Maurice Bishop (1944 - 1983)
Mon May 29, 1944
Image: May Day 1980: Grenada's Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, center, is flanked by Cuba's leader Fidel Castro, right, and Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega in Havana, Cuba. [peoplesworld.org]
Maurice Bishop, born on this day in 1944, was a Grenadian revolutionary and leader of the New Jewel Movement, which seized power in 1979 and instituted widespread reforms of food, healthcare, education, and workers' rights.
Bishop headed the People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada from 1979 to 1983, when he was dismissed from his post and shot in a coup, leading to civil unrest and a U.S. invasion of the country.
Although Bishop grew up in Grenada, he left to study in London as a young adult. While there, Bishop acquired a law degree and studied the works of Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Julius Nyerere.
In 1970, Bishop returned to Grenada and was active politically, representing striking nurses in court and leading the New Jewel Movement (NJM), a Marxist-Leninist vanguard party. In 1979, the NJM successfully led a coup against Eric Gairy and made Bishop the Prime Minister of Grenada.
Among Bishop's core principles were workers' rights, women's rights, and the struggle against racism and apartheid. Women were given equal pay and paid maternity leave. Sex discrimination was made illegal. Organizations for education, health care, youth affairs, and literacy were also established. Due to his government's efforts, illiteracy and unemployment greatly declined.
In 1983, disputes within the party culminated in Bishop, along with seven members of his cabinet, being captured and executed. After his assassination, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Grenada's governor-general Paul Scoon appealed to the United States to resolve the political situation. Within a few weeks, U.S. President Ronald Reagan launched an invasion of Grenada.
- Date: 1944-05-29
- Learn More: www.zinnedproject.org, www.bannedthought.net, www.peoplesworld.org, en.wikipedia.org.
- Tags: #Marxism, #Birthdays.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org