Bonnie Greer on the Women of the Morant Bay Rebellion

Great Lives

BBC

History, Documentary, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.2 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 28 September 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

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Summary

Bonnie Greer OBE, playwright and critic, joins Matthew Parris to make a case for seven women from Jamaica who were hung or shot in 1865 after the Morant Bay Rebellion. Bonnie makes a case that this peasants' uprising was a pivotal event not only in Jamaican history, but in the history of the entire Caribbean region; Britain and the world. In Victorian England, the uproar following it included prominent names like Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin, who were on opposite sides of the debate. Bonnie wants to rectify the fact that the seven women who were killed in the aftermath have been largely forgotten, whilst their leaders - Paul Bogle and George William Gordon - are National Heroes of Jamaica. Joining Matthew and Bonnie is expert witness is Gad Heuman, Emeritus Professor at the University of Warwick and author of Killing Time: Morant Bay Rebellion Jamaica and The Caribbean: A Brief History. Producer: Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio, Bristol.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ever wondered what the world's wealthiest people did to get so ridiculously rich?
0:05.5	Our podcast Good Bad Billionaire takes one billionaire at a time and explains exactly how they made their money.
0:11.9	And then we decide if they are actually good, bad or just plain wealthy.
0:15.5	So if you want to know if Rihanna is as much of a bad guy as she claims,
0:19.2	or what Jeff Bezos really did to become the first person in history to pocket a hundred billion dollars,
0:24.6	listen to Good Bad Billionaire with me, Simon Jack, and me, Zingsing.
0:28.5	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:32.4	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:37.0	Usually on Great Lives, we look back on a Great Life,
0:40.8	one person chosen and admired by a guest.
0:44.1	They're often famous, or even infamous,
0:47.0	with reams of information and archive recordings we can explore and talk about.
0:52.3	Today, it's a very different story.
0:55.5	We have more lives than one to remember and discuss,
0:59.3	and we know remarkably little about them.
1:02.5	Joining us in the studio to nominate them is the playwright, novelist and critic,
1:07.4	Bonnie Greer, who was born in Chicago,
1:10.2	began writing plays age 10,
1:12.4	and has been awarded an OBE for her contribution to the arts.
1:16.9	And Bonnie has chosen the lives of seven women from Jamaica,
1:21.7	who were executed in October 1865.
1:25.5	And I've got to say, I am fascinated to learn more.
	...

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