NY-Based Black Rights Group Intends to Commemorate Legacy of Slain Grenadian PM Maurice Bishop

NEW YORK, New York – A New York-based Black group says it will be commemorating the life and legacy of slain Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop with a trip to Grenada by leaders of the group and other United States distinguished civil and human rights leaders. 

The Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) says that its President Dr. Ron Daniels and Director of Communications and International Relations Don Rojas will lead a delegation of the illustrious leaders, scholars, activists and journalists on a solidarity visit to Grenada to participate in the commemorative activities honoring Bishop’s life and legacy. Rojas was also Bishop’s press secretary.  

Bishop was assassinated, along with several of his colleagues, in a bloody military coup on October 19, 1983. 

For the first time since Bishop’s assassination, the Grenada government has declared October 19 a public holiday and a day of mourning and reflection. 

IBW said the delegation is a follow-up to the historic State of the Black World Conference V, convened in Baltimore, Maryland in April, where, it said, Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell delivered “an inspiring tribute to Maurice Bishop, as one of the highlights of the proceedings.”

“I am thrilled that PM Mitchell has taken the lead in resurrecting the legacy of Maurice Bishop, Prime Minister of the People’s Revolutionary Government, as a powerful model of people-based, participatory engagement in the affairs of the state,” Dr. Daniels said. 

“It is an example which can and will inspire a new generation of leaders in the Caribbean and the Pan Africa World,” he added. “We in IBW look forward to working with PM Mitchell and civil society organizations in advancing this process.” 

Besides Daniels and Rojas, IBW said its delegation will include

Mary France-Daniels, retired educator, secretary and IBW’s First Lady; Jamaican Dr. Claire Nelson, Black Futurist, president of the Washington-based Institute of Caribbean Studies and founder of Caribbean American Heritage Month, USA; James Early, former Smithsonian Institution Assistant Secretary for Education and Public Service, expert and advocate for Afro-Descendants in Latin America and the Caribbean, and international affairs analyst; and  David Abdulah, economist, founder and leader of Movement for Social Justice, and leader of Federation of Independent Trade Unions Trinidad and Tobago. 

Bishop, who was born on May 29, 1944 and died on October 19, 1983, was a Grenadian revolutionary and leader of New Jewel Movement, a Marxist–Leninist party that sought to prioritize socio-economic development, education and Black liberation.

He seized power during the March 13, 1979 revolution that removed then Prime Minister Sir Eric Matthew Gairy from office. 

Bishop headed the People’s Revolutionary Government (PRG) of Grenada from 1979 to 1983, when he was deposed and executed during a coup led by his long-standing deputy Bernard Coard, resulting in upheaval.