The New JEWEL Movement
The New JEWEL Movement was a revolutionary government formed on the Caribbean island of Grenada in the 1970s. Led by a young attorney named Maruice Bishop, the movement stood for the Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation.
Like so many colonized countries, Grenada is one in which its original inhabitants, the Carib Indians, were wiped out by European settlers. Now, its population is mainly comprised of descendants from African slaves brought over by the French and the British in the 1600s and 1700s. After Grenada won its independence from Britain in 1974, it was led by a corrupt and violent prime minister named Eric Gairy. His secret police, the Mongoose Gang, was used to violently quiet any critics of Gairy’s regime, and in fact murdered Maurice Bishop’s father, Rupert Bishop, in 1974.
In 1979, Maurice Bishop and the New JEWEL Movement launched a revolution against Gairy’s government, by taking over radio stations, military barracks, government buildings, and police stations across the country. In an almost bloodless coup, they seized power from Gairy, desiring to impose a socialist program based on the teachings of Karl Marx, as well as Bob Marley.
Bishop’s primary focus was on workers’ rights, women’s rights, and the struggle against racism and apartheid. While in power, women were provided with equal pay and paid maternity leave, and gender discrimination was made illegal. Educational organizations, health care, and youth affairs programs were formed. For the next four years, while most Caribbean nations felt the negative impacts of a worldwide recession, Grenada experienced significant economic growth.
Deputy Prime Minister of the NJM, Bernard Coard, desiring a more hardcore Marxist-Leninist government, asked Bishop to enter into a power sharing agreement in 1983. When Bishop refused, Coard placed him under house arrest. He was freed by demonstrators and led a march to the army headquarters, where he and seven other civilians and cabinet members were killed by firing squad later that day.
Always looking for a reason to occupy a country that’s thriving under a system other than capitalism, Grenada’s political unrest provided the U.S. with the perfect excuse to invade the country. Reagan, who was president at the time, offered four reasons to successfully gather public support for an invasion of Grenada-and they were all false. He convinced citizens that:
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800 U.S. medical students were in danger on the island due to the conflict, when in actuality, medical school administrators refused to submit to U.S. pressure requesting that they issue a call for help, feeling no threat of danger. Also, five hundred parents sent cables to Reagan asking that he not take aggressive action, 90% of the students said they were never in danger, and visiting U.S. diplomats from Barbados agreed.
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U.S. troops found six warehouses “stacked to the ceiling” with Cuban weapons meant for interventions in Central America and Africa. Really, there were three warehouses, one-quarter full of outdated small arms that had been seized a few days before by leaders from the popular militias.
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An airport under construction in Grenada was going to end up being used as a base for Soviet bear bombers. It was actually built for the purpose of accommodating larger passenger planes and thereby boosting the tourism industry in the country.
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The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) had issued an invitation requesting U.S. intervention. In reality, the U.S. had requested the OECS invite it to invade, which the OECS had no authority to do as it would have been a violation of its charter.
Seeing as Grenada is no larger than Martha’s Vineyard, the U.S. managed to take over the country easily, and quality of life on the island diminished in the following years. This was most obvious in the health care sector, where not one pediatrician remained, nor were there any psychiatrists to care for the almost 200 mental patients on the island. After the takeover, most foreign doctors, teachers, and other civilians were arrested and expelled by U.S. officials. The Pope Paul Ecumenical Center was raided due to its “subversive activities” of helping the poor. Hundreds of Grenadians were kept in custody for months without charge, the island’s radio station was overtaken by the U.S. Navy, the right to free assembly was reduced, and writ of habeus corpus was stopped.
The invasion set an important precedent for regime change through the force of U.S. intervention. It sent a powerful message to the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, who were also trying to fight a violent dictatorship, that the U.S. could do more than just arm contras-they could invade your country. It showed the rest of the world that they were not the sovereign countries they believed they were, and could not receive economic or military aid from anyone who didn’t support or model their governments after America’s.
From Vietnam to the Caribbean to Iran, the U.S. has made it its business, and made a business, out of invading countries who are successfully operating in a self-sufficient manner, citing all of them as threats to “national security.” The New JEWEL Movement band hopes to raise awareness about these corrupt practices and continue the legacy of Maurice Bishop and his revolutionary government, by demanding justice, welfare and liberation for all through the use of education. By making informed choices about the corporations and causes we do or don’t support, we can hopefully establish a system that the New JEWEL Movement, and many others like it, sought to create.
Apartheid- a policy or system of segregation or discrimination based on race
Contra- a group, usually guerilla military, that suppresses dissent amongst local populace or opposing governments
Coup- a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government.
Regime Change- instead of saying what it really does, which is overthrow governments it disapproves of (even if they’re democratically elected), the U.S. prefers to use this term instead
Writ of Habeus Corpus- a court order that requires a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court
Sources:
http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/155/25966.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jewel_Movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Grenada
Members:
Jules Ross-Vocals
Dave Arlington-Guitar & Vocals
Joey Johnson-Keyboards
Mabis Chase-Violin
Gianni Cionchi-Drums