Bishop and Whiteman listen to a manger at a sewing operation.
In December of 1983 I was a U.S. paratrooper on the island of Grenada. My unit had established a helicopter landing zone near Grand Anse Beach and the Carifta Cottages. I had been on the island for several weeks and nothing much was going on. Carifta Cottages had been hit fairly hard during the initial invasion and most of the buildings were damaged. The rest were a mess. While scouting the area I found a box containing books and other items in a drainage ditch.
First, I recognized a copy of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. I was particularly thrilled as I had a strong desire for something to read. I also found some anti-American pamphlets published in Moscow. One was called “The CIA’s Secret War.” It was a fascinating read as it asserted that the Jonestown Mass Suicide in Guyana was actually a CIA mass murder. It further claimed that Jim Jones had lost all interest in religion and he had established a Utopian socialist state. According to the authors, the CIA could not allow Jones to continue down a communist path so they murdered him, all his followers and made it look like a mass Kool Aid suicide.
There were a few other sundry items in that box including two expended rolls of undeveloped 35mm film. I tossed them into my rucksack and got busy reading Cosmos.
I brought the books and the film back to Fort Bragg and basically forgot about them until a few years later. Then, while in college, I took a photography class and decided to develop the film. To my surprise, the film contained photos of Maurice Bishop, Unison Whitman and various scenes from the Revo years. This being the late 1980s, I really had no way to publicly share them so I put them away. Finally in 2002, I posted them on the Internet for the first time and found there was lot of interest in them. I also discovered a residual cadre of people who supported the Grenadian Marxist coup of 1979 and still fondly remember it today. Those individuals were extremely angry that I was in possession of those photos. Of course they are now available to the world and would not have been had they stayed long in the ditch exposed to the weather. I have since given the original negatives to a Grenadian associate who formally assisted Bishop in the years prior to the coup and the Revo. The scanned images are here.
Click on the photos for full size versions.
Bishop descends the stairs at one of the Revo’s agribusiness plants.
Bishop and Unison Whiteman listen to a presentation at a plant. Whiteman is in the far right.
More of the tour at the plant.
Bishop speaks to nurses during a meeting of the Grenada Nurses’ Association.
More at the nurses’ meeting.
Bishop speaks to a group in the “dome” on the grounds of the Grenada Beach Hotel at Grand Anse.
The group at the dome.
Bishop and Whiteman inspect a facility for drying fish.
Bishop at the podium; watchful bodyguard nearby.
Bishop and Whiteman at the same sewing facility as the photo at the top of the page.
Bishop speaks to a group about literacy. The banner says “Forward to Literacy”.
A Bishop bodyguard shows off his unconventional grip and form.
More mugging for the camera by a Bishop security detail.
The same group “liming”, as they say.
A crowd listens to Bishop.
In this damaged photo, Bishop and Whiteman smile for the camera. Note Bishop is wearing US military issue, Vietnam era jungle boots.
Bishop poses with admirers.
Read More…
Well done to have taken the ‘trouble’ to take care of these photos and to have published them. Congratulations on being one more good citizen of our sad world. And, doesn’t it remind us to ‘never throw anything away’! cheers
When dealing with Castro, the old saying comes to mind: “Lie down with dogs, come up with fleas!”…..
Clearly Bishop despite his flaws, was a nationalist first & Marxist second. Fidel knew this and carried-out a palace coup against Bishop using his lessers against him…..
Whilst I’m an anti-Bush, former U.S.Marine, I still think it was a joy to see Fidel weap on camera after his over playing his hand!!!
That stupid ass Reagan at least got one thing right after injecting Marines into the baracks death, in a land we had no reason to be, no defense of the USA was there, only service to zionism…..
Think well Grenada before you turn your nation over to despots again.
Thank you for saving and publishing these photos.
I love to read and learn more about the period of the Revolution in Grenada.
I WILL ALWAYS LOVE MY BELOVED PRIME MINISTER BROTHER THE HON MAURICE BISHOP
Max,
I think there is significant evidence that Castro had nothing whatsoever to do with the events of October 19, 1983. Castro was a close friend of Bishop and seemed appalled at his death. The Soviets, on the other hand, were much more accepting of the RMC coup. If there was any prior clearance for the arrest of Bishop and his later execution, it was more likely to have come from the Soviets than from Castro. All evidence today indicates that it was the RMC acting alone.
Thank you so much for those photos. It brings tears to my eyes.
He was my hero and our pride and joy.
Job well done. It seems that you have a lot of factual evidence about the Revolution.If Please bring them to light. A lot of young Grenadians like me who were born during the period needs to know the truth and needs others to have some respect for this period.
Thanks a million
I’m a proyd Grenadian who went to the Presentation Brothers College G’da.
While attending school a few of my classmates and I boycotted history classes because we were sick and tired of learning “white man history” as we called it. Grenada is a very small place filled with its own history and I think it’s about time they taught Grenadian youth about Grenadian great hgistory. Maurice Bishop was and still remains Grenada’s most pro-active leader.
Nuff respect to you for preserving and now allowing the world access to these photos.
Soon after the revo, I left Trinidad with my wife and went to Grenada just to witness the Inauguration of Comrade Bishop (I was 24yrs old and newly wed). Most of my friends then and even a lot of folks today thought that I must have been crazy to do that, but back then I understood that it was history in the making. Recently, I read a book called “Blood from a Stone” written by Dionne Brant (a Trin woman) and she mentioned that she ran into her grandfather in Grenada at that same time and he said that he had heard about the revo and had come to check it out (it was also the 1st time that he flew on a plane). Her grandad had also taken a fishing boat (by himself alone) and went all the way up to Cuba to check out the “scene” after the Cuban revolution.
So to summarise, I respect you Sir, because you can’t imagine what your actions means to a lot of people.
As a Grenadian. I think the revolution was the best thing to have happened. The former Government of Sir Eric Gairy was nothing but a dictatorship. At least with the PRG, Maurice Bishop was a dictator with cause and purpose. Thank you so much for posting these and for have the earnest desire to save them. Thanks for preserving a very significant part of my history.
Long live the revo!!!!
Iwas previlaged to have known one of the greatest men who have walked the earth and to quote another great man,
until the philosophy which holds one race and political system superior and the others inferior is totally discredited and abondoned, there will always be more maurice bishop,s
who will rise up and fight for freedom and justice for all the oppressed peoples of the world.
long live the spirit of comrade maurice bishop. Jah Bless.
