Derek Walcott – 1930 —

Nobel Prize in Literature - 1992

colonialism

and

independence

edited galley proof from Omeros

lilac horns?

sea-swift

man o’ war (frigate bird)

http://www.path.berkeley.edu/gerald/BirdJpgs/HerringGull.jpg

Kenya -

Mau Mau uprising

(c1950-c1960)

Between 1952 and 1956, the LFA/Mau Mau engaged in a campaign of terror against highland settlers and Kikuyu loyalists.

The British response was as swift as it was brutal. The forests of Mount Kenya, where the LFA had their base camps, were designated a "prohibited area" and were heavily bombed. People living on the fringes of the forest were evicted from the land, their animals confiscated and crops and huts burned to clear the way for the "free fire zone". Other settlements suspected of harbouring Mau Mau were burned, and suspects were routinely tortured for information and confessions.

In 1953, the Mau Mau uprising was covered by the international media, showing dreadlocked Mau Mau defying British colonial rule. Many Jamaican Rastas adopted dreadlocks as a symbol of brotherhood in the fight against racial injustice.