
Leonora, located on the West Coast Demerara, got its name from two Dutch children, Leo and Nora, during the days of Dutch occupation before the British took control of the colony in 1786.
On 6 March 1964 during a general sugar workers strike, Kowsilla was among the men and women who formed a human barricade by squatting on the bridge leading to Leonora’s factory gate. In so doing, they prevented African scabs, hired by the factory manager, from entering the factory to…
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THE NON PARIEL UPRISING
Our visitors to Guyana from other places
Were all treated with respect in all cases
This is a tradition engrained in our genes
Not to bludgeon them with our peens
Although some claim to be inventive
Our visitors were so very insensitive
Yet our slave masters treated us very harshly
Although we were loyal with good husbandry
Enslaved our men reducing them to mendicants
Handing out pittances showing poor judgements
Dehumanizing our women with sheer disrespect
Callously neglecting complaints left unchecked
A high percentage of them were educated peoples
Yet they were all mal-treated worst than weevils
And many also had a great deal of oral learning
Despite their humbling and lead-hands’ bashing
Many were also gifted with artistic and technical skills
They left India to come to save the bakrahs’ sugar-mills
A large number of Indian Sepoys (soldiers) among them
Unlike the white comrades-in-arms they had no problem
They were not drawn from the dregs of society
But were members of a very respected army7
Not taking the Queen’s shilling as a last resort
But for the bakrahs to give adequate support
Always well dressed in uniforms or in tunics
Whether they were Hindus, Muslims or Sikhs
They regarded their calling as warriors
And served as the bakrahs’ protectors
Sepoys (soldiers) of the British Indian Army
Had faith in Hinduism, Islam and Christianity
Several were also men of high learning
Many were literate with good breeding
Versed in Latin, Religious Studies and Astrology
Also Mathematics, Commerce and Astronomy
Lord Louis Mountbatten who once had visited Guyana
Thought the coolies were magnificent men from India
Their tall figures, deep broad chests, and molded limbs
Showed as if they spent all their spare time in the gyms
Interfere with a mother’s kid and see how would respond
Interfere with a man’s wife you can’t even hide in a pond
That’s what caused this whole morbid sordid affair
For women living in the logies was like a nightmare
The logies offered very little or no privacy
Abduction of women was done very easily
This was mostly done by overseers and managers
And yes also from some community members
Who would stoop to any level they can find
And most times it was for cash or for kind
Firstly, the Harry Garnett the Manager of the sugar estate
Went to Gerad Van Nooten who raped Jamni as a bedmate
Van Nooten and friends were habitual violators
Of our immigrant women, girls and daughters
Mr. Garnett should have placed Van Nooten on an anthill
When he said he was keeping Jamni of her own free will
Of course Van Nooten’s claim by Jamni was denied
She struck him in his face then he started to backslide
With heavy steel berwas (bangles) she wore on her wrist
She scratched his face as he attempted she tried to resist
Van Nooten released her and she ran towards her lojie
A group of armed men including her husband, Jangli
Demanded the manager brought to justice
Only to be told their protest had no basis
Despite all the lies told by managers to get their fill
Few females lived with them on their own freewill
To give themselves to the management officials
Too scared of retaliation fighting their own battles
They staunchly hold on to their cultural traditions
And offered resistance to males with evil intentions
Biased and headstrong Capt.De Rinzy went into action
Disorder ensued, angry workers heedless of protection
As he unwisely conspired not even to enquire
Instead he ordered his militia squad to open fire
After the shelling settled with the bullets and buck shot
Jangli and one worker were shot and killed on the spot
Three others died and 59 were injured with buck shot fire
Because the manager wanted to fulfill his sexual desire