# State of Emergency Declared (1970)

URL: https://allhistories.com/trinidad-and-tobago/timeline/1970-state-of-emergency-declared
Location: Port of Spain, Trinidad
Themes: main-event

By April 1970 the Black Power marches had become a nationwide movement. On 6 April a young NJAC activist, Basil Davis, was shot dead by police in Port of Spain, and his funeral drew huge crowds. On 13 April A. N. R. Robinson, a senior minister of the governing People's National Movement and Member of Parliament for Tobago East, resigned from the cabinet, and NJAC marchers had already walked into the sugar belt in search of unity with Indo-Trinidadian workers, and on 18 April sugar workers went on strike as talk of a general strike spread. On 21 April Prime Minister Eric Williams proclaimed a state of emergency, imposed a curfew and had about 15 Black Power and trade union leaders detained, among them Geddes Granger (Makandal Daaga) and George Weekes. Many were held on Nelson Island in the Gulf of Paria. Williams reshuffled his cabinet, dropping several ministers, and later introduced a Public Order Bill to restrict marches, though public opposition led by Robinson's new Action Committee of Democratic Citizens forced him to withdraw it. The emergency, together with the failure of the army mutiny that followed, broke the momentum of the street movement. Yet its leaders kept their influence: NJAC continued as a political organisation, and Robinson went on to found the Democratic Action Congress. The episode exposed the fragility of the young state and its dependence on the loyalty of the security forces. At this point in the timeline (21 April 1970), the Queen of Trinidad and Tobago was Elizabeth II (31 August 1962 – 1 August 1976); the Governor-General of Trinidad and Tobago was Sir Solomon Hochoy (31 August 1962 – 15 September 1972). Government: the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago was Eric Williams (31 August 1962 – 29 March 1981).

## Why it matters
The 1970 state of emergency showed how far the government would go to contain dissent and pushed some radicals towards armed struggle.

Ruler at the Time: [Elizabeth II (1962–1976)](https://allhistories.com/trinidad-and-tobago/rulers/elizabeth-ii-queen-of-trinidad-and-tobago)

Governor-General of Trinidad and Tobago: Sir Solomon Hochoy
Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago: Eric Williams (People's National Movement)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Black Power Revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Power_Revolution)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Eric Williams](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Eric+Williams)
- [National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago](https://natt.gov.tt/)
- [Wikipedia — Independence And The Williams Era (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Williams)