Blackwell Reference Online

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Michael Manley was a labor organizer, founder of the Jamaican anti-colonial movement, and prime minister dedicated to fighting poverty by ending western political and economic imperialism and leading the country toward democratic socialism. His dedication to a new economic path for Jamaica influenced a generation of advocates for equality and independence in the Caribbean and throughout the world from the 1960s to the 1990s. Michael Norman Manley was born on December 10, 1924, the second son of Norman Washington Manley, founder of the People's National Party (PNP) and chief minister of Jamaica from 1955 to 1962, and Edna Swithenback Manley, a prominent artist and sculptor. Thus, when Michael entered the political arena, his name had a rich history and legacy. Manley attended high school at Jamaica College in Kingston, Jamaica. After high school he became a journalist, writing for Public Opinion , a weekly newspaper. In 1943, while attending McGill University in Montreal, Canada, Manley volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force. He then traveled to England, graduating from the London School of Economics, where he studied economics under Harold Laski, a leading British political theorist and chairman of the Labour Party from 1945 to 1946. For a while afterwards he worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in London. Manley returned to Jamaica in 1951 and become active ... log in or subscribe to read full text