Alphonso Theodore Roberts
Encyclopedia
Early years
Born in Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesSaint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles chain, namely in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean....
on September 18, 1937, Roberts attended St. George's Anglican School and then St. Vincent Boy's Grammar School. While at the Grammar School
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
, Roberts excelled in both soccer and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
and, upon the recommendation of cricket great Sir Everton Weekes
Everton Weekes
Sir Everton DeCourcy Weekes, KCMG, GCM, OBE is a leading former West Indian cricketer. Along with Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott, he formed what was known as "The Three Ws" of West Indian cricket.-Youth and early career:...
, he was awarded a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to Queen's Royal College
Queen's Royal College
Still regarded as the bastion of secondary school education Queen's Royal College is the oldest secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago, referred to for short as "QRC", or "The College" by past alumni...
in Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
. It was during this period that he was selected to play for the West Indies cricket team
West Indian cricket team
The West Indian cricket team, also known colloquially as the West Indies or the Windies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of 15 mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, British dependencies and non-British dependencies.From the mid 1970s to the early 1990s,...
. Along with Sir Everton Weekes and the legendary Gary Sobers, he toured New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
with the West Indies team in 1955-56. He was only 18 years of age, one of the youngest ever to play international cricket.
Alfie Roberts’ interest in education and politics took precedence over sport and by 1961 he was no longer playing competitive cricket. Between 1958 and 1962, he worked as a civil servant for the government of St. Vincent
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles chain, namely in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean....
before emigrating to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to attend Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University
Concordia University
Concordia University is a comprehensive Canadian public university located in Montreal, Quebec, one of the two universities in the city where English is the primary language of instruction...
) in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
Montreal and the Conference Committee
In 1965, Roberts teamed up with Robert HillRobert Hill
Robert Hill may refer to:*Robert Hill , former Australian Senator, Defence Minister and Ambassador to the United Nations*Robert Andrews Hill , U.S. federal judge*Robert C. Hill , American diplomat...
, Hugh O'Neale, Alvin Johnson
Alvin Johnson
Alvin Johnson may refer to:* Alvin Saunders Johnson , American economist* Al "Carnival Time" Johnson , American singer and piano player-See also:*Alvin M. Johnston , jet-age test pilot*Al Johnson...
, Franklyn Harvey, Anne Cools
Anne Cools
Anne Clare Cools is a member of the Canadian Senate. Born in Barbados, with her appointment, she became the first Black Canadian to be appointed to Canada's upper house...
, and Rosie Douglas
Rosie Douglas
Roosevelt Bernard Douglas was a Dominican politician. In 2000 he was prime minister of the Caribbean island for eight months, from 3 February 2000 until his death later that year....
, among others, to organize the first of a series of conferences and events that would bring a host of distinguished Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
thinkers and writers to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, including novelist George Lamming
George Lamming
George Lamming , is a novelist and poet. He was born in Barbados and teaches at Brown University.- Early life and education :George Lamming was born on June 8, 1927 in Carrington Village, Barbados, of mixed African and English parentage. After his mother married his stepfather, Lamming split his...
and C.L.R. James, one of the great thinkers of the last century. These events nourished a number of important political movements across the Caribbean. Out of this Montreal-based group, the Conference Committee on West Indian Affairs, evolved several other groups based in Montreal, including the International Caribbean Service Bureau and the Emancipation 150 Committee. These groups played a major role in highlighting social and political issues facing communities of African and Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
descent locally and internationally.
As an advocate for the downtrodden and dispossessed, Alfie Roberts’ work brought him to various countries in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
– Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
; to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
, and many other countries across the Caribbean; and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. He also helped to develop cricket, netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
, carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
, and several foundational Black community institutions in Montreal, many of which continue to enrich the Montreal community.
Among the many groups and organizations that Roberts helped to establish during his thirty-four years in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
is the St. Vincent and Grenadines Association of Montreal. In fact, despite his many international commitments, he remained committed to his native St. Vincent and the Grenadines and it was he who, on the eve of the country’s independence, submitted a detailed policy statement to the government of St. Vincent
Politics of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Politics of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines takes place in the framework of an independent parliamentary democratic Commonwealth Realm with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state, represented by a Governor General, who acts on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet...
outlining why the Grenadines
Grenadines Parish, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Grenadines is an administrative parish of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Its capital is Port Elizabeth.* Area: 43 km² * Population: 9,200 The parish includes the northern Grenadine Islands:* Bequia* Moonhole Rock* Petite Nevis...
should be included as an integral part of the country’s name. The crux of his argument was that the Grenadines should not be seen as mere appendages of the island of St. Vincent, and that the integrity of all of the smaller islands should be respected. His submission was adopted by the government, hence the name St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
A voluminous reader who possessed a remarkably analytical mind, a vivid memory, and an insatiable appetite for learning, Roberts was also a teacher who served as an advisor and resource to many – including several prime minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
s in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
.
Alfie Roberts' Legacy: The Alfie Roberts Institute
Named after Roberts, The Alfie Roberts InstituteThe Alfie Roberts Institute
The Alfie Roberts Institute is an independent non-governmental organization. It aims to provide a critical voice for change within African and Caribbean communities and society at large....
is an independent non-governmental organization based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, founded in 2001. The Alfie Roberts Institute expands upon Alfie Roberts' life work, and is home to a large collection of print and media materials primarily concerning Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, and their peoples.
In June 2005 The Alfie Roberts Institute launched its first publication, a book called "A View For Freedom: Alfie Roberts Speaks
A View For Freedom: Alfie Roberts Speaks
A View For Freedom: Alfie Roberts Speaks on the Caribbean, Cricket, Montreal, and C.L.R. James is a book published in June 2005 by The Alfie Roberts Institute....
on the Caribbean, Cricket, Montreal, and C.L.R. James." The book is based on an extensive interview with Alfie Roberts conducted by David Austin in January 1995, over a year before Roberts died.