The US killed Maurice Bishop. The US are destroyed the Revolution financing destabilisation and discordance. And the US, once again, lied to justifie its invasion of the island.
Biko,
The US didn’t destroy the Grenada Revolution. It destroyed itself in a very, obvious and public way. Grenadians killed Bishop and the others machine gunned in the fort October 19, 1983. By the time the US showed up on October 25, the Revo was over.
The Revo in Grenada lasted from March 13, 1979 to October 19, 1983. Americans didn’t end the Revo, we just cleaned up after Grenadians ended it.
I am 34 years old. I left Grenada as a youth going on the age of eight. I was born a few months before we gained independence. I remember vividly what was going on in Grenada at the time of Bishop although I was not formerly educated in Grenada. But the culture has always stuck with me. I have been back twice since then to see distant family members and my grandparents. Having now become a US citizen right after I graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in sociology, I will probably never go back. One thing that I learned in my studies though is that Caribbean culture and history changes every 50 years. It is very hard to forget the past. And even living in the US as an immigrant, I am affected daily because of my people and the atrocities that went on at that time. I think that I am affected even more so than some of my fellow Grenadians.
Nuff’respect to Maurice Bishop. I’ve read his biography, even the Eastwood movie “Heartbreak Ridge” was a little moving. But I was around 12 to 13 years when Bishop was executed. I’m not fron Grenada but St. Croix, U.S.V.I. and i listened to the events on the radio and watched on TV. I sometimes wonder up to this day if he haad lived, despite his intentions for the people and the country of Grenada.
Rob:
Clearly the Soviets always had the Cubans facilitate their wishes in the western hemisphere. They funded Cuba and Castro’s failed economy and as his puppet master, direct the plan. Think back Rob, and remember the imploding Red Facist states. Reagan was a clown, but he did stumble upon a course which the Soviets couldn’t follow and they fell of heir own weight! I agree that Fidel most likely wouldn’t have had Bishop killed were it not for his being Grenadian first and Marxist second. However, the cause Fidel and his KGB handlers saw as most important couldn’t allow for Bishop’s nationalism. Please take off your blinders, these actions always have someone planning to enforce their will, for their intended benefit…..
Biko:
Brother, you need to put that crack pipe down, it has had a bad affect on your reasoning. No one of sound mind would claim the USA killed Bishop, come-on, give the Black man credit for being able to make a major mistake on their own! Time to stop blaming “Da Man” for every screwed-up dictatorship in Black run countries, whether they are in Africa or even beautiful Grenada! Everyone surrounding the Fort, involved with or witness to the execution, will swear that there wasn’t any non-Grenadian anywhere near this sad event. Honestly my brother, find an argument which has legs, even if few agree with you, not some knucklehead idea you pulled out of the bottom of a rhum bottle….. Please!
guatmark @ yahoo com
I wrote previously stating that I am 34 years old. I notice a discrepancy among other discrepancies. And I feel that I should not be silent because I and my family have gone through great great and immense suffering because of this. And as it stands right now I am homeless even with an elite college degree and having worked in education for ten years. I am now a displaced worker and can’t work anymore because of certain inconsistencies that I am now piecing together. You displayed on the internet that my mother was the 1965 carnival queen with her picture on it. Should one not have permission before they post this kind of stuff, false information or not, since it effects me the most because I am her son. I am angry and I am willing to die for this shit. Does Grenada have 10 year old carnival queens when I know she gave birth to me at 18 on December 23, 1973. And I even had a royal birth at that. Would my family members even have a proper place to bury their dead because of this. And, also, another misconception, Jennifer, the Miss Grenada, who later became Miss World of 1970. Is she even still alive? That is exactly why I will never go back. Read more about our history. I am like a living Fedon, only darker complected with two black parents. I am both hero and villain. I had dreams of one day getting married, but I guess I will have to remain single because of this unless there is a drastic change.
While I deplore the role that the US played in Grenada, I am glad someone had the wisdom to preserve and later share with the world these historic photos.
I consider Maurice Bishop to be among the greatest men who ever lived, and his death was a great loss to Grenada and surely people all over the world. He was a hero cut from the finest cloth, and it warms my heart to see him in these photos, proud and smiling, with a hopeful gleam of what he would build for his people tomorrow.
Grenada is a terrible place now, and the people far worse off than they were while on Mr. Bishop’s path. I won’t waste time lambasting America’s crimes, but rather focus on what I hope is a bright future for Grenada and the world.
Let us not forget men like Maurice. His soul is surely with God’s. May we meet him, but only after we have died a long, healthy life, hopefully long after a revolution so beautiful as Maurice tried to build for us.
I don’t know Maurice Bishop, but I sure am glad his kind never caught on in the Caribbean. That would have been an economic disaster (and knowing the history of the people Marx inspired–a physical and human disaster as well).
To this day the former Communist countries are still in a disarray even 20 years after this Marxist nonsense began to crumble under its own weight.
I won’t join the anti-Reagan bandwagon; the man was bloody right (In terms of the evil of Communism.) even if the invasion was wrong. Stop looking at the trail of blood behind Pol Pot and others Marx inspired for future hope! Are some of you guys nuts or what?!
All the Grenadians fled to Trinidad over the years anyways but that is another story.
Max
Get over your self, you seem to know alot about nothing. Have you look at this country’s history.You are may be celebrating a holiday today that led to grave injustice to a group of people,(I am sure a you may have what you think is an intelligent response) Did you watch this summer olympics? While we were celebrating America’s victory we did not once think of the injustice to so many people who live in this country we just pump millions into. Well our great Mr Bishop(and yes he is just as great as your historic presidents who tolerated slavery) associated himself to the leaders of some countries who was willing to provide the support he needed to provide the free education,healthcare,homes and many many more for the people who was oppress by the previous ruler. He loved his country and it’s people and was a very simple man. I went to school with his last son, and no not a private school. He died because he refuse to suppress the needs of his people and see them as second class citizen.
Christopher
Get a clue! Grenada is not your problem and will never be. You grow up in this country,educated in this country. You only been back twice. Take a closer look at society and the world and maybe choices you made I think Grenada is far from ir.
