From a memorable steamer trip to Florida’s judiciary – the inspiring journey of a humble Essequibian

Jun 19, 2011 News

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Last year, the veteran judge was re-elected unopposed for the next six years

By Leonard Gildarie

For most folks, there is a specific time that they could look back on what could be considered the turning point in their life. Their entire perspective would have changed in that moment, at that crossroad leading them forever in a new direction with an invigorating passion.
For Alli Baksh Majeed, now known popularly as A.B. Majeed to friends, or Judge A.B. to the legal world in Florida and the USA, his was when some cow droppings fell on his mother’s white ‘herni’ while on a steamer trip from Anna Regina to Wakenaam, an island in the Essequibo River.
In the pecking order of things, even the cows seemed to have been worth more than the little boy and his mother who were relegated to a lower deck of that steamer where persons of a lower economic standing were supposed to be. “It was my first awakening to injustice, economic injustice.”
Young A.B. could not understand it. The despairing image of his mother’s face inflamed both a passion and an anger that led him to fight his way to higher education in the United States. There he clawed his way through college and law school, rose to become a prosecutor, and then resigned to campaign to become a judge. He lost it all, then won it all.
Alli Baksh Majeed is now the only judge of Indian-descent in the State of Florida. A few years ago he was elected by his fellow judges to serve as the President of all the county judges in the State.
A.B., 63, is now contemplating retirement as a judge and the possibility of other elected office, maybe the Florida Senate.
Kaieteur News caught up with Majeed while he was in Guyana for the West Indies/Pakistan cricket matches. His is a remarkable story of patience and perseverance.
Humble beginnings
Majeed grew up in Anna Regina, a village on the laid-back Essequibo coast, with rice farming being the main source of living for most families.
He was the last of four brothers. He remembered all too clearly the fish-laden streams, the beautiful birds and the trees full of delicious fruits.
Growing up in the 1950s, there were no high schools in the county. Primary school, sixth standard was one’s academic ceiling.
“Whoever wanted to go to high school had to come from a wealthy family to go to Georgetown.”
That changed in the mid ‘60’s when the then Premier, Cheddi Jagan, converted a government office to a high school at Anna Regina. There were 100 spots available and through an elimination test, Majeed made it through.
“That singular act of going to high school opened the door to the mountaintop for me and my classmates. My whole mental concept of my abilities changed. I began to dream impossible dreams. Had it not been for the Anna Regina Government Secondary School, I and many others would be singing a different song today.
“Life, while idyllic in Essequibo, was not without its hardships. The roads were all mud and there was flooding, particularly around Christmas. In our younger days we had no electrical lights; no running water, so we had to wake up early in the morning and fill up the tub with fresh black water from the trench so my mother could use it during the day.”
It was also a time when crime was unheard of and people left their doors open. His three years at the high school – 1965-1968 – were marked by some of Guyana’s worst political turbulence. During that time young A.B. was exposed to Guyana’s leading politicians. He was struck by the eloquence and resonant voice of Forbes Burnham, the political theories of Cheddi Jagan and the capitalism of Peter D’Aguiar.
“Janet Jagan was also quite impressive, and represented our district in Anna Regina, and all the ladies used to refer to her as “Bouji (brother’s wife).”
It was a struggle for the family to find the $22.50 needed to pay for A.B. to attend the Anna Regina Government Secondary, but his brothers took to the field, determined one of their own would do the family proud.
“I am forever grateful to them for this sacrifice. Their job was to come up with the $22.50…what you would call an unbudgeted expense.”
During High School, A.B. juggled studies and work. He rose early, milked the cows, cut the grass and went to school. It was juxtaposed with Chaucer, Tennyson, Shakespeare, French, Latin, Algebra and Geometry.
With no electricity, the battle was to use the sunshine to ensure as much studies as possible was pushed in.
While quite a few of the 100 students dropped out because of the rigours, the remainder stuck to the tasks.
“For a number of us, we did not let go…I was like a drowning man clinging to a raft…It was not if I could afford to hold on…it was I could not afford to let go.”
US-bound
It was during this time that Majeed decided that he wanted to go to the United States to further his studies.
“I had an opportunity to go to Canada, but I used to read a lot about the USA. I was intrigued by their way of life; their economic capitalism; their democracy; their freedoms.”
But obtaining a visa to the United States was no easy task.
“It wasn’t easy for me to get a student visa. When I applied for one I was denied, because my parents lacked the resources to guarantee that I would not become a public charge on the US government. This was a stringent requirement of the US embassy.”
His break came when a Peace Corps volunteer from the US, serving in Anna Regina at the time, promised to assist.
“He contacted his parents who were wealthy people. They had to sign affidavits, taking the place of my parents, guaranteeing that I will not become a public charge. It was through the generosity of this American family that I got to America. I went with a student visa directly to Howard University in Washington D.C.”
Majeed’s immediate goals included earning a degree and returning to Guyana as a social worker.
Washington D.C. was a whole new world. Different climate. Different trees. Different birds. Different food…and that new creature called winter.
“It took some serious adjustment. In Guyana you have a lot of time with few demands. In America you have a little time and lots of demands.”
While at Howard, A.B. did well and qualified for an academic scholarship. He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
A.B’s outspokenness and leadership skills caught the attention of his college professors who encouraged him to pursue law.
After Howard he enrolled at the Catholic University School of Law, a school that was almost 100 percent non-minority, and where he graduated with a Juris Doctor Degree.
“It was culturally difficult. But we were welcomed by everybody and professors treated us with great dignity and respect. Along with me was a black female from Howard, and as life would have it, she also came to Florida. Justice Peggy Quince became the first Black Female Chief Justice in the state of Florida.”
Some years later, Majeed took his little son, Noah, to Catholic University School of Law and showed him the name Alli B. Majeed inscribed on a wall especially dedicated to all the law school graduates who became judges.
Lost, won

