Director’s Statement

I am Keisha V. Thompson, a psychologist and the director of There All Along: Women of Trinidad & Tobago Black Power.

Chinua Achebe once wrote, "Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter." This proverb has been my guiding force throughout my career as a psychologist and the driving inspiration behind this project.

This documentary is an endeavor to tell a story that deviates from traditional narratives that glorify the "hunters" of history. It is the story of my homeland, Trinidad & Tobago. It is the story of women who, with unwavering conviction and immense sacrifice, paved the way for others. This is the story of the women who played pivotal roles in the 1970 Black Power Revolution; women who have been largely absent from the official record, despite being essential to the movement.

The inception of this project came during my extensive research on the events of 1970 in Trinidad & Tobago. It became apparent that a resounding silence enveloped this critical chapter in our nation's history. There was a scarcity of written accounts, and the events and their profound, lasting impact were conspicuously absent from the history curriculum.

In 2016, I embarked on a journey to Trinidad & Tobago to unravel this hidden history. I had the privilege of conducting interviews with approximately 15 individuals and amassed a trove of newspaper articles, letters to the editor, and other printed material pertaining to the events of 1970. This research led me to individuals who were not just associated with but were active members of NJAC- the National Joint Action Committee — the driving force behind the Black Power Revolution. While some recognition has been given to the women who participated, it has often been incidental at best.

In January 2018, I returned to Trinidad & Tobago with a single DSLR camera and a lavalier microphone and conducted nine video interviews with women deeply involved in the movement, other participants, and two scholars with profound knowledge of the events.

This documentary also represents my earnest attempt to break through the barriers of the academic "Ivory Tower." As a psychology professor, I often ask myself - what is the significance of academia continually conversing with itself about the external world? There All Along is my answer to that question. It is my attempt to engage with the world in which we all reside and to offer insight into our shared human experience.

Since its completion, the film has screened at the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival, the Black Femme Supremacy Film Festival, the San Antonio Black International Film Festival, the Caribbean Tales Film Festival, and most recently at a Black History Month screening hosted by the Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage in Leicester, UK in October 2025 - finding audiences across the diaspora who recognize these women and their stories as their own.

There All Along is a tribute to the resilience and fortitude of these women, an endeavor to amend the historical record, and a reminder that the untold stories that shape our world are always worth finding.