Redibo: Roots and Fruits of Advocacy Activism in One Life Story

THE LIFE OF JOAN FRENCH: LOVE, RESISTANCE, AND THE RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF EQUALITYAt age 77, Joan French-revolutionary mother, feminist thinker, educator, and lifelong social activist-looked back across the arc of her life and distilled its lessons into a memoir as bold as her journey. Redibo: Roots and Fruits of Advocacy and Activism in One Life Story traces her evolution from a curious Jamaican girl into a woman who helped shape national conversations on class, gender, and justice.With unflinching honesty and lyrical insight, Joan guides readers through the defining moments of her childhood, her battles for equity in Jamaica's education system, her years championing women and girls across the globe, and her awakening into political activism. From classrooms where female teachers fought for dignity, to UNESCO missions in Burkina Faso, New York, and beyond, her story reveals the intimate and public struggles of a woman determined to make change.This memoir is a vibrant tapestry-of love and relationships, motherhood, courage, and the discomforts and triumphs that accompany a life committed to advocacy. It is essential reading for anyone interested in gender studies, Caribbean history, social movements, or the lived experience of activism.About the AuthorJoan French has promoted feminist action in the Caribbean since the late 1960s and is a founding member of the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA), which led the struggle for the recognition of Caribbean feminism in the 1980s. She was Chief of Gender for UNICEF from 1998 to 2003, where she led the thrust for inclusion of gender analysis and action in every area of UNICEF programming. Joan has worked as a lecturer in the Department of Modern Languages at the UWI, and at the Institute of Gender and Development Studies (IGDS). She became the first Coordinator of the Caribbean Policy Development Centre, charged with engaging with structures such as CARICOM in order to advance people-centred policies on behalf of regional civil society organisations.