Phenomenal Women

I write this a day earlier than it will post and today is International Women’s Day

Maya Angelou wrote a poem called Phenomenal Woman. Let us honour the phenomenal women in all of our lives.

Today I will highlight one such phenomenal woman, my dear friend Marla, who in 2017 gave the Sir Arthur Lewis memorial lecture, a big stage for a Caribbean economist.

I share with you here a video created and posted for IWD2019 of her opening to that speech, plus the transcript from that.

I remember when I first heard the speech, it gave me goosebumps, the power of the story was so strong, the way Marla honoured her grandmothers. I hope it so inspires you too.

Transcript excerpt:

For me it is a tremendous honour, to be the second woman, and the second Trinbagonian, to deliver this prestigious lecture in its 22 year history. The first woman, Dr. Kari Levitt, and the first Trinbagonian, Dr. Lloyd Best, together gave us the “Plantation Economy Model”. This seminal work, like almost all academic work in this region post-1950, was arguably…