AHA
Educate youself to the facts. I guess it’s because you know this present President you are seeing an economic crisis all over the world. And Bishop is not leader of any of these countries. When Trinidad went through it’s economic crises and is going through some social crisis,is it Bishop’s fault?
If all the Grenadians fled to Trinidad who was left to welcome the Trinidadians going to Grenada in the 90s and early 2000s to work? the animals left after all the people fled.
Everyone need to get their facts before coming with all that negative crap. I lived it. Did you all?
Things are looking up. After nine months I finally found a place.I am not working, but still have some income coming in.
Grenada has had diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China for almost two decades now. My girlfriend at the University of California,Berkeley, and mother of my children, whom I met during my studies was from Taiwan. My other ex, and mother of my children was from Kenya.
Judy: Being a US citizen doesn’t make me less Grenadian. Grenada is known as a land of heartbreak and happiness. My advice to any West Indians wanting to come to the US. The United States is known as a land of opportunity (but not for everyone).If you are talented and hard working you can achieve great things. But it is also a land of despair and violence as well. And speaking from experience it is a brutal regime no matter if its leaders or white or black.
AHA:
Yes! Some of us Grenadians are nuts, but we have reason to be. But that does not make us stupid.
Max:
I believe you were correct in everything you said along with Judy, given the nuances. However, will you enlighten me on the benefit of this for these proposed actions. I would like to know myself.
The plan is to be more broad-minded. I agree that the actions of the invasion was both Grenada’s as well as the United States fault along with the rest of the world for allowing this to happen. And, I also agree with Unison Whiteman’s daughter’s statement after 25 years: “If you are brave enough to do the crime, you are brave enough to do the time!” You should have celebrated his life when he was alive, not after his death from a “textbook.”
Welcome to the Real Revo my Grenadian friends. We cherish your comments and the history you care to share here. Obviously it isn’t difficult to determine which part of the political spectrum the writers at the Revo are speaking from, but we hold a special place in our hearts for Grenadians of all political persuations.
Keep reading here and you will find the tales of the kindness and generosity that were bestowed on us by the Grenadian People back in 1983, for which we are eternally grateful. Typically you will find this writing in the October timeframe of each year. We pay our respects. This is an open forum where you can pay your respects as well.
I’m glad to see my girl Judy here. She is my adopted Grenadian Mother. She isn’t old enough to be my Mother, but she’s the kind of lady who fights for her children and stands up for whats Right. She’s like my natural Mother who raised me to do the same. Her stories make the hair stand up on the back of my neck sometimes.
Please enjoy this forum and feel free to share your History here. Thats part of our Mission. You can be a part of it.
This is just a motto I started living by: If I am not willing to die for something I believe in, then surely I am not fit to live. Maurice Bishop stood up and died for something that he believed in, then surely I believe his soul is with God’s. It is just sad that he and Unison Whiteman and the others were not allowed a proper burial.
By the way, my kids are adopted.
prophecyrealms@hotmail.com
I was A little boy when the reveluotion took place. I had the pleasure of meeting mr. bishop on quite a few times, as my father worked with him. I can say my memories of him was a hard working and respected person, who only wanted the best for his country and his people of greneda.
STEVEN BELMAR
PM Bishop is still a powerful inspiration to Grenadians and Africans the world over. Thank you for preserving & publishing these photos.
WILLIE DREAD
The U. S. governemnt was responsible for the overthrow of the Granedian govenment in 1983 headed by Maurice Bishop and Unison Whiteman. AS always the CIA was involved in this overthrow from day mainly for two resons:
1) it had good relations with Cuba something anathema to Uncle Sam;
2)it was a workers’ governemnt and not a rich man’s governemnt as we have in the United States.
The ultra-reactionary President Ronald Reagan lied like always to the American people thta the airport being built in Graneda was for military purposes under the direction of Cuba and Soviet governments. The airport in fact was under the direction of European, Canadian, and American consultants. The Cubans were merely a construction labor force and nothing else. Once again the CIA toppled a peaceful Grenadian governemnt in 1983 just like it did the Panamanian government in 1991 and previous to that Iran in 1953, Guatemala in 1954, Lebanon in 1956, the Congo (Lumumba) in 1959, Indonesia in 1964, Brazil in 1965, Chile in 1973,Salvador in 1984, Among many others setting up fascist regimes to oppress and repress the people so that the U.S. multinational corporattion can make fabulous profits paying starvation wages and taking off with their natural resources.
But rejoice because the days of this evil U.S. empire are counted and is now bleeding to death and no one can save it.
Thanks
Ricky V: You are a moron. I don’t even know any Grenadians who believe that crap. Bernard Coard and his accomplices acted on their own volition. Read the history before you beclown yourself publicly.
thank you so much for saving the pictures I was very you and I always what MR. BISHOP look like. once again thank you
Is Mr and Mrs Coard still living?
Bernard is still in Richmond Hill Prison on Grenada. His wife was released for medical reasons and is living in Jamaica.
R.D. Walker,
I think Ricky V has a point. Leaving Grenada at that young age and coming to the US, that is exactly what I noticed in Grenada at the time, and learned here in the US in school and on television. I lived on a US military base in the air force at the time. However, I didn’t learn anything otherwise about all those other international countries that Ricky mentioned with the dates and such. I would have had to do serious serious research to learn that. However, though, what Judy mentioned about free homes, education, health care, all that other stuff, I didn’t learn. Judy, nothing comes free in this world unless you work hard for it or you are born disabled or you are royalty. Max and AHA, I studied Marx in school along with about 15 other theorists and philosophers. Actually, growing up in a capitalist regime in the US, and a near communist, revolutionary government in Grenada in a third-world country, I think socialism and Marxism is the best policy. All those other Scandanavian European countries in Europe where 50% of the population don’t work, but actually have worked for what they have function quite well. It is way better than some of those Caribbean societies where I’ve been and read about where 50% off the population don’t have legal rights. Tortola British Virgin Islands to be exact. I was reading recently that the world is becoming more like the Caribbean. Yes, Cuba has failed as a Communist country. Other countries haven’t. Marxism offers more freedom with less brutality. The only downside though is the economic differences and racial, class, and even gender inequality. Mad Brad, if you read about the history of Grenada, great fortunes have been made. But great fortunes have been lost as well. Please mention something that has more clout next time. I think Max had a much stronger statement, minus the reluctance to respond about the benefit off “opening your eyes to the real revo.” These actions always have an “intended benefit.”
