{{Short description|Trinbagonian women's and consumer rights activist (1942–2022)}} {{for|the U.S. Army General and nurse|Hazel Johnson-Brown}} '''Hazel Angela Brown''' (31 January 1942 – 22 September 2022) was a Trinbagonian women's and consumer rights activist. She was a co-founder and coordinator of the Network of NGOs for the Advancement of Women. She was secretary general of the Commonwealth Women's Network.
==Early life== Hazel Browne was born on 31 January 1942 in East Dry River, Belmont, Port of Spain, to Una Browne and Carlis Browne. She attended Gloster Lodge Moravian Primary School and received a scholarship to study at Bishop Anstey High School. She also attended St. Joseph's Convent in San Fernando.<ref name="HDTT">{{cite book |last1=Pemberton |first1=Rita |last2=McCollin |first2=Debbie |last3=Matthews |first3=Gelien |last4=Toussaint |first4=Michael |title=Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago |date=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-1146-8 |pages=64–65 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=huhPDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22hazel+brown%22+trinidad&pg=PA64 |language=en |chapter=Brown, Hazel (1942–)}}</ref><ref name="GV">{{cite news |last1=Mendes-Franco |first1=Janine |title='We are poorer without her': Trinbagonian human rights advocate Hazel Brown dies |url=https://globalvoices.org/2022/09/23/we-are-poorer-without-her-trinbagonian-human-rights-advocate-hazel-brown-dies/ |work=Global Voices |date=23 September 2022 |language=en |access-date=17 December 2022 |archive-date=17 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217165553/https://globalvoices.org/2022/09/23/we-are-poorer-without-her-trinbagonian-human-rights-advocate-hazel-brown-dies/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Brown graduated from Cipriani Labour College in 1969;<ref name="Fearless"/> she was one of the first students to graduate from the school.<ref name="HDTT"/>
==Career== Brown was involved with community organisation projects, research, and social development as early as 1969. She focussed on gender equality, consumers' rights, and the elimination of poverty.<ref name="Guardian"/>
Brown was a crucial figure in the development of the Housewives Association of Trinidad and Tobago (HATT), an organisation promoting consumer rights awareness which was founded in 1971. The work of HATT led to the establishment of the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards in 1974.<ref name="GV"/><ref name="HDTT"/> She was also a co-founder of the Telephone Users Group in 1971. Through the group, utility customers participated in hearings over utility rates that resulted in changes to the rate structures of electricity and water.<ref name="GV"/>
In 1976, Brown made an unsuccessful bid as an independent candidate for the Port of Spain East seat in the House of Representatives.<ref name="GV"/>
Brown and 13 others founded the Network of NGOs for the Advancement of Women in 1985, an umbrella organisation for non-governmental organisations that focus on women's issues.<ref name="Loop"/> It was formed to present the position of women in Trinidad and Tobago at the 1985 World Conference on Women in Nairobi.<ref name="Fearless">{{cite web |title=Fearless Politics: The Life and Times of Hazel Brown |url=https://sta.uwi.edu/conferences/15/fearlesspolitics/documents/NOTICE_of_HazelBrownConference.pdf |publisher=Institute for Gender and Development Studies, University of the West Indies St. Augustine |date=2015 |page=4 |access-date=2022-12-17 |archive-date=2022-12-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217165544/https://sta.uwi.edu/conferences/15/fearlesspolitics/documents/NOTICE_of_HazelBrownConference.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 1987 Brown said that the outlook for women under the National Alliance for Reconstruction and then-Prime Minister A. N. R. Robinson was "bleak and dangerous", stating that "there is a lot of lip service being paid to the idea of the upliftment of women in the society but that is all. Mr. Robinson is the problem because there is a gap between his stated position on issues, including women, and his actions. But the whole change process will not work unless there is proper participation by women."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yelvington |first1=Kevin |title=Producing Power: Ethnicity, Gender, and Class in a Caribbean Workplace |date=1995 |publisher=Temple University Press |isbn=978-1-56639-286-0 |page=91 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DGFzEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22hazel+brown%22+trinidad&pg=PA91 |language=en}}</ref> Along with Grace Talma, she challenged the government's Policy Statement on Women which was approved by the cabinet in 1987. In response to the policy statement, she and other women's NGOs drafted a National Paper on the Status of Women in 1990.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hosein |first1=Gabrielle |last2=Parpart |first2=Jane |title=Negotiating Gender, Policy and Politics in the Caribbean: Feminist Strategies, Masculinist Resistance and Transformational Possibilities |date=2016 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-78348-752-3 |page=121 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m-LaDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22hazel+brown%22+trinidad&pg=PA121 |language=en}}</ref>
Brown coordinated the participation of Trinidadian and Tobagonian NGOs in United Nations conferences. She was the coordinator for the Caribbean Region Preparatory Process Project of the 1995 World Summit for Social Development conference. She was responsible for the participation of NGOs at the 1995 Beijing UN Women's Conference<ref name="Fearless"/> and was part of the negotiation sessions for the Beijing Platform for Action.<ref name="Newsday"/> She worked organising women for political office with EMILY's List.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Davies |first1=Carole Boyce |title=Black Women's Rights: Leadership and the Circularities of Power |date=2022 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-7936-1239-7 |page=192 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X16ZEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22hazel+brown%22+trinidad&pg=PA192 |language=en}}</ref> Brown led the Network of NGOs for the Advancement of Women's 'Put a Woman' project during the 2000 and 2001 elections, which encouraged people to vote for women candidates.<ref name="HDTT"/>
