“What we need in this island is not more men, but more men with courage, with the spirit of fighting for justice for all, and more so for the less fortunate; independent men who will sacrifice their own interests for their unfortunate sisters and brothers; well-thinking men who will speak straight from their shoulders according to the dictates of their conscience and not submit and say "Yes" when conscience says "No"."
1935 (The Best of Bustamante: Selected quotations 1935 - 1974)
Who was Bustamante?
William Alexander Clarke was born on February 24, 1884 in a small cottage in Blenheim, a rural hilly district in Hanover, Jamaica. From there he began his adventures which would culminate in him becoming Jamaica's first Prime Minister and one of Jamaica's National Heroes.
This journey started with his many travels throughout the United States, Spain, Panama and Cuba. Returning to Jamaica in 1933, he emerged on the political scene in Jamaica. Initially he wrote letters of protest to the newspapers on behalf of the destitute and hopeless masses. In 1938 he founded the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (B.I.T.U.). He suffered imprisonment and detention for his advocacy of workers' rights. Under Universal Adult Suffrage in 1944, the leader and founder of the Jamaica Labour Party (J.L.P.) won the elections.
Sir Alexander Bustamante was Jamaica's first Prime Minister. He led Jamaica into independence and out of British Colonial rule in 1962. In 1969 he was awarded the Order of National Hero.
Sir Alexander Bustamante was one of the most influential political figures of Jamaica with his futuristic thinking and the ability to motivate his fellow Jamaicans.