Maurice Rupert Bishop (29 May 1944 – 19 October 1983) was a Grenadian revolutionary and the leader of the New Jewel Movement (NJM) – a Marxist–Leninist party that sought to prioritise socio-economic development, education and black liberation.

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.

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.

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.

In 1969, he 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.

The plan called for temporary withdrawal from his lawyer duties in order to co-create an organization capable of taking power on the island.

[2] 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.

The philosophy of Julius Nyerere and his Tanzanian socialism were guiding elements for the Movement for Assemblies of the People (MAP), which Bishop helped organize 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.

[2][5] 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.

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.

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.

[9] 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.

"[11] After this traumatizing 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 mobilizing anti-government demonstrations toward the organization of party groups and cells.

[2] 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.

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.

[15] As such, he challenged the government of Prime Minister Gairy and his Grenada United Labour Party (GULP), which maintained power by threat and intimidation[10][16][17] and by fraudulent elections.

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).

U.S. President Ronald Reagan accused Grenada of intending to use the new airport's long "airstrip" as a waypoint for Soviet military aircraft.

[20][non-primary source needed] Under Bishop's leadership, the National Women's Organization was formed which participated in policy decisions along with other social groups.

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.

[21] The establishment of voluntary mass organizations of women, farmers, youth, workers, and militia were presumed to make the holding of elections unnecessary.

[26] A U.S. State Department report at the time expressed concern with Bishop and the NJM: "The revolution in Grenada, it said, was in some ways even worse than the Cuban Revolution that had rocked the region a quarter of a century earlier: the vast majority of Grenadians were black, and therefore their struggle could resonate with thirty million black Americans; and the Grenadian revolutionary leaders spoke English, and so could communicate their message with ease to an American audience.

A faction within the party, led by Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard, tried to make Bishop either step down or agree to a power-sharing arrangement.

[32][33][34] Speaking at the ceremony, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said: "This belated honour to an outstanding Caribbean son will bring closure to a chapter of denial in Grenada's history.