In 2006, she became coordinator for the Network of NGOs for the Advancement of Women.<ref name="HDTT"/>
Brown endorsed Kamla Persad-Bissessar for the 2010 campaign for Prime Minister.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Esposito |first1=Eleonora |title=Politics, Ethnicity and the Postcolonial Nation: A critical analysis of political discourse in the Caribbean |date=2021 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |isbn=978-90-272-5998-1 |page=89 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RsoqEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22hazel+brown%22+trinidad&pg=PA89 |language=en}}</ref>
Brown served as Secretary General of the Commonwealth Women's Network and was a special envoy for women and girls with the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development.<ref name="Guardian"/> In 2011 she was appointed to Commonwealth Caribbean as a special envoy on women and children's issues.<ref name="Guardian"/> She also advocated on behalf of adopting a National Gender Policy and served as a member of the Draft Gender Policy committee.<ref name="Guardian"/><ref name="GV"/> She took part in panel discussions and training seminars with the Women's Arm of the United National Congress.<ref name="Newsday"/>
Brown served on the boards of the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, the Trinidad and Tobago Agribusiness Association, and the Diego Martin Consumer Cooperative Society.<ref name="Guardian"/>
Brown advocated on behalf of economic opportunities for HIV-positive women.<ref name="GV"/> Since 1992, she promoted the use of solar box cookers as an affordable and environmentally friendly way to prepare food.<ref name="Fearless"/><ref name="GV"/>
==Awards and honours== In 2011, Brown received the Medal for the Development of Women (Gold) for advancing women's rights in Trinidad and Tobago.<ref name="GV"/>
In March 2015, a conference was held honouring her achievements titled ''Fearless Politics: The Life and Times of Hazel Brown''. The Network of NGOs for the Advancement of Women donated a collection of Brown's documents to the Alma Jordan Library of the University of the West Indies, establishing the Hazel Brown Special Collection.<ref name="Guardian"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Fearless Politics: The Life and Times of Hazel Brown {{!}} Trinidad and Tobago Government News |url=http://www.news.gov.tt/content/fearless-politics-life-and-times-hazel-brown |publisher=Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago |access-date=17 December 2022 |archive-date=17 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217165552/http://www.news.gov.tt/content/fearless-politics-life-and-times-hazel-brown |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2017 she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine for "her untiring work in women's development, consumer rights and poverty eradication".<ref name="GV"/> St. Joseph's Convent inducted her into its Past Pupils' Hall of Excellence in November 2019.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |title=Gender and consumer rights activist, Hazel Brown, passes |url=https://guardian.co.tt/news/gender-and-consumer-rights-activist-hazel-brown-passes-6.2.1548909.67b9d7728e |work=Trinidad and Tobago Guardian |date=22 September 2022 |language=en |access-date=17 December 2022 |archive-date=30 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130001332/https://guardian.co.tt/news/gender-and-consumer-rights-activist-hazel-brown-passes-6.2.1548909.67b9d7728e |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Personal life== Hazel married Herman Brown at the age of 20. They had three children—Leah, Carla and Garvin. Brown's husband died when the children were young.<ref name="GV"/><ref name="Newsday2"/> Her youngest child Natasha, with father Philip C. Nunez, was born in 1974.
Brown was diagnosed with cancer in the 1990s.<ref name="Guardian"/><ref name="Fearless"/> She became an advocate for cancer survivors and was honoured by the Guyana Cancer Society.<ref name="HDTT"/> Towards the end of her life, she also had Parkinson's disease and diabetes.<ref name="Newsday">{{cite news |last1=Fraser |first1=Narissa |title=Hazel Brown's family heartbroken but proud of her legacy: Gender activist dies at 80 |url=https://newsday.co.tt/2022/09/22/gender-activist-hazel-brown-dies-at-80/ |work=Trinidad and Tobago Newsday |date=22 September 2022 |access-date=17 December 2022 |archive-date=17 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217165545/https://newsday.co.tt/2022/09/22/gender-activist-hazel-brown-dies-at-80/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Brown died at the age of 80 on 22 September 2022 at her home in Diamond Vale, Diego Martin. She was interred at Lapeyrouse Cemetery.<ref name="Loop">{{cite news |title=Activist Hazel Brown has died |url=https://tt.loopnews.com/content/activist-hazel-brown-has-died |work=Loop News |date=22 September 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Newsday2">{{cite news |last1=Gioannetti |first1=Andrew |title=Farewell held for Hazel Brown, 'tireless advocate for women' |url=https://newsday.co.tt/2022/10/04/farewell-held-for-hazel-brown-tireless-advocate-for-women/ |work=Trinidad and Tobago Newsday |date=4 October 2022 |access-date=17 December 2022 |archive-date=17 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217165542/https://newsday.co.tt/2022/10/04/farewell-held-for-hazel-brown-tireless-advocate-for-women/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://archivespace.sta.uwi.edu/repositories/2/resources/56 Hazel Brown collection (SC 156)], Alma Jordan Library, University of the West Indies
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Hazel}} Category:1942 births Category:2022 deaths Category:Trinidad and Tobago women's rights activists Category:Consumer rights activists Category:Trinidad and Tobago civil servants Category:20th-century women civil servants Category:People from Port of Spain Category:20th-century Trinidad and Tobago women Category:20th-century Trinidad and Tobago businesspeople Category:21st-century Trinidad and Tobago women Category:People educated at St. Joseph's Convent, Port of Spain