In a ceremony held at ThinkArtWorkStudio in Port of Spain on December 6, women’s empowerment activist Lucia Cabrera Jones was declared the recipient of the fifth annual Colin Robinson Hard Head Award. The 52-year-old founder and CEO of Women Owned Media and Education Network (Women), herself a survivor of domestic violence, received recognition for her transformative work in underserved communities.
Cabrera Jones’s innovative approach combines artistic expression, creativity, non-traditional training methodologies, and therapeutic storytelling to facilitate healing and empowerment. The award, organized by Caiso: Sex and Gender Justice, serves as a memorial to the organization’s late co-founder and director of imagination, Colin Robinson, who passed away following a brief battle with cancer in 2022.
The selection process featured four additional distinguished finalists: community archivist and cultural heritage activist Avah Atherton; climate justice advocate and workers’ rights activist Princess Avianne Charles; feminist activist Jade Trim; and disability rights activist Kenneth Suratt, who serves as executive officer of the Blind Welfare Association. Among these exceptional candidates, Atherton and Suratt received special honorable mentions from the judging panel.
This year’s nomination period, which ran from October 25 to November 12, yielded ten nominations spanning diverse areas of human rights and social justice advocacy. The submitted nominations represented fields including cultural activism, health policy and advocacy, LGBTQ+ rights, social media activism, and visual and performing arts-based activism.
An independent award committee meticulously evaluated all nominations, ultimately shortlisting five finalists for adjudication. The distinguished judging panel comprised human rights advocate and political affairs professional André Blackburn, temporary Independent Senator and gender development specialist Dr. Deborah McFee, and Caiso director Omar Mohammed. The judges reached their final decision on December 2.
In delivering the official citation, Blackburn and McFee praised the remarkable diversity and richness of civil society engagement demonstrated by all nominees. They particularly highlighted Atherton’s dedication to revitalizing the ancestral tradition of the griot and her philosophical conviction that memory constitutes a form of activism. Suratt received recognition for his purposeful determination and his unique ability to identify opportunities where others perceive only limitations.
The judging panel ultimately selected Cabrera Jones for her “unwavering determination to create change even when resources are scarce, systems are resistant and the odds even.” The judges noted that her particular brand of “hard-headedness” has evolved into a comprehensive mission to establish access, equity, healing, and positive transformation for both local and migrant women and girls.