WHAT IS THE STORY BEHIND LIFTING THE WEIGHT OF HISTORY?

Lifting the Weight of History tells the story of how entrepreneurial women who are descended from slaves are confronting the difficult legacies of their Creole history, a history that has tainted islanders’ perception of the private sector. For as long as their histories extend back in time, Afro-Caribbean majorities (90%) of Martinique have been the laborers for a tiny minority of whites (1%) known locally as békés.

It has been 150 years since abolition, but because békés still control most of the local economy, tensions between workers and bosses that began during slavery live on. Indeed, still today, mistrust and suspicion fuel the sense among many that bosses exploit workers and that working hard is unrelated to advancement. Such deeply entrenched problems in the workplace drain energy from the life force of local business. With increasing competition from Caribbean neighbors and from savvy business leaders in EU countries, an anemic culture of business threatens Martinique’s control of its own future.

In the midst of such global challenges, however, growing numbers of Afro-Caribbean female business owners are bringing new management styles and philosophical commitments that promote a seamlessness between work and family, and sustainable, people-centered approaches to doing business.
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