Anne Liburd MBE (12 December 1920 – 13 September 2007) also known as Ann Liburd was a Kittitian women’s rights activist and community organizer. She served as president of the National Council of Women in St. Kitts and was the first and then three-time president of the Caribbean Women’s Association. She headed several programs to develop women's entrepreneurial skills and then served as the first president of the Federation of Labour Women, a political affiliation of the Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party to help women gain leadership and communication skills.
Anne Liburd | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Anne Eliza Martin 12 December 1920 |
| Died | 13 September 2007 (aged 86) |
| Nationality | Kittitian |
| Other names | Ann Liburd |
| Occupation(s) | educator, civil service secretary, women's rights activist, labor activist |
| Years active | 1946–1996 |
Early life
editAnne Eliza Martin was born on 12 December 1920 in Antigua[1] to Alice Maude (née Cornelius) and Jacob Martin.[2] Her mother, a staunch supporter of education, was a laundress and her father engaged in farming.[3] They were related to the Bird family, which had members who served as Prime Ministers in the country. Martin completed her schooling in Antigua[2] and after high school passed her Senior Cambridge Examination, allowing her to teach.[3] At the age of 17, Martin gave birth to her first son, Clarence Fitzroy Bryant, who would later serve as St. Kitt's Minister of Education and Attorney General.[4] Fitzroy was followed by sons Ronan and Tyrone.[2]
Career
editMartin found work in a printing company and during the war years met a Nevisian army reservist, Clement Liburd, whom she married in 1944.[2] Two years after her marriage, Liburd and her family, which now included a fourth son, Karl, moved to St. Kitts.[2][5] She began teaching at Trinity School,[2] riding her bicycle daily from her home in Basseterre to the school in the Trinity Parish.[6] During this time, she had two more children,[2] a son, Clement Juni Liburd, Jr. who would become Director of Broadcasting for the St. Kitts Nevis Information Service,[7] and a daughter, Marcella, who later became the Minister of Health, Social Services, Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs.[8]
Liburd soon joined the worker's movement providing training for poor women to learn both parenting skills and employment training, guiding them in opening and operating their own businesses. After teaching for several years, she became a civil servant working in the areas of finance and administration. In the 1960s and 1970s, she worked to help develop education policies to improve the opportunities of all children to receive education.[9] Liburd was the first president of the Caribbean Women’s Association (CARIWA),[3] an umbrella organization formed in 1970 to collectively mobilize and unite women and women's organizations throughout the region,[10] and was re-elected to the office three times.[3] During the same period, she served as president of the National Council of Women in St. Kitts[11] and during her tenure launched the "Learn to Earn" program which gained acclaim throughout the Caribbean and Canada. The program taught entrepreneurial skills to help women gain economic independence.[12][13]
In 1974, when the Labour Party created the Federation of Labour Women, Liburd was elected as its first president. The following year, she founded the Toast Mistress Club of St. Kitts and Nevis to train women in effective communication skills.[12] Throughout the 1970s, Liburd represented the Labour Women at numerous international conferences sponsored by the United Nations. She attended the inaugural conference for the Decade for Women held in Mexico City, the mid-decade conference held in 1985 in Copenhagen; and was also a representative at the 1990 conference of Nairobi.[7][12] She kept a black board updated with local events at the Masses House, in an age devoid of talk radio. The board was vandalized and removed many times, but always returned so that Liburd could exercise her right to free speech.[9][13]
Between 1982 and 1985, Liburd helped anchor the Trade Union Education Institute and University of the West Indies (UWI) interdisciplinary project to provide training and leadership capacity and teach the history of women’s contributions to society as citizens, activists, laborers, and leaders.[14] From 1985 to 1986, she served as one of the policy makers during the Caribbean Women for Democracy conferences held in The Bahamas, Dominica, and Jamaica.[12][15] Liburd was an executive member of the St. Kitts and Nevis Trade and Labour Union, traveling abroad to numerous training events as its representative.[12] In 1996, she received membership in the Order of the British Empire for her community service work.[16]
Upon retirement from the civil service, Liburd used her bonus to open a specialty shop where she sold clothing, toiletries, ginger beer, and mauby, as well as her own baked goods. She used her shop to sell local products and provide income for the women of her community who made the goods.[3] In 2004, Liburd was honored with a "Woman of Great Esteem" award by the organization of the same name of New York, for her contributions to the development of women's opportunities in St. Kitts and Nevis.[7][17]
Death and legacy
editLiburd died 13 September 2007 in Basseterre, St. Kitts and was buried in the Springfield Cemetery in Basseterre on 25 September 2007.[6] News of her death led lecturers from UWI to create a series of lectures called Forever Indebted to Women to highlight the contributions of Caribbean trade women to the history of their countries. The first lecture Annstory began in St. Kitts and traveled to twelve countries throughout the region,[18] beginning at the end of 2007.[19] In 2011, Liburd was featured in an exhibit promoted by various departments of the Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis to highlight prominent women's accomplishments.[8]
References
editCitations
edit- ^ SKN Vibes & 21 September 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g St. Kitts National Archives 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Haniff 2007, p. 14.
