29/05/2026
Happy Birthday to the socialist, Grenadian revolutionary Maurice Bishop, born on this day in 1944.
As leader of the political party the New JEWEL Movement (NJM), Bishop endured a violent struggle on the path to revolution that included his father being murdered by the Prime Minister’s private militia.
Despite the bloody opposition, he rose the ranks politically until the NJM was able to stage a popular revolution in 1979 that overthrew the corrupt, Western-backed Eric Gairy. The People’s Revolutionary Government (PRG) was installed, Bishop was inserted as Prime Minister, and he immediately began enacting social change that included significant advances in education, healthcare, infrastructure, and housing, all while empowering his - mostly Black - ordinary citizens.
Bishop’s adult literacy programs were so successful illiteracy dropped from 35% to 5% in just 4 years. Unemployment dropped from 50% to 14% over that same time span. Unsurprisingly, this success made him a target for Western aggression just like every other progressive Black leader who has tried uplifting their people.
Bishop spoke about why the small island of Grenada was such a particular threat to the United States. He revealed in a speech that a US State Department report labeled the Grenadian Revolution as ‘even worse’ than Cuba or Nicaragua’s due to the people and leadership of Grenada speaking English and being predominantly Black, potentially presenting a ‘dangerous appeal’ to Black folk in the US.
A faction in the PRG led to Bishop being arrested in Sept 1983 and executed a month later along with his cabinet minsters and aides. Just days later on October 25th Ronald Reagan launched Operation Urgent Fury to invade Grenada and restore order after the takeover of “leftist gangsters.”
Bishop’s legacy is another crucial reminder of the interconnectedness of the diaspora - you might not think our struggles are related but our opps’ violent reaction to international movements show they clearly are. Act and move accordingly!