“Marxism offers more freedom with less brutality.
Absolutely, positively, 100% incorrect. This is such a profoundly incorrect statement that it is not worth the time and effort it would take for me to help you to understand otherwise. I really don’t have the energy or the inclination to provide you with the basic and remedial education that would help you to understand just how ridiculously foolish and obviously wrong your statement is.
If any other Revoista wants to take this on, please be my guest.
Well Chris, if you have the key to the miracle of removing the smell of dead Grenadians from my nostrils then you MIGHT be somewhat effective at convincing people that Marxism offers more Freedom and less Brutality.
Ok I realize that capitalism is brutal, as well as communism, and socialism. But Marxism is better for the oppressed. That is exactly what Maurice Bishop was fighting for. If he had succeeded, I think it would have helped to eliminate the poverty and inequality and the way society sees each other rather than creating more barriers and obstacles for those oppressed in the Caribbean, of all races, white or black.
Trust me, I have been a victim of injustice and brutality myself. I haven’t seen someone die in front of me, but have heard some stories like that. But I have come close to dieing several times by people more powerful and more privileged than myself self. I can’t understand it really, injustice after injustice, and it is still continuing for me for the last 16 years. I think Maurice Bishop was angry, and took matters into his own hands. He shouldn’t be blamed for it. That was the culture at the time. I guess he was probably inspired by the civil rights movement although there were very few white people in Grenada at the time when actually he was fighting a black dictatorship. Marxism and a black-run dictatorship don’t mix. Look at what happened to Haiti. I think that is where it went wrong. When I was brutalized by both white and black, I guess I really never took matters into my own hands other than using foul language. I never had the resources to. But it seems like either way (fighting or civil disobedience) never works anyway. The guy probably had a vision for freedom for his people with less brutality, but it ended up never working. If you really look at his face, that “hopeful gleam” looked more like apathy and disgust cause he did not want oppression and slavery for his people when he realized he could be oppressing his own people. That is why I think he was a good man because he realized his wrongs. He could have done mass killings like those dictators in Africa. Do you know that there was genocide in Grenada about 5 generations for the native peoples. I think since his major was economics, he was more concerned about money and fighting poverty more than anything else. Unison Whiteman on the other hand studied at Howard, a school for free black people of color, and together, as a team, they probably wanted to free there people like Julien Fedon did. But it backfired because communism produces more laziness and criminal activity while more conservative Grenadians didn’t want that, and wanted better for their children, to work, get an education, and take care of themselves, their homes, and their children. In the US, those people with power and money never talk about what their doing or realize their wrongs. Instead, they take it out on others. Instead, the under-class gets to watch the shit on TV. That is probably why the guy was assasinated because he was fighting a losing battle.
Get a dog!
Cheers!
Judy,
It is apparent to myself at least, that you couldn’t really address the issues at hand, so you just discuss your ideas about what a “True Grenadian” thinks in your humble opinion. Albeit incorrect you state I “know a lot about nothing”, perhaps we differ, granted, however to not back that up with a reasoned argument is to betray yourself as demented shouter in the village square, not an informed intelligent person. I always welcome a lively debate, but I refuse to have a “battle of wits” with an unarmed person.
As to your countrymen “celebrating a holiday today that led to grave injustice to a group of people”. Well Madame you have it backwards once again… Let me restate that which only the simple-minded ignore: That a Cliché’ of hardcore Marxist killed a nationalist for being less than they the slaves of USSR & Cuba. He did get his “come-uppins” for overthrowing a legally elected government and changing to a dictatorship. Please tell me if I am out of sequence here Ms. Grenada! It was only after that, which gave that Bozo Reagan an excuse to divert a shipload of Sailors and Marines to Lebanon! Did the United States steal away your resources, make Grenada a possession? You know in your heart-of-hearts that the American people only wish your nation well. We give our tax money to not just Grenada, but others in need and wish it could be more. Truth be known, we gave our most valuable treasure, the blood of OUR Countrymen so that you might be free from THUGS….. How dare you! When a natural disaster wrecks havoc upon you, it is the USA and others who come to your aid….. Once again shame on you! Did Americans ever ask you to kiss our feet in thanks? NO, not even a friendly handshake from you. While you wag your finger at us, what the hell have you done for your country? Stop being so self-absorbed, pass the baton after helping others as I did in Ghana. I can only hope you acquire wisdom with age.
guatmark@yahoo.com
Christopher Shears please see above!
I have heard no less than 4 main ideas as to what happen to Bishops earthly remains? Bernard Coard surely knows where they hide him and some of the others so as to not create a national hero of him, as if that could do it, right? I know Nadya Bishop & his mother, Alimenta Bishop were trying to find out. Please leave out the asinine fairy tale about the CIA stealing the body or that it was chopped up and placed in different locations around the island. One fool even told me he is living in China….. For sure it’s not in Aruba where he was born!
I suggest this is worth reading:
http://www.belgrafix.com/gtoday/2006news/Jul/Jul01/The-Bodies-Were-Dynamited.htm
It is so that after 26 years people are ignorant about the facts that lead to to the Death of Maurice Bishop. Check yor history before you come this site and pass misinformation, especially you Max Clay More. I go in peace.
Well to start with, I have not played games with a person name, nor take delight in fools who “Jump-up to get beat-down”. It is so clear that you had no arguement of reasoned facts yourself, in fact you offered no documented or even rumored ideas as to the remains of Bishop. So I can only conclude you are more interested in tweaking Uncle Sam’s nose than offering any insights… The blame falls upon the heads of the “leaders”(Dictators) like Bishop who wanted to play on the world’s stage. The Napolonic complex of little nations, whom are forgotten by history as a Banana Republic. If you blame the German people for having been tricked into authoritarian rule, then the same stands true for Grenada. Time to grow-up Grenada, stop wasting time and the futures of the youth, stop worrying about the “blame game” of the white mon is at fault…
Max,
Why are you so much concerned about Grenada after all these years? Did you father a child there or something and it is now bothering conscience. You were only there for a shot time. If that is the case, state so. Don’t beat around the bush. To make comments like that shown above is to betray yourself as a racist.
