I bought “12 Angry Men” for my daughter

Oct 07, 2012 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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I would advise every citizen of this world, never to miss any special sale of old books, music records and movies. You will see gems that cannot be easily found. You will acquire items that you will cherish for a lifetime.
Michael Benjamin, a journalist with this newspaper, told me about a vendor on Regent Street that has a mountain of old books piled up in her store.
One day, I was parked on Regent Street and I realized I was not too far from this person that ‘Benjie’ told me about. The place is a pool of dust. The books are here, there and everywhere. The uniqueness of an old books sale is that very ancient stuff is given away by relatives when their loved ones die or migrate and these books are long out of print.
Right into my lap dropped the best, I repeat, the best and most compelling book ever written on this country and will remain like that for centuries to come; “Sugar Without Slaves” by Alan Adamson (1973).
Every Guyanese should read this book to understand why the worlds of Africans and East Indians in this land evolved so differently.
Every African-Guyanese should read this book in order to understand why African-Guyanese never became a land-owning class; they were prevented from so doing.
One day, I skipped a lunch date with Stella Ramsaroop to visit a music sale at Matt’s Record Bar. I came across a rare album in which one of the best rhythm and blues female singers covered the hits of one of the best male vocalists of all times – Diana Ross and the Supremes singing the songs of Sam Cooke.
Last week, I visited a three-day movie sale at Matt’s Record Bar. The stuff was mountainous and Mrs. Baptiste, the owner, directed me to a carton filled with classic movies.
I found one of the best films ever made. I had to let my daughter see this movie. It is widely regarded in the arts world as one of the best movies of all time. It was made in 1957.
I saw it when I was just a little boy and it had a tremendous impact on me. When it came to Guyana, its leading star Henry Fonda was one of America’s reigning actors.
Film critics have never looked at the philosophical dimension of the movie. But it is there and that is why the movie is so great for me.
The story is about a teenager accused of murdering his father. Eleven of the twelve jurors had instantly made up their minds on a guilty verdict.
The number eight juror was a quiet man who was suspicious of the evidence. Some of the panel members shouted him down, insulted him and harassed him. But he told them that he was not going to be denied his right to his opinion.
For hours and hours, the disagreement went on. Piece by piece, he picked the prosecutor’s case apart. With every passing hour, a juror had been converted. After a long time, he managed to convince his colleagues that the evidence could not have held up.
The insistence of this quiet man to have his say saved the life of an innocent boy. The philosophical message in this story is that one must say what one believes in if others are prepared to tell you what they believe in. You must feel that you have an equal right to express your view just as the person next to you is burdening you with his/her point.
If we all were like that, then many humans would not have been enslaved by those who sought to dominate them. I told my daughter that if among friends someone says something racist or anti-Obama, she must feel equal to that person and give her contrary opinion.
It is for this reason I asked her to look at “12 Angry Men.” One night in a car packed with well known political activists, coming down from Berbice, the discussion about the unknown income of some famous Guyanese political activists was raised by me. All, except Michael Carrington of the AFC, said that it was a silly subject to discuss, no one cared about such nonsense, and why bring it up. A huge argument erupted and I continued to demand my right to speak, because for me, the subject was vitally important for this country.
Why should I accept a person that wants to participate in the governance of my country and no one knows where he gets his income? Such a strange existence should not be accepted. If you want to be part of changing my country, then the citizens should know as much as possible about you. We should know how you live, how you get your income. Suppose you live off of prostitution or drug trafficking or you are the agent of a foreign government.
The population has a right to know where you work if they are going to accept you as an agent of change.  If those in the car could tell me the subject is useless, why should I accept their view and not express mine? I refused to drop the issue and the car got filled with loud cross-talking. Insist on your right to differ. It can help to save a life or perhaps save the world.

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