There is no Black consciousness group in Guyana

Jan 05, 2014 Letters

Dear Editor,
I grew up in Guyana in an age where Black consciousness was at fever pitch levels. I would be dishonest as an intellectual to deny the role the personality of Forbes Burnham played in this context; also Burnham had with him other members of the PNC who were on the same wave length. No discussion of the rise of Black consciousness can ever be concluded without the extensive and intensive role Eusi Kwayana played in this process, and to concretize his effort he founded and nurtured the group ASCRIA
In this age of proud Black consciousness, I refer readers to an ugly incident in the early seventies at Bishop’s High School at a Pan-African conference. So sensitive were Black consciousness activists to any criticism of the world wide African struggle for liberation that a prominent Guyanese African rights activist (someone who is a life long friend of me and wife) picked up a chair and moved towards Moses Bhagwan to strike him with it. He had misinterpreted a position of Moses who remains today one of the finest multi-racial activist this world (not only Guyana) has seen.
The above is an introduction reflection on a letter written by Eusi Kwayana (“Fighting Injustice is not Limited to Ethnic Characters,” KN, Jan 3, 14). I quote Brother Eusi; “There are two or three writers who feel that they can write whatever they like about Africans.”
What can be added to those “two or three writers” are many more, including the lady that did that nasty editorial denigrating African youths in the Chronicle editorial of July 3, 2012 titled; “Opposition rampages to sow disunity in the country.” It was one of the most rabid, anti-African vilifications in the history of this country. It was sick, insane and downright uncivilized. How the PPP Government survived this morbid racist attack on Africans in that editorial shows graphically what a dead society Guyana has become (see my column on the issue; “Should I be Ashamed to be an East Indian, KN, July 13, 2012)
It is not only individuals like the woman who wrote that editorial and who is a PPP favourite; there are Indian organizations that openly insult African people in this country and get away with it. The names include the Indian Arrival Committee and the Muslim Youth Organization (MYO).
Recently, the MYO implied that Africans in the opposition were behind the crimes and robberies of which Indians were victims. After a series of arrests in which not one of the accused was linked to the opposition and some of those arrested were Indians, the MYO is yet to apologize to African Guyanese. Interestingly, the Muslim community was silent on this nasty act of the MYO.
The trouble with African Guyanese today is that there is no organization that has on its agenda the need to resurrect Black consciousness. And many African leaders are afraid to do so out of fear that they will be branded as racist. You don’t find this fear in the Indian community. The Hindu churches are quite happy to preach Indian consciousness and invite PPP politicians to address their congregations. National cricketers like Shiv Chanderpaul and Ronny Sarwan do not hide their Indianness and are not inhibited in associating with the PPP Government that a majority of Africans find to be a racist regime. Chanderpaul, in particular, sees nothing wrong in accepting an award for “his contribution to the Indians” of Guyana from the Indian Arrival Committee.
I wrote him a letter, hand-delivered to the Pegasus advising that he not accept it because he is a national figure and his contribution is to Guyana not Indian Guyanese. A radiant Chanderpaul went on stage and received his Indian award, much to the delight of Bharrat Jagdeo who was on stage.
Finally, you see the tragic absence of Black consciousness groups in the almost total absence of dark-skinned faces in Guyana’s commercials. In fact, we have gone right back to the early 20th century when all the faces were white. Don’t take my word for it, just look for yourself. Go and see a white man advertising the benefit of insurance on a Hand-in-Hand billboard at the Everest Sports Club. See the back of the Breeze van, where a white baby advertises the brand name soap power. Black faces do not appear in commercials in Guyana. Ironic that Black consciousness has faded from the sociology, culture and politics of Guyana in an era where the United States voted for a Black man as President
Frederick Kissoon

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There is no Black consciousness group in Guyana

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