The Caribbean revolutionary who cut illiteracy from 35% to 5% and declared 'we are not in anybody's backyard'
“We are not in anybody's backyard, and we are definitely not for sale.” — Hunter College, New York, August 1983
Grenadian revolutionary and Prime Minister of the People's Revolutionary Government (1979–1983). After studying law in London, he returned to lead the New JEWEL Movement (NJM), toppling the corrupt Gairy regime in 1979. In power, he reduced illiteracy from 35% to 5%, unemployment from 50% to 14%, and introduced free healthcare, equal pay, and paid maternity leave. He built an international airport with Cuban cooperation and held fast to an anti-imperialist line: 'We are not in anybody's backyard, and we are definitely not for sale.' Executed in a 1983 internal coup by Deputy PM Bernard Coard, his death triggered the US invasion of Grenada.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1944Born on Aruba, then a Dutch colony
- 1963–1969Studied law in London; called to the Bar at Gray's Inn
- 1970Returned to Grenada; gained fame defending striking nurses
- 1973Co-founded the New JEWEL Movement (NJM); Joint Coordinating Secretary
- 1973–1974'Bloody Sunday' arrest and beating; father shot dead on 'Bloody Monday'
- 1976–1979Leader of the Opposition against Gairy's dictatorship
- 1979.3Revolution deposed Gairy; became Prime Minister of the PRG
- 1979–1983Slashed illiteracy and unemployment; free healthcare, women's rights; built airport with Cuba
- 1983.10.19Arrested and executed by firing squad in Bernard Coard's coup
Popular participation and education policy
After the People’s Revolutionary Government took power in March 1979, Bishop linked the expansion of education to popular political participation. In a 1986 study, education scholar Rosa María Torres records the revolutionary government’s programmes: a national literacy campaign, school-curriculum revision and repairs, construction of Grenada’s second secondary school, intensive teacher training, expanded secondary and university scholarships, reduced school fees, and vocational training. The government designated 1980 the “Year of Education and Production” and 1983 the “Year of Political and Academic Education.” By then, secondary schooling was free, more than 300 Grenadians were studying professional subjects overseas, and basic adult education and educational programmes run by mass organisations were under way. Torres describes education not only as access to schooling, but also as a process supporting consultation among teachers, students and parents and informed popular participation. Parish and zonal meetings discussed national and international issues; government officials explained proposals and listened to residents. Workers’, women’s and students’ councils, alongside local councils, provided channels for mass organisation. In his October 1979 UN address, Bishop presented equal pay for women and men, social and economic justice, the right to work, and democratic participation in national affairs as revolutionary rights; he also declared a non-aligned foreign policy grounded in independent judgement on international questions. Torres’s account describes both participatory initiatives and their limits. In the later period, the revolutionary leadership became separated from the masses and relied on a narrow party framework. Coard and his supporters sought greater concentration of power in the party and Central Committee, while Bishop’s side advocated close party-mass relations and direct participation. Amid that division, the consequential decision in October 1983 was made without informing or consulting the public. Following the US invasion of Grenada, revolutionary educational institutions and programmes were dismantled, including the closure of 72 adult education centres.