'Forward ever, backward never!' — 20th anniversary of the Grenadian Revolution
By Kamala Emanuel
"Sisters and brothers. At 4.15 this morning, the People's Revolutionary Army seized control of the army barracks at True Blue. The barracks were burned to the ground. After half-an-hour struggle, the forces of Gairy's army were completely defeated, and surrendered ... Not a single member of the revolutionary forces was injured ... Shortly after this, several cabinet ministers were captured in their beds by units of the revolutionary army.
"I am now calling upon the working people, the youths, workers, farmers, fishermen, middle-class people and women to join our armed revolutionary forces ... and to give them any assistance which they call for.
"People of Grenada, this revolution is for work, for food, for decent housing and health services, and for a bright future for our children and great-grandchildren.
"Long live the people of Grenada. Long live freedom and democracy. Let us together build a just Grenada."
With these words, on March 13, 1979, Maurice Bishop announced the triumph of the revolutionary uprising against the dictator of the small Caribbean island of Grenada, Eric Gairy.
It marked the beginning of a four-and-a-half year revolutionary transformation of Grenadian society. It was a period rich in lessons for revolutionaries worldwide, and one still capable of inspiring activists by its vision of a society run by and in the interests of the workers, peasants, youth and women.
The uprising was the culmination of a long struggle. Centuries of colonial exploitation by both France and Britain had been met with slave revolts (the most notable led by Julien Fedon in 1795) and popular struggles against racism, for workers' rights and for home rule.
In 1951, a rising tide of industrial struggle led by rural workers brought to power trade unionist Eric Gairy, who promptly ignored the aspirations of the people, quelled the uprising and instituted a period of rule marked by corruption, political victimisation and paramilitary terrorism carried out by his "Mongoose Gang" of criminal thugs. Democratic rights were curtailed, and in the last year of his rule, disappearances began.
New Jewel Movement
Influenced by anti-colonial struggles and the black power Movement in the US, and angry at Grenada's poverty, racism and oppression, the New Jewel Movement (NJM) led by Maurice Bishop and Unison Whiteman began organising popular resistance to "Hurricane Gairy".
The NJM led large mobilisations calling for Gairy's resignation, re-kindled trade union struggles and participated in the country's fraudulent parliamentary elections.
The People's Revolutionary Government, installed by the March 13 uprising, moved quickly to lead the people to transform society. Anti-worker and anti-democratic laws were repealed. Laws were enacted that made it compulsory for employers to recognise a trade union if a majority of workers at a workplace chose it to represent them.
Where previously victimisation and terrorisation of workers had minimised rank-and-file participation in the trade unions, the revolution gave rise to a flowering of democratic trade unions as they increased their memberships and took industrial action to win better wages and conditions.
Under the leadership of the NJM and its supporters, the unions saw themselves as organs of struggle, not only around "economic" issues, but also the whole range of social issues. With the other mass organisations, the unions involved working people in deciding society's priorities and direction.
The motor force of the revolution was the people, organised and on the move. People joined the trade unions, the National Women's Organisation (NWO), the National Youth Organisation, the Party Support Group and the People's Militia. They formed cooperatives to overcome unemployment, receiving grants and loans from the government to pursue agricultural projects on unused land.
A subsidised house repair program made tools available for community use. Community development projects were developed as people identified needs and were equipped to meet them.
A customary form of collective work, the "maroon", in which villagers donate what they have for a large common meal, and work together on projects they decide, was revitalised. Social solidarity grew as the Grenadian people constructed a new and better life for themselves.
Not only did wages rise, as workers were able to exercise their democratic right to self-organisation, but the social wage was rapidly expanded. It included: free medical treatment and pre-primary care; a new eye clinic; free milk for children; the training of more doctors and dentists; low-cost housing and house repairs; free secondary education; and virtually free technical and university training for untrained primary school teachers.
A Centre for Popular Education was established. Women's, youth and workers' organisations participated in a drive to eliminate illiteracy. This enabled thousands to participate in social life and public affairs for the first time.
Women's rights
Women's participation in society was encouraged, particularly through the NWO, trade unions, the popular militia and other mass organisations. The NJM government ordered that women's wages in the state sector be the same as men's. Two months' paid maternity leave was granted and it was made illegal to sack pregnant workers.
The way the maternity leave law was introduced shows how the new leadership politically educated the people. The NWO, trade unions and churches were consulted before the law was enacted. The conservative leadership of the teachers' union opposed the law, so the law was framed to exclude its members. Not surprisingly, once people started to see the benefits of the law, NJM activists were able to campaign in the teachers' union and topple the conservative leadership to get teachers written back into the law.
Months of discussions involving all the mass organisations also preceded the presentation of the country's 1981 budget. To the slogan of "Forward ever, backward never!", Grenadians took control of the economy, and their own lives.
The revolution unfolded against the resistance of the capitalists, in particular US big business. A barrage of propaganda was thrown at the revolution. Lies were published about the "dangers" to tourists in Grenada and Bishop was painted as a dictator.
Bishop and other NJM leaders became important spokespeople against imperialism, calling for the Caribbean to be made a zone of peace. They spoke in solidarity with the people of Cuba, Vietnam, Palestine and Africa.
Grenada was one of the first to recognise the new revolutionary government of Nicaragua. When Nicaraguans launched a mass literacy campaign, English-speaking Grenadian teachers volunteered to teach in Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast.
The Grenadian people mobilised in support of struggles across Africa and the underdeveloped world.
The solidarity went both ways. Cuba assisted Grenada in education and health provision and sent workers to assist in the construction of a new airport. Cuba politically supported Grenada's right to develop without interference from Washington.
Unfortunately, in October 1983 a faction of the NJM, led by the deputy prime minister, Bernard Coard, and his wife Phyllis Coard, the minister for women's affairs, launched a coup against Bishop. On October 19, Coard's collaborators in the army opened fire on a crowd of Bishop's supporters at Fort Rupert, where Bishop was being held. Twenty people were killed and in the ensuing chaos, Bishop and five of his key political supporters were murdered.
Six days later, US President Ronald Reagan, taking advantage of the instability, ordered a massive US invasion to crush the revolution.
On the 20th anniversary of the triumph of the Grenadian revolution, it is worth remembering the dramatic improvements that were made possible in the lives of people in an economically undeveloped country by the removal of a pro-imperialist, pro-capitalist government power, and its replacement with a state based on the democratic mobilisation of the workers, peasants and oppressed.