Recently, I’ve been thinking about John Berger and his 1972 acceptance speech, in which he called out Booker McConnell’s history of exploitation in the Caribbean
Although I don’t discuss Berger in my book, [Private], his speech forces me to think about how easily colonial corporations rebrand after doing decades of damage.
When browsing through old Guyanese newspapers from the 1950s, it’s impossible to skip a few pages without seeing the Bookers brand.
Bookers Guiana
For over 100 years, Booker Bros, McConnell & Co had their hands in much of what was harvested and produced in British Guiana.
That’s over a century of economic dominance, built on the exploitation of enslaved people and later indentured labourers.
In 1968, two years after Guyana achieved independence, Bookers decided to rebrand.
They launched a literary award known today as the famous Booker Prize.
Before long, the company name was being associated with arts and culture, rather than with underpaid workers living in cramped quarters.
In 1972, John Berger decided to expose them.
He was awarded the Booker Prize for his book, G. But when he stood to give his acceptance speech, he highlighted the hypocrisy of Bookers and declared that he would donate a portion of his £5,000 winnings to anticolonial activism groups.
His speech contrasted the greedy colonial businessmen with the exploited Caribbean labourer.
Why is this important?
Berger used the Booker Prize stage in London to do what anticolonial leaders like Cheddi Jagan (Guyana) did for decades.
He brought awareness to the violence of colonialism and advocated for a future that gave priority to social justice.
His full speech can be found here if you’re interested in reading.
Do you have any thoughts on this week’s post? If so, hit the reply button. I would love to hear them.
Stay tuned for more reflections from my project, [Private].
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