- ^ Conway 2009.
- ^ Soares 2009, p. 12.
- ^ a b Buchanan 2007.
- ^ a b c SKNIS 2004.
- ^ a b MIY Vue News 2011.
- ^ a b SKN Vibes 2007.
- ^ Ellis 2003, p. 73.
- ^ The Virgin Islands Daily News 1975, p. 5.
- ^ a b c d e Qkingdom Ministries Inc. 2003, p. 14.
- ^ a b Williams 2012.
- ^ Soares 2009, p. 13.
- ^ Kingston Gleaner 1986, p. 10.
- ^ The Times 1996, p. 7.
- ^ Kingston Weekly Gleaner 2003, p. 84.
- ^ Phillips 2009, p. 2.
- ^ Phillips 2009, p. 3.
Bibliography
edit- Buchanan, Suelika N. (26 September 2007). "Lady Anne Laid to Rest". Basseterre, St. Kitts: SKN Vibes. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- Conway, Stanford (22 November 2009). "Coming home to my father's land". Basseterre, St. Kitts: SKN Vibes. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- Ellis, Pat (2003). Women, Gender and Development in the Caribbean: Reflections and Projections. London, England: Zed Books. ISBN 978-1-85649-933-0.
- Haniff, Nesha Z (1988). Blaze a fire: significant contributions of Caribbean women. Toronto, Canada: Sister Vision, Black Women of Colour Press. ISBN 978-0-920-81391-1. cited in "Tributes". Gender Dialogue. Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. December 2007. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- Phillips, Marva (December 2009). "Forever Indebted to Women: Caribbean Women in Trade Unions". Caribbean Quarterly. 55 (4). Mona, Jamaica: University of the West Indies: 1–7. doi:10.1080/00086495.2009.11878838. ISSN 0008-6495. JSTOR 40655091. S2CID 152318473.
- Soares, Judith (December 2009). ""Forever Indebted to Women": Annstory". Caribbean Quarterly. 55 (4). Mona, Jamaica: University of the West Indies: 9–14. doi:10.1080/00086495.2009.11878839. ISSN 0008-6495. JSTOR 40655092. S2CID 150989169.
- Williams, Erasmus (31 May 2012). "Marcella Libud focuses on impact of Labour Movement on Women". SKN List. Cayon, St. Kitts: Office of the Prime Minister, Government Headquarters. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- "Anne Liburd named "Woman of great esteem"". Basseterre, St. Kitts: St. Kitts Nevis Information Service. 11 November 2004. Archived from the original on 18 February 2005. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- "Eulogy". Basseterre, St. Kitts: SKN Vibes. 2007. Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- "In Memory of Mrs. Ann Liburd, President, Caribbean Women's Association". Basseterre, St. Kitts: SKN Vibes. 21 September 2007. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- "Masses House Personalities". Historic Basseterre. Basseterre, St. Kitts: St. Kitts National Archives. 2010. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- "New Years Honors (continued): St Christopher". The Times. No. 65774. London, England. 31 December 1996. p. 7. Retrieved 28 August 2016 – via GaleGroup.
- "Powerful Women of St. Kitts Featured in Exhibition". Basseterre, St. Kitts: MIY Vue News. 7 April 2011. Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- "Q Kingdom honours women achievers". Kingston, Jamaica: Kingston Weekly Gleaner. 24 April 2003. Retrieved 29 August 2016 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
- "Woman Of Great Esteem Honorees (2003): Lady Anne Liburd" (PDF). Woman Of Great Esteem. Brooklyn, New York: Qkingdom Ministries Inc. 2003. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
- "Women's activity in politics neglected in Carib". Kingston, Jamaica: Kingston Gleaner. 10 February 1986. Retrieved 29 August 2016 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
- "Women's Year Pageant Set". Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands: The Virgin Islands Daily News. 30 January 1975. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
