Maurice Rupert Bishop (29 May 1944 – 19 October 1983) was a Grenadian revolutionary, politician and the leader of the New JEWEL Movement (NJM), a party that sought to prioritise socio-economic development, education and true black liberation. The NJM came to power on 13 March 1979 and ushered in the Grenada revolution and installed the People's Revolutionary Government which removed Prime Minister Eric Gairy from office. Bishop headed the People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada (PRG) from 1979 to 1983. In October 1983, he was deposed as Prime Minister and executed during a coup engineered internally by Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard. This quickly led to the demise of the PRG, culminating in the invasion of Grenada by the United States.
Early life Maurice Rupert Bishop was born on 29 May 1944 on the island of Aruba, then a colony of the Netherlands as part of the Territory of Curaçao. His parents, Rupert and Alimenta Bishop, came from the northeast of Grenada, where Rupert earned five British pence per day. At the end of 1930, to improve his financial position, Rupert moved with his wife Alimenta to Aruba so that he could work in the oil refinery.
Until the age of six, Maurice was raised in Aruba with two older sisters, Ann and Maureen. In 1950, his father took the family back to Grenada and opened a small retail shop in the capital, St. George's. Maurice was sent to study at the Wesleyan elementary school, but after a year Maurice was transferred to the Roman Catholic St George primary and high school. Maurice was already quite tall at the age of nine and was teased because his height made him look much older. As an only son, he was pushed hard by his father to excel. Rupert would demand perfect grades from Maurice. When the family purchased a car, his mother expected him to walk to school like the others.
For his secondary education, Bishop received one of the four government scholarships for study at the Roman Catholic Presentation Brothers' College. He was elected president of the Student Council, of the Discussion Club, and of the History Study Group, along with editing the newspaper Student Voice and participating in sports. As he recalled, "Here I had much interest in politics, history and sociology." He established contacts with students from the Anglican Grenada Boys' Secondary School, his own school's competitors. He was an ardent supporter of the West Indies Federation, established in 1958, and the ideas of Caribbean nationalism. He also recalled the great interest that the 1959 Cuban Revolution aroused in him: "it did not matter what we heard on the radio or read in the colonial press. For us, it comes down to the courage and legendary heroism of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara. ...Nothing could overshadow this aspect of the Cuban Revolution."
In those same years, Bishop and his colleagues became interested in reading the works of Julius Nyerere and Frantz Fanon. Shortly before graduation, in early 1962, Bishop and Bernard Coard, a youth leader from Grenada Boys' Secondary School, created the Grenada Assembly of Youth Fighting for Truth. It was intended to raise political awareness among the island's youth through lively discussions over pressing issues. Members gathered on Fridays in St. George's main square and arranged open political debates among the people. Both friends and enemies celebrated Bishop's charisma and oratory skills, including his clever use of humour when making arguments. In 1962, Bishop graduated with a Principal's Gold Medal for "outstanding academic and overall ability".
Education in England The activities of the Grenada Assembly ended the following year when Bishop and the other Assembly leaders left for universities in Europe and the US In December 1963, the 19-year-old Bishop arrived in England to study law at the University of London. Coard meanwhile travelled to the US to study economics at Brandeis University. In 1966, Bishop received a Bachelor of Law degree at Gray's Inn in London. He often worked in the city as a postman or vegetable packer. From 1963 to 1966, he was president of the Students Association of Holborn College and in 1967 headed the association of students of the Royal College. While studying Grenadian history, Bishop focused on anti-British speeches and the life of slave revolt leader Julien Fédon, the head of the 1795 uprising. In 1964, Bishop participated in the UK's West Indian Standing Conference (WISC) and Campaign Against Racial Discrimination (CARD). He visited communist Czechoslovakia and the German Democratic Republic. During this period, he studied the works of Marx, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao Zedong. Bishop was particularly impressed by Julius Nyerere's Ujamaa: Essays on Socialism (published by Oxford University Press in 1968) and the Arusha Declaration of 1967.
From 1967 to 1969, Bishop worked on his thesis, "Constitutional Development of Grenada". However, he left it unfinished because of disagreements with his thesis supervisor in assessing the 1951 disturbances and general strike in Grenada. In 1969, Bishop received a law degree and became one of the founders of the Legal Aid Office of the West Indies community in London's Notting Hill Gate. This was volunteer work; his main source of income came from his job in the civil service as a surtax examiner. During his education in England, Bishop corresponded with Grenadian friends and developed a two-year plan of action upon his return home. The plan called for temporary withdrawal from his lawyer duties in order to co-create an organisation capable of taking power on the island.