Today would be 29 yrs Prime Minister Maurice Bishop was murdered..R. I. P gone but would I would never forget
Maurice Bishop is my cousin..(blood cousin) ive heard stories but never saw a pic..great pics..im sure my family appreciate it very much
Thanks for those pictures. I admired the contribution of Bishop to the intellectual development of Grenada. Since his death we had fewer qualified doctors, dentist, and academics. The revo served us well but Bishop paid the ultimate price with his life. By no means I am a socialist, in fact, I am a nu-capitalist, but for a country like Grenada at the time (low literacy and newly independent) aspects of socialist principles were important as we developed the intellectual and infrastructual capital of our country. I have extract aspect of this leadership style in my life and dealing with people. Bishop is still by greatest role model, I was too young to have met but at age 3, I remember the US invading Grenada from the East and North East.
Cuba offered aid for development which no Western country would provide. An international airport was the biggest revolution. Conflict followed. I love Grenada and it’s friendly people. I study the island’s history. Children need to be taught to be proud of their heritage, wonderful plants, insects etc. The whole history from Amerindian times is more important than the sad but brief “Revo”. There is a cave where you can see the Amerindians ground their grain. There is the place where maybe they jumped to their deaths rather than surrender to the colonists. You can still find the cannonballs and spent lead bullets of the Europeans fighting over the land. What would be great would be for some clever IT person (ex pat?) to make a web site where those who love the island can contribute.
Well, the New Jewel Movement (NJM) had a relationship with Cuba even before the March 1979 coup. Carter sent an envoy with an immediate offer of assistance with opportunities for more. Bishop and the NJM were cool to it all. In fact, there was already a boat from Cuba en-route to Grenada with the first shipment of weapons and other material aid. The NJM/Cuba relationship was a foregone conclusion and the NJM wasn’t really interested in close ties with the US. As it was a Marxist/Leninist movement, that isn’t surprising.
PEOPLE SHOULD BE HAPPY THAT PEOPLE LIKE MB UW JC EXISTED. THE BENIFITS OF THE REVOLUTION CONTINUE TO BENIFIT NOT ONLY GRENADA AND THE CARIBBEAN BUT THE UNITED STATES AND THE REST OF THE WORLD. IT EASY TO SIT UP HERE IN THE USA AND TALK SH…T!
WHEN YOU DONT HAVE THE FUNDAMENTALS TO LIVE AND EXIST ITS A DIFFERENT STORY!!
MAXISM HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH LACK OF EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE, HOUSING EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
IT HAS A HELL OF A LOT TO DO WITH INGNORANT AND ILLITERATE PEOPLE TO CAUGHT UP IN THEIR OWN S..T TO UNDERSTAND THE REST OF THE WORLD NEEDS TO MOVE FORWARD IF ALL PARTIES ARE TO BENIFIT!
LONG LIVE THE SACRIFICES OF THE REVOLUTION LONG LIVE OUR PATRIOTS!
IN THE PHOTO WITH MB AND UW IT WAS A MEETING WHERE HE WAS WARNED OF HIS IMPEDING ASSASSINATION WHICH HE DISMISSED. IT WAS THE SAME MEETING THAT CHANGED MY LIFE EVENTS
DWC – Take your keyboard into the kitchen. In your tool drawer, pull out a screwdriver and a hammer. Use the screwdriver to dislodge the “caps lock” key. Then, kindly use the hammer to smash the “caps lock” key to smithereens. Thank you.
As for the revo and it’s foul, oppressive leaders, good riddance! There is no communist like a dead communist. May they all be so lucky.
The best end for any marxist is to die like a dog, gunned-down in the street, by his fellow revolutionaries.
Unison Whiteman, Fitzroy Bain, and Jacqueline Creft died with him, at the hands of Bernard Coard & his men.
I can understand a people wanting to move from under the boot heel of an oppressive regime, but to institute a marxist revolution to that end? Just plain fucking stupid.
MB may have been more moderate, but he was still a marxist revolutionary. They all deserve to die. Every last one of them.
What might be Marxism for the white man is not Marxism for the black man.
Okay – Just this morning I said that a comment was the dumbest thing I’d ever heard. You just eclipsed that by light years. Holy crap – that is a profoundly, almost unimaginably, stupid thing to say. That you say it and actually believe it, makes me sorry for you.
That’s like saying “what might be rain for the white man isn’t rain for the black man.” Try it. You can insert any objective noun or fact – and it remains just as stupid:
“What might be _______ for the white man is not _______ for the black man.” See? Just as dumb.
Carry on.
I think you guys should forget about Carib’s leap. that is in the past. Move on!
I don’t see you with the Berkeley degree. Don’t degrade what it took me ten years to attain. Do the reading and experience yourself before you come to me with that psychobabble.
Chess? Not with you playing. This is tic-tac-toe, and you should go home before you get your ass kicked.
And, why would anyone want a Berkley degree?
We all eat different food. Put that in the ________!
Good luck with a response to that one Nota. Too funny.
Kind of like debating with someone who just dropped a load in their drawers and admitted they wet the bed.
It’s easy. Just think of it as chess. There could be a winner or a loser, or it can be stalemate, that is if we treat it as a game, or a cooperation. It’s a division between superior/supreme and technology vs post-agrarianism. However, I will have to have the other point of view, and that I will never know. Sociology and Marxism is a relatively new science, and black sociology, even more rare. As, Max stated, we are different. What might be a king or a peon for you is not a king or peon for the black man, and you can break that down in all “castes” of society, including the homeless, the land-owner, the yeoman farmer, the serf, the businessman, the educator, the student, the athlete, the coach, the celebrity, the clergy, the politician, the parliament, the government, the doctor, the lawyer, the employer, the employee, and we can go on and on just to name a few. Where we go from there is not my decision.
How ’bout we go back to where you said that an objective noun is different things to different people, based solely upon the color of their skin, and I said it was the dumbest f-king thing I’ve ever heard… well, that or we can all listen to you babble incoherently until I decide to light my face on fire and put it out with a gasoline soaked fork.
By your argument, some races are fit to be ruled and enslaved if someone deems it so. Hell, why not? If some races are suited to constitutional republics, and others are made for socialist states, why can’t other races be subjected to downright feudal systems?
You know what, perhaps that whole “Emancipation Proclamation” thing was a little hasty, eh?
***
See, what you don’t realize is that if you don’t presuppose that all men are created equal, then a couple links in a chain down you start getting into men in elite positions making the rules for everyone else. Sounds great until you’re the one at the bottom of the totem pole.
