Grenada An Oral History 1 of 6

An oral history of the Caribbean island of Grenada, by Joachim (Sonny) Mark. Sonny describes the history from the first settlers through colonialism, slavery, the push for West Indian Federation, and finally independence. He also details the contributions of notable historical figures including Fedon, Donovan and Marryshow. He goes into the history of carnival, the Catholic church, and certain families who made significant contributions to the church.
The history, however, does not include any information regarding the 1983 revolution and the subsequent U.S. intervention.

ABOUT JOACHIM (SONNY) MARK
This documentary was video taped in Sonny's home in Brooklyn, NY. At the time of the taping Sonny was very ill yet he was excited to do the documentary and I think it may have helped him temporarily overcome some of the pain and discomfort he was experiencing at the time.

The entire video taping session was completed in one sitting with only minor pauses to avoid the the disruptions of sirens and vehicular traffic outside.
What you will see in this video is Sonny talking about the history of the island as you would expect from a professor who is knowledgeable and comfortable with his subject. No scripts, notes or other reference materials were utilized; he spoke entirely from memory. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of history and could recall events and dates effortlessly.

Sonny loved writing about the history and politics of the Caribbean and the United States, and I hope that this documentary will continue his legacy of teaching.

Sonny died in 2009, before the publication of this documentary.