Beverley Manley

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Beverley Manley
Beverley Manley and Michael Manley with US president Jimmy Carter in 1977
Born
Beverley Lois Anderson

(1941-11-08) November 8, 1941 (age 82)
Jamaica
EducationUniversity of the West Indies, Mona
Howard University
Occupation(s)Broadcaster, women's rights advocate
Notable workThe Manley Memoirs (2008)
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1972; div. 1993)​
​
​
(m. 2012; died 2020)​
Children2

Beverley Lois Anderson-Manley[1] (born 8 November 1941) is a Jamaican public figure. In the 1970s, she emerged as a leader in women's rights advocacy, leading a campaign for a maternity leave. From 1972 to 1993, she was married to Michael Manley, who was Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1972 to 1980. Manley was known for being more radical than her husband and helping him connect with Jamaica's black population. She was a popular figure among the majority of Jamaicans. Manley also co-founded a radio show with Eric Anthony Abrahams in 1992. After divorcing Michael, she published The Manley Memoirs in 2008, and in 2012 she married Donald Keith Duncan.

Early life[edit]

Beverley Lois Anderson was born on 8 November 1941, to Esmine Anderson née Pearson and Eric Anderson,[2][3] and she grew up in "meager" surroundings in a working-class family.[4][5] She had African ancestry.[5] Her father was a clerk for the Jamaica Railway Corporation.[6] Manley started her career as a model and a public broadcaster,[7] becoming a popular figure known for favoring Jamaican music over music from other countries.[8] In the 1970s, she attended the University of the West Indies, Mona.[3]

Marriage to Michael Manley[edit]

She married Michael Manley in 1972, and they had two children: the first in 1974 and the second in 1980.[6] Michael Manley was 17 years older than her, and she was his fourth wife. He became Prime Minister of Jamaica in 1972, holding the role for eight years. Manley was First Lady of Jamaica for the duration of his term, advocating on behalf of women and children.[4] She was also president of the PNP's women's movement in at least 1979, advocating for maternity leave,[9] and a leader of the movement throughout the 1970s.[6] A law that granted maternity leave was signed in 1979.[10] Biographer Michael Darrell E. Levi wrote in 1989 that Beverley Manley "played a major role in sensitizing her husband to women's concerns". In 1974, she spoke to UNESCO about women's rights.[11] She also visited Moscow and Cuba and was a vocal anti-imperialist, for which she was attacked by The Gleaner newspaper.[12] She was more politically radical than her husband.[13]

Manley also worked to help her husband "connect" with Jamaica's black population—while his skin was light, she had dark skin, an Afro reminiscent of the Black Power movement, and often wore "African attire" such as a dashiki—and developed a reputation for being involved with gender-related issues. She later said she helped Michael with his public speaking.[5][14] Manley was not universally accepted by wealthier and more powerful Jamaicans; for instance, some told her to straighten her hair. However, she was widely supported and admired by the general populace.[5] Manley was Jamaica's patron of International Women's Year in 1975 and attended the International Women's Year Conference that year.[15] She sought to establish forms of day care and education for infants.[15] In 1975, Manley was fired upon while she and her husband led a funeral procession for the politician Winston Blake.[16]

Manley has also represented Jamaica in the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.[10]

Later life[edit]

She attended Howard University from 1985 to 1986, working towards a Doctor of Philosophy.[4] Their marriage fell apart after both she and her husband were unfaithful. They divorced in 1993.[4][7] The year before, Manley and Eric Anthony Abrahams had created a radio show that focused on current events, The Breakfast Club.[17][18]

She entered into a relationship with Donald Keith Duncan, who had been a minister in her husband's cabinet. In 2008, she published The Manley Memoirs, an autobiography of her childhood and marriage.[4][7][19] In a review of the work, Christopher Porter for The Washington Post wrote: "In some ways, Beverley was to Prime Minister Michael Manley what Hillary Clinton was to Bill Clinton — with everything that implies: a strong, smart woman married to a brilliant but human leader, whose philandering caused pain in the marriage ... (And she had her own dalliances, too.)"[4] On 21 January 2012, Manley and Duncan were married after a 32-year affair.[20] The two were together until Duncan's death in 2020.[21] Manley is the subject of and appeared in a four-part film documentary titled Beverley Manley Uncensored in July 2022.[22]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Names in the News: Jamaican Chief Divorced Again". Los Angeles Times. 1 February 1990. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Manley, Beverly Lois (Mrs. Michael Manley)". Personalities Caribbean. Vol. 7. Personalities Limited. 1983. p. 483.
  3. ^ a b Levi 1989, p. 213.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Porter, Christopher (5 August 2008). "Personal Politics: 'The Manley Memoirs'". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d Bedasse 2017, p. 103.
  6. ^ a b c Levi 1989, p. 21.
  7. ^ a b c Infantry, Ashante (23 September 2008). "Jamaica's ex-first lady reveals it all in memoirs". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  8. ^ Levi 1989, p. 136.
  9. ^ Reddock, Rhoda (1998). "Women's Organizations and Movements in the Commonwealth Caribbean: The Response to Global Economic Crisis in the 1980s". Feminist Review. 59 (59): 57–73. doi:10.1080/014177898339451. ISSN 0141-7789. JSTOR 1395723. S2CID 144898132.
  10. ^ a b "Beverley Anderson Manley". The Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  11. ^ Levi 1989, p. 163.
  12. ^ Levi 1989, p. 215.
  13. ^ Levi 1989, p. 216.
  14. ^ Dunkley, D.A. (2011). "Hegemony in Post-Independence Jamaica". Caribbean Quarterly. 57 (2): 1–23. doi:10.1080/00086495.2011.11672400. ISSN 0008-6495. JSTOR 23050526. S2CID 142211299.
  15. ^ a b Interamerican Commission of Women 1980, p. 113.
  16. ^ Levi 1989, p. 165.
  17. ^ Cunnincham, Anastasia (18 August 2011). "Anthony Abrahams laid to rest". The Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  18. ^ Gonzalez, David (18 October 1999). "A Killing Shocks Jamaicans Into Soul-Searching". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  19. ^ The Manley Memoirs. Ian Randle Publishers. 2008. p. 247. ISBN 9789766373139 – via Google Books.
  20. ^ Ellington, Barbara (29 January 2012). "At last ... DK & Bev make it official". The Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  21. ^ "DK Duncan remembered as an advocate for social and economic justice". The Jamaica Gleaner. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  22. ^ "New doc lays bare life of Beverley Manley Duncan". The Jamaica Gleaner. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.

Bibliography[edit]

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