| Brindley Benn |
Website Links For Brindley |
Information AboutBrindley Benn |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT BRINDLEY BENN | |
| 1923 births | |
| benn, brindley | |
| guyanese politicians | |
| living people | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
|
Benn was born in Berbice . He became politically active with the People's Progressive Party (PPP) in the 1950s. The British placed him under restriction, a form of house arrest, in New Amsterdam . After the first Guyanese election, he served as Deputy Prime Minister, and later as Minister of Education and Minister of Agriculture. During the disturbances in the early 1960s, Benn was imprisoned by the British. During this period, the British successfully split the PPP along racial lines -- the originally nationalist and multi-ethnic PPP became the party that was allegedly the party of Indo-Guyanese, whereas most Afro-Guyanese joined the People's National Congress (PNC). Brindley Benn became the most prominent Afro-Guyanese to remain with the PPP, making a statement against the divide-and-rule tactics of Colonialism . Benn also coined the Guyanese national motto: ''One People, One Nation, One Destiny.'' By the late 1960s, Benn became increasingly uncomfortable with the PPP, leaving it to form the Working People's Vanguard Party . He was for a period strongly attracted to the Maoist vision of a peasant-led social revolution. In the late 1970s, he joined with Walter Rodney , Eusi Kwayana , Andaiye , Moses Baghwan and Rupert Roopnaraine , to form the Working People's Alliance . Following the resumption of free elections in 1993, Benn was elected to Parliament, running as part of Civic, an informal grouping that formed a coalition with the PPP. He subsequently served as High Commissioner to Canada and Public Service Commissioner. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |