A Summary Tribute by Sister Jacqueline Mckenzie
My friend Phyllis Coard, former Minister of Women’s Affairs during the Grenada Revolution, 1979 – 1983, and co founder of the National Women’s Organisation of Grenada has died today at her home in Jamaica aged 76.
Phyllis was one of 17 people and the only woman, convicted of the murder of Maurice Bishop, members of the People’s Revolutionary Government and civilians on October 19 1983 culminating in the illegal invasion of Grenada ordered by US president Ronald Reagan. The trial of the 17 was characterised by errors and widely criticised by legal jurists. She was sentenced to death but was released from prison on compassionate grounds in 2000.