Majeed became a felony prosecutor in Brevard County, Florida, in 1985, having practiced law in Philadelphia for several years. He is a member of the Bars of Florida, Washington D.C. Pennsylvania, and New York
“I served as a prosecutor in front of a most wonderful and kind hearted judge. He knew of my desire to become a judge one day. He motivated and mentored me. For you to become a judge in Florida you must practice law in Florida continuously for more than five years. Immediately after my five years I began investigating the prospect of becoming a judge.”
His friends thought he was crazy.
“They said they loved and respected me, but I had the wrong name, wrong colour, wrong religion, wrong nationality, wrong accent. Everything was wrong.”
To run for the judgeship, Majeed had to quit his job as a prosecutor.
“So I had no income. I moved out of my beautiful house into a smaller apartment. I had no job, no income, no house, no health insurance. But I had confidence and a supporting wife. She backed me all the way. Together we agreed that I won’t grow old saying. I could have, should have, might have become a judge. I did not come to America to be told I can’t do it.”
His three daughters and wife were good campaigners. He lost that first campaign in 1992, but earned a wide variety of friends and supporters. Lady Luck soon smiled on A.B. Majeed.
“When I lost the election, one judge got sick and he retired. His seat became eligible for appointment by the Governor.”
The jobless Guyanese became one of 21 lawyers who submitted for interviews before a special Judicial Nominating Committee. The list was reduced to four and submitted to the Governor.
He was appointed by Governor Lawton Chiles as a Brevard county judge in 1993, where he serves to this day.
He is the first Guyanese and the only person of Indian origin to currently hold that position in Florida.
“I submitted for elections many times after that… the word in 1992 was that I couldn’t win. The word now, in 2011, is that I can’t lose.”
Last year, the veteran judge was re-elected unopposed for the next six years.
“America allowed me to dream dreams I could not dare to dream. America allowed those dreams to come true. I am what I wanted to be. I’ve been there for 18 years; I am looking forward for retirement.”
Over the past years, Majeed has received numerous awards, given many speeches, and was the subject of countless articles in the newspapers.
“I pride myself in treating every citizen who appeared before me with dignity and respect. I always remember the economic indignity that visited my mother in that steamer on the way to Wakenaam. I never forget that the journey, from the bench where I am sitting to the podium where the defendant is standing is a very short one. As they say in Guyana…”it nah tek laang fuh table tun…”
Alli B. Majeed while a proud and patriotic American now, emphatically states that he will never forget that “Guyana is wheh me navel string bury…”

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