That’s not what I said; but you could explain yourself a little bit more. What I meant was that we can all learn from each other. I like the fact that I live in a place where on a given pay day I have the choice of going to eat any kind of food I want and intermingling with people from different backgrounds and walks-of life. I like the fact that on any given day, I don’t have to suffice for eating chicken and yams for dinner. I could choose to have spaghetti, Indian, Middle Eastern, any given Asian, Mexican, any given black of the African diaspora, Ethiopian, Pacific Islander, Native American (turkey), and, if I had the choice, Aborigine. What I meant was we can all bring something to the table, if we are willing. Unfortunately though, we live in a world that is competitive and unfair, so more than the majority of us don’t have the opportunity to dine at the table and contribute our individual output. Grenada is a small place, and what Bishop was fighting for was international recognition. And that is something that all Grenadians (and Caribbean people can strive for). You might not like our politics and the way some of us look. But I was reading somewhere recently that we are known for our dance, music, and literature, and, although at the bottom of the totem poll, that is one thing we can contribute to mankind, whether king or peon.
I love sushi and General Tso’s Chicken. I speak three languages fluently. I speak and have spoken with good proficiency 5 others. I’ve spent extensive time in foreign countries.
But you came here talking about politics and values on a political blog, telling us about how Marxism–the scourge of free men around the globe–is some sort of ideal that some of us might aspire to. So when I tell you now that I will forcefully rebuke the failed political mechanisms of failed and failing cultures, you shouldn’t be surprised.
“We can all learn a thing or two from each other” is petty and sophomoric drivel on par for a morally-relativistic Berkley grad, I suppose, but it doesn’t stand up to the real-world. We here care about what actually works. Not what feels good to a damnable prof sitting in his classroom.
The fact is Marxism and Socialism is still in its infancy. And while I give the white man credit for creating it, I think there is something that all people could learn from it, nor else would it be a science and taught in higher education. What I do blame the white man for though is keeping it all to himself and giving preference on who to teach it to based on bias, prejudice, and lack of judgement. Remember you are not the only people on the planet; and there have been more successful and unsuccessful institutions around before you decided to colonize most of the world. If you read more of modern history, this has not been the first uprising, and, perhaps, will not be the last. Given our own autonomy, I think that the black man can transition into a more successful Marxist state.
Ethiopia did it, so why can’t we?
Almost makes one a sudden fan of abortion.
Listen Chris, your argument is shit. It has little to it. You simply reiterate that men should “learn something from Marxism.”
Men even more learned than myself and my peers here have, and we’ve all come to the very obvious conclusion: that the human condition itself doesn’t lend itself to the collective. Humans do not have the hive mind required of a communist society. We thrive when we take advantage of our self-interest, and turn it into a positive.
This is what capitalism and free markets do. Pure Marxism merely hopes that people will work together well enough to make the whole shebang work. This inevitably turns into a statist (fascist, communist or otherwise) system that forces people to work in a way that IT deems most productive.
Do tell me of the fruits and delights of Ethiopia. I do so hope for the time when the United States shall reach that Olympiad height of Ethiopia!
Why do we have institutions like universities in the first place, for professors to learn from their students and keep it all to themselves for their own gain and prestige. That is just wrong, after our governments pay for us to study at these institutions to give back to our countries. And then when we try it, you belittle us. It was not my intention. I wanted to study architecture at an engineering school. Sociology was just something that I bumped into, not because I thought it was easy, but because I read a fascinating book in my undergraduate work, and I wanted to work with and interact with people, not a machine. It was not my intention to follow in Bishop’s and Grenada’s footsteps. I had no idea that I would be writing this on the internet more that ten years after I graduated.
Should there be a question mark at the end of this, or may I begin laughing uproariously at you now?
Maybe there are some things I can’t understand; and, don’t have the know-with-all to do so. Recently, I was inspired by a book of ideas on “utopia.” I always knew the meaning of the word, but not in its context. I didn’t think it should be a “polyanna.” And, then, I wanted to pick up the “Republic,” but decided not too. But, I don’t think there is ever a time or place for any of those. So, perhaps the best thing is warfare to achieve our capitalist gains.
You are laughing at yourself!
Tic-tac-toe. I tried to warn you, Christopher, that you were chum, in a tank full of sharks, but you didn’t listen. I tried to tell you after your first retarded comment, but like all Marxists, you’re too dim-witted and just don’t know when to give up
I give up.
You’re a Berkley grad that majored in sociology. That you will give up when faced with even the slightest resistance is a foregone conclusion.
Take her. I don’t want her!!!!!!!!!
What the devil are you talking about, now, Christopher Shears?
You should take a few days and read up on this site. You’ll probably learn more useful information here, in the first hour, than you did in 10(?) years at Berkley.
If you ever want to have a serious discussion about the pros & cons of free markets (true capitalism – not the neo-fascist, corporatism we see in todays US economy), I will gladly have a grown-up discussion with you.
I even promise not to insult under those circumstances. If you insist upon holding your Marxian line, you will find no quarter here. I will insult and ridicule your every profession of faith in that vile pox upon humanity.
There are no good Marxists. Each & every one is content to see their ideological foes rendered facedown in a ditch with a bullet in the back of their skull. They are all, EACH & EVERY ONE, tyrants.
Your Marxist faith is based on lies & dreams of a utopian humanity that has never, and can never, exist. For Marxism to work, you must somehow legislate from existence, human nature itself. It always ends in gulags and mass graves.
I will fight you & your kind with every fiber of my being until God himself forces me to give in. Your dream will never live in me. It will never live in my children. So long as I am alive, it will NEVER take control of my country. You can have my liberty why you pry the very soul from the clutches of my mortal coil. I will die defending my right to live and breathe free. I will die to see that my nation, my countrymen, and everything I love – are never given over to the depravity and ruinous degradation of Marxism.
We cannot find common ground, because your kind will never accept common ground. You will always push for more concessions. You will always seek to subvert the liberty of the individual, and force it to suckle at the teet of Beezelbub himself and pleasure yourselves at the suffering and misfortune of those who refuse to bow. Well, I sir, refuse to bow. You & your kind can kiss both sides of my ass and the crack in the middle. I will die the valiant, honorable, and blessed death of a free man before you ever break my spirit.
The end! Thank you very much! Why don’t you go back to the hills!
So, that’s a no on the adult discussion?
Oh, I’m in the hills, by the way. We have internet here, because free markets found a way to make money by serving a public need and I decided, of my own free will, to give my money for their service.
That’s how free people do it.
Chris… you’ve demonstrated yourself thus far to be an expendable and useless appendage. Like the tail of the homo sapiens, or the appendix, are you.
Prove yourself, in wanting a real discussion and true discourse, and you’ll have it. Otherwise, ridicule. Blather on about “learning from each other”? You’ll get nothing but a laugh riot.
Believe it or not, I really and truly do hope you come back here with actual points that we might discuss.
“Believe it or not, I really and truly do hope you come back here with actual points that we might discuss.”
Me, too.
All you guys are the same people I went to elementary school with and middle school who I use to play and learn with. Then, all of a sudden, I hit puberty, and you all want to gang up on me, beat me, and oppress me for the mere fact that our history books tell us that the black race is inferior, and should be subjected to subjugation. Innocent lives are lost, as experience tell us from this ignorance, The same way you are judging me by this keyboard without seeing me is the same way that you guys are perceiving me based on lost history textbooks. I don’t think I want that for my children either. I tried to make concessions with you the best way I could, but apparently it didn’t work. Sorry, I will be 40 soon and I don’t have the strength to cope or fight anymore. Maybe the both of us should be more cautious. You go your way, I go my way,
Okay, Dr King, settle down with the “racist” incriminations. That straw man won’t stand here. It may work in the circles you travel, but it will make you foolish here. How would we know you were black? Even if we did, who is the only person to mention race in this entire thread of comments? You.
So, supposing we didn’t know you were black, and several of our writers & loyal readers were intimately involved in liberating Grenada, and killing marxist revolutionaries – or fled there as citizens. All of whom love the Spice Island and want to see her free from tyranny, why would they then want to beat and oppress you based upon your race? It’s a bald-faced fabrication, created by you in an attempt to divert attention from a position you are incapable of defending.
Lost history textbooks? Judging your race without seeing you? Do you realize how foolish this sounds? How can we judge your race without seeing you? Also, this internet, allows for the fullest understanding of history, that man has ever known. No longer is history written by the victors. History can be discovered and explored for the enrichment of all. Oh, and more people (by the hundreds of millions) have been murdered by your Marxist ideology put in action, than by racial motivations. The broader understanding of history is what leads us to this inescapable conclusion. We have empirical evidence that your political ideations cause the murder and suffering of all but the ruling elite – yet you refuse to believe it. Burying your head in the sand and pretending history never happened – doesn’t make un-happen, Christopher. Marxist revolutionaries kill millions-upon-millions of people. This is historical record and as such, is not open to debate. You need to de-program your liberal schooling and take an objective, circumspect view of the ideology you support. You are encouraging what will ultimately end in gulags & mass graves. That’s what you want for your children?
You fail to understand that we will make no concessions with those who support the state-sponsored murder of it’s own citizens. We will not accept concessions from those who support suffering and misery in the misguided hopes of finding some grand egalitarian society where human nature and the desire to exercise power over your fellow man do not exist. Marxist – ALWAYS & EVERYWHERE – leads to economic collapse, misery, suffering, murder, and a full division of the classes. The only difference is that Marxist “castes” are not delineated upon nobility or money, but rather, favor with the ruling party.
As for you going your way and we going ours… This is our house. You came here. We defend our house. We defend our liberty. We exercise our rights. Most of us are older, too. The difference is that our views – based upon the freedom of the individual – will never be too burdensome to defend. We are free men & women who support individual liberty. We are the last of a dying breed and anyone who comes here to assail liberty had best expect a fight.
You can bless your sons. I will bless my daughter. This is what’s on my mind.
I am now homeless again.
I am now a widower.
I am truly sorry to hear that, Christopher. I will pray for you and ask God to comfort & guide you.
Thank you, I appreciate that. I am learning to not be so shallow and have a little fun sometimes in my own specific way, regardless of what people think.
Please don’t judge me before I judge you.
What? Please, clarify that statement. Who is judging you?
It could be construed as a veiled threat. I hope that’s not how you intended it. Again, please clarify your intent.
I intend not to discuss that matter right now, and I think that you should explain yourself a little more as well before we can understand each other. I have nothing to hide about myself; but I respect people who are more trustworthy and less clandestine in their behavior and politics. I wish to know your point of view and where you are coming from as well before we can reach a consensus in this matter. All I am gaining from this is who has the upper hand; and a simple handshake just won’t do the trick. What is your policy?
I’m simple. I believe in natural rights. I believe that every man is sovereign unto himself and owes nothing to anyone but God.
My politics are just as simple. Stay out of my pocket, out of my bedroom, and leave me alone. In exchange, I will provide you with the same courtesy.
See? Simple.
I hate marxism. I hate collectivism. As a matter of fact, I’m not very fond of people in general. I love individuals! I don’t like groups. I hate crowds. I don’t tend to get along or play well with those attempt to impose their will upon me. I’m rather anti-social when it comes to the defense of my natural rights.
You deserve to go in exile then.
What specifically, in the expressed beliefs above, is worthy of me being exiled? C’mon. Out with it!
You see, this is precisely what’s wrong with you progressive, collective types.
I say that I want to be left alone and be allowed to live my life – free of government interference – free of molestation by groups and do-gooder ashats, and you want my expulsion from the very society which I GUARAN-FKING-TEE I have contributed more to – than you will in 10 lifetimes!
You want my expulsion and when that doesn’t work – you’ll be perfectly amenable to my execution because inside that petty, simple, putrid little mind of yours – you are a tyrant.
What? Are we going to make it to 100 comments and call it quits. I need to know. I have already exposed myself, I don’t have anything left to say.