Return to Grenada and further political career Returning to Grenada in December 1970, Bishop provided legal defence for striking nurses at St. George's General Hospital, who hoped to improve conditions for patients. He was arrested along with 30 other strike supporters. All were acquitted after a seven-month trial. In 1972, Bishop helped organise a conference in Martinique that strategised actions for liberation movements. The philosophy of Julius Nyerere and his Tanzanian socialism were guiding elements for the Movement for Assemblies of the People (MAP), which Bishop helped organise after the elections of 1972. Bishop and co-founders Kenrick Radix and Jacqueline Creft were interested in steering MAP toward construction of popular institutions centered in villages, to facilitate broad participation in the country's affairs.
In January 1973, MAP merged with the Joint Endeavour for Welfare, Education and Liberation (JEWEL) and the Organization for Revolutionary Education and Liberation (OREL) to form the New JEWEL Movement (NJM). Bishop and Unison Whiteman, the founder of JEWEL, were elected NJM's Joint Coordinating Secretaries.
"Bloody Sunday" On 18 November 1973, Bishop and other leaders of the New Jewel Movement were driving in two cars from St George's to Grenville, where they were to meet with businessmen of the city. Police officers under Assistant Chief Constable Innocent Belmar overtook Bishop's motorcade. Nine people, including Bishop, were captured, arrested and beaten "almost to the point of death" by Belmar's police aides and by the paramilitary Mongoose Gang. In prison the arrested men shaved their beards, revealing Bishop's broken jaw. 18 November 1973 became known in Grenada as "Bloody Sunday".
"Bloody Monday" Bishop joined a mass demonstration against Prime Minister Gairy on 21 January 1974. As Bishop's group returned to Otway House, they were pelted with stones and bottles by Gairy's security forces, who also used tear gas. Maurice's father Rupert was leading several women and children away from the danger when he was shot in the back and killed at the door of Otway House. The perpetrators were members of the Mongoose Gang who took orders from Gairy and "carried out campaigns of terror ... against the New JEWEL Movement and against the Bishop family in particular." 21 January 1974 became known in Grenada as "Bloody Monday".
After this traumatising event, Bishop said, "we [the NJM] realized that we were unable to lead the working class" since the party had no influence in city workers' unions or among the rural folk loyal to Gairy. With his colleagues, Bishop developed a new strategy, shifting focus from propaganda and mobilising anti-government demonstrations toward the organisation of party groups and cells.
Independence Day On 6 February 1974, the day before the proclamation of the independent state of Grenada, Bishop was arrested on charges of plotting an armed anti-government conspiracy. He was taken to the Fort George prison. Police said that while searching his house they found weapons, ammunition, equipment and uniforms, along with a plan to assassinate Eric Gairy in a nightclub, and a scheme for setting up guerrilla camps. Two days later, Bishop was released on $125 bail, and fled briefly to North America. On 29 March 1974, he was in Guyana participating in a meeting of the Regional Steering Committee of the Pan-African Congress. He also continued his law practice. In October 1974, he defended Desmond "Ras Kabinda" Trotter and Roy Mason who were accused of murdering an American tourist.
Leader of the Opposition In 1976, Bishop was elected to represent St. George's South-East in Parliament. From 1976 to 1979, he held the position of Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives of Grenada. As such, he challenged the government of Prime Minister Gairy and his Grenada United Labour Party (GULP), which maintained power by threat and intimidation and by fraudulent elections. In May 1977, Bishop made his first visit to Cuba. He travelled there with Unison Whiteman as leaders of the NJM and guests of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with People (ICAP).
Premiership
In 1979, Bishop's party staged a revolution and deposed Gairy, who was out of the country addressing the United Nations. Bishop became Prime Minister of Grenada and suspended the constitution.
After taking power, Bishop established a partnership with Cuba. He initiated a number of projects in Grenada, most significantly, the building of a new international airport on the island's southern tip (renamed in his memory in May 2009). Financing and labour for the construction of the airport came from Cuba, although most of the airport's infrastructure was designed by European and North American consultants. US President Ronald Reagan accused Grenada of intending to use the new airport's long "airstrip" as a waypoint for Soviet military aircraft.
Among Bishop's core principles were workers' rights, women's rights, and the struggle against racism and apartheid. Under Bishop's leadership, the National Women's Organization was formed which participated in policy decisions along with other social groups. Women were given equal pay and paid maternity leave. Sex discrimination was made illegal. Organisations for education (Centre for Popular Education), health care, and youth affairs (National Youth Organization) were also established. Despite its achievements, Bishop's government would not hold elections and stifled the free press and the opposition.
The People's Revolutionary Army (PRA) was also formed during Bishop's administration. Critics claimed that the army was a waste of resources, and there were complaints that the PRA was used as a tool to commit human rights abuses, like detention of political dissidents.
Bishop has been quoted at length on the dynamics of democracy: