The 19th annual Dollar fo’ Dollar Culture and History Tour: A Remembrance of the Coal Workers of the Virgin Islands will be held from 2:30 to 6 p.m. Saturday, starting at Market Square and ending at Emancipation Garden.
“We’re looking forward to building new partnerships, working with cultural groups we’ve admired over the years, and looking at this aspect of Virgin Islands history from a fresh perspective,” Ayesha Morris, co-founder of the historical tour, told The Daily News.
Morris said her interest in the 1892 Coal Workers Strike began when she found an intriguing photo of one of the workers.
“She appeared statuesque with a large boulder on her head, a pipe in her mouth, and a shirt fashioned from the Danish flag,” she explained. “Despite the heavy load she balanced, there was a sense of grace, strength, and dignity in her presence.”
Inspired by the workers who fueled the steamships for a living, Morris wanted to create an interactive way to honor the memory of this historical event.
With the support of co-founders Jahweh David and DaraMonifah Cooper, along with sponsorship from the Virgin Islands Humanities Council, the first tour took place in 2006.
The name of the event “Dollar fo’ Dollar” comes from the demands of the coal workers, who wanted to be paid in Danish silver and not the devalued Mexican currency circulating at the time.
“While they should have earned a dollar a day for carrying 100 baskets of coal, weighing up to 100 pounds each, to the steamship bunkers, around the time of the strike they were paid instead in this currency that was equivalent to 63 cents and steadily dropping,” Morris said.
The interactive walking tour aims to highlight the historic strikes of 1892 and 1916 while embracing themes of freedom. This year’s tour also coincides with Virgin Islands Freedom Fighters Day.
The tour will feature storytelling, reenactments, bamboula singing and dancing, traditional African drumming, and conch shell calls. Tour participants are encouraged to wear white and to bring a scratch band instrument.
“Another addition is incorporating the art of traditional masquerading through mocko jumbies, traditional clowns, traditional Indians, pan around the neck and more to highlight themes of freedom,” Morris said.
The anticipated culture bearers and performers include the Echo People, Emmanuel “Mano” Boyd, Malachi Thomas, Glenn “Kwabena” Davis, Lioness Gomez Bamboula Dancers, The Coziah Dancers, the Caribbean Ritual Dancers, the Tropical Masqueraders, Shaka Jumbies, the Traditional Indians, Pan In Motion, Gypsies Carnival Troupe, Eccentric Mocko Jumbie Encounters, and the Zulus.
“The annual Dollar fo’ Dollar Tour is a moment in time for us as a community to commemorate a past moment in time,” Thomas, who will perform libration and drumming on Saturday, said. “It inspires and motivates us to allow the spirits of our ancestors to inhabit us for the purpose of continuing our fight for freedom and self-determination, lest we forget.”
A new collaboration that will be featured in Saturday’s tour is a partnership with The Postal Museum based in London.
“The Postal Museum is delighted to be working with the Dollar fo’ Dollar Culture and History Committee to deepen our knowledge of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Ship Company and operation,” Hannah Clipson, The Postal Museum access and community engagement manager said. “A key part of the story is about St. Thomas, where ships carrying mail, passengers and other goods would stop to be re-fueled in the 1800s by coal workers.”
There will be a stop at the former Royal Mail Steamship Packet Company, which existed on the footprint of the Windward Passage Hotel, and a stop at Post Office Square, where participants can mail postcards to The Postal Museum.
“In addition to inspiring us to learn more about the history of the Royal Mail Steamship Company on St. Thomas, which began during slavery, tour participants will have the opportunity to reflect on several images of coal workers and suggest their own captions on re-imagined postcards,” Morris said.
She noted that the museum is also providing support for the development of a short documentary, by award-winning filmmaker Emmanuel Phillips of EFex Photography.
“The women and men who coaled the steamships that came into the St. Thomas harbor are the ancestors of so many families in the Virgin Islands, and it’s a joy to join the community in celebrating them,” Morris said.
The Dollar fo’ Dollar tour is made possible with sponsorship from the V.I. Council on the Arts, and V.I. Lottery Community Enrichment.