I am not trying to conquer the world. I don’t want to be emperor Haile Sellassie. I just want to live a simple life with equal treatment and the dignity that is required of me. Please allow yourself to understand that. Crisis can hit anyone (and in fact will) at any point in their lifetime. Please understand that and let me be. I have no intent on leading or ruling anybody; So I don’t want any trouble, and am not looking for it. I have had enough trouble in my life. Enough is enough. I just want to be poor and simple. That’s all. If you have accomplished ten times over me, then I give you all respect; nonetheless, no matter what I have accomplished or not accomplished, I am deserving of that same respect, even if I may work in a simple grocery store or anything for that matter. But that does not make me stupid or undeserving, less of a person, or unsuccessful in life. It is all about wisdom. So, that I do believe you will attain this same wisdom even with regard to reading this same manuscript in one hour. In order for an individual to exist, there has to be the other. That’s all I have to say. And I don’t want to make anymore comments. If you wish to make a comment on this manuscript, then I respect it. I won’t think of you as any less of an individual. Take good care! I am no longer angry. Peace be with you!
Christopher, you have NO IDEA with whom you are speaking. I understand suffering. I have lived a large portion of my life of in suffering. I realized a while back that wisdom is my youthful foolishness, tempered by the pain of experience. The suffering I speak of is the driving force behind my will to live free. I still have a great deal to learn, but I’m ahead of the curve on some of it. The natural rights of man being a large step…
I haven’t “accomplished ten-times-over” you. I said I have contributed 10 times more than you, to this nation. I’m not talking about money – how would I know what you make? I’m talking about the sacrifice I offered to this nation, in service.
I’m talking about the marriage and children I gave to this country, time I can never get back (Not that I would want the marriage back – {{{shiver}}} ).
I offered my time & if need be, my life – because I love this nation and the ideals it was founded upon, namely those ideals I listed above.
No one called you stupid or undeserving. You are setting those strawmen up & knocking em down, all on your own, buddy.
You want a simple life with equal treatment & dignity. That is precisely what I want. Your way will never get you there. You r way promises equality of outcome and provides equality of misery. My way promises equality of opportunity and provides equality of opportunity. All a man can ask for is a fair shake. Your thinking says that I should be exiled for wanting to be left alone.
Oh, speaking of being left alone – why do you keep telling me to leave you alone? This is my site! While I do not own it, I put in my labor, my tireless effort to keep it running smoothly.
I return to your comments, offering you a platform to explain your ideas and you tell me I should be exiled. Then, when I ask you to elaborate, you decline and tell me to leave you alone. Un-frickin-believable!
What would be most beneficial is if someone could come up with an idea that would accommodate free labor…
Have you ever considered the Peace Corp? Seems like it might be right for you. You get to work for nothing with like minded people in areas of the world most would never think of going to.
Bob Marley has a phrase in his lyrics, “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, non but ourselves can free our mind.” Yes, I have considered the peace corps, but I didn’t know where I wanted to go; and I did not want to travel overseas because of my health. I might be considering a masters in humanities; but that is still undecided. I am certain that I don’t want to tutor and teach anymore, though.
I am likewise considering a masters in coloring books. Minor in “Aggressive Crayola.”
You and I could be friends.
Take the tuition for that Masters in Humanities and hit the blackjack table. At least that way there is a small chance of a return on your investment.
Double down on 11.
Roullette – put it on 4 corners. Any 4, still less of a crapshoot than a Masters of BS.
A masters in humanities is a 100% consumer good. There is no investment value.
Barrack Obama, do your job!
I have a distrust in politicians.
I also have a distrust in religious leaders.
I have a distrust in the media as well.
It’s a curse!
Not trusting “authority” is a blessing, Christopher. You just need to get to the correct perspective on the proper roles of government.
I am quite verse with the basic tenets of the government and know how it works. I just think that the only reason the Clinton administration put Obama in office is because they didn’t want to do and be shown to do the dirty work themselves. It was all a political gambit.
Barack Obama is well-versed on the basic tenets of government as well. What I said was that you need to get the correct perspective on the “proper roles of government”. There are many roles of generic government. Most times, the role they choose is ‘tyrannical overlord’.
This is not, however, the proper role of government. The government has very few actually responsibilities. When properly limited, the govt’s influence in a man’s life will be very minimal.
Here in the U.S. the government is constitutionally limited to 18 specifically enumerated powers. There are additional powers when the Amendments are considered. Some say case law grants new powers, but interpretations are a damnable curse on our founding principles.
The statue of liberty once stood as an emblem of freedom and upward mobility; but, I believe in the next successive generations, the Niagara Falls is going to be the next emblem. Hearing from what others have to say, that would be my next prediction that this country is going down.
Notamobster, we briefly touched on the issues of race and class division. We didn’t touch on the issues of gender and division, and the support of gay marriage, nor religion. While I don’t see anything wrong with a little experimentation, I am against the issue of gay marriage; and, especially when it carries a race, class, and religious connotation.
The only thing positive that came out of the Obama administration is the health reform and the scarce creation of jobs. The US once stood out as a global beacon for its higher education institutions; but that has become short-sided. What made our nation great wasn’t so much the promise of freedom, military, and political power; what stood out more was the more than 4,000 colleges and universities; some being the envy of the rest of the world; but, today, that is in question.
Are you enjoying the health care reform?
They say knowledge is power; but, I believe that who has a claim on that knowledge is the actual power.
The ability to inflict pain on others is absolute power.
In any circumstance, there will always be someone greater than you. Yes, I am quite healthy. Thank God for that.
Chris, the new health reform is a big pile of hot garbage on fire. Kinda like the Chicago Cubs in August. My place of employment had four choices of insurance carriers now they carry just ONE! I had choices. Now, I have one choice. I have co-workers running around trying to find doctors that work within the network now. The insurance is a little cheaper but, with the rationing and the lack of doctors that don’t accept the network it becomes harder. So, instead of finding the doctor I want, I find the doctor that works within the network. The President and the congress *ucked us hard on this one sir, you just didn’t feel it yet.
“If you like your insurance plan, or your doctor you can keep them!” -Barack Obama
I came of age during the Rodney King riots, the OJ Simpson trial, and the Rwanda genocide. Twenty years later, I am still feeling the aftermath although us Americans don’t talk about it. But, I still worked and went to school and did everything I was supposed to, given my challenges.
Not everyone was that lucky though.
There should be an ammendment made where fathers could have visitation rights of their adopted children. And at least, the courts should at least let fathers know that they are fathers and have that acknowledged on both sides. I think it is a grave injustice. And, we’ll be fighting from generation to generation to rectify the situation. I don’t want all my good behaviour, hard work, and effort of a citizen to go unnoticed and seen in vain with no fruition. What did I do it all for? What are the fruits of my labor? There also should be more protection for teachers and the groom. Women get